Yet, Another Blow to Our Constitution

The Fourth Amendment reads as follows: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. On July 10, the Senate voted, by a margin of 69-28, on new provisions to update federal surveillance authority. This means that the phone companies involved in, up to the moment of passage, illegal surveillance of telecommunication activity are now immune from any prosecution for such activity- that was illegal until yesterday. Granted, the president's office told these companies that they needn't worry about any prosecution for helping him squash another one of our sacred civil liberties for the sake of presidential authority over his subjects. However, if my governor tells me it's O.K. to break into his political enemy's hotel rooms to install surveillance equipment, would I be free from prosecution? What if he scares the state legislature into passing a bill that says that such behavior is legal? I think not. But this is what has happened. The excuse is that the government needs these tools to go out and catch bad guys. They already had that authority. The difference is now the role of the court in acting as a safeguard against abuse is drastically diminished. It is disheartening that so many Democrats would forget why they hold a majority in both Houses of Congress. Though, all but one of the twenty eight "no" votes were Democratic (inculding both senators from New York), there were twenty one who voted "yes," one of whom was the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Barack Obama. So, for the sake of not wanting to look weak on national security issues, twenty one Senatorial Democrats voted in favor of more executive power over the citizenry; thus looking weak on matters of integrity and safeguarding civil liberties. This circumstance is definitely food for thought for this November.