Right now in D.C. it looks like the House is almost ready to proceed on a FISA compromise which will make it much easier for telcos who assisted Bush's illegal spying program to escape any kind of accountability. The law would basically say that if the telcos can produce a piece of paper that proves that the government (the executive branch) assured them that their conduct was legal, then they cannot be prosecuted for it - regardless of whether or not the conduct was, in fact, legal.
I agree with those who believe that the telcos (as well as anyone else) should be held accountable when they break the law, but think about what kind of dynamics are in play here. As it stands, the telcos are pouring money into lobbying efforts on this issue. They've pretty much locked up the Republicans on their side of the issue, and they've also apparently got a number of Democrats as well. So at the moment, the battle lines are drawn between a majority of Democrats on one side against a minority of Democrats, all Republicans, and the entire telco lobby.
Now imagine what the landscape will look like if the law passes. The telcos will be doing the dirty work of producing evidence against the executive branch in the form of hard copy paper proving exactly what they were instructed to do by the Bush administration. The telcos will go out of their way to prove that they were only acting on orders. If there is proof that the Bush administration instructed telcos to break the law, then the dynamic changes: Now it's the majority of (if not all) Democrats, possibly a new Democratic Executive, and the entire telco lobby against a potentially dwindling group of Republican apologists. The debate will be framed and the numbers will be to our advantage.
Not sure how this will play out, but that's one possibility.
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