Thank you for clarifying.
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Originally Posted by aceventura3
1) The buck stops with Bush. If the law was broken he should be held accountable.
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I'm sorry, but that's not how criminal prosecution works. I'm sure you've heard of "aiding and abiding" charges, which specifically deal with those not who were directly responsible, but rather those who were complacent or assisted in the crime. Bypassing FISA woudl be Bush's crime, and the telecoms broke the law in that it is illegal under all jurisdictions for a private citizen or company to record calls in which one is not a party.
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Originally Posted by aceventura3
2) Telecoms acted in good faith.
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This is much the same as above, with one addition. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. Just as one cannot say "I didn't know it was illegal to steal from a 7-11" a national phone corporation with an army of lawyers cannot say "well the president said it'd be okay".
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Originally Posted by aceventura3
3) It is reasonable to review phone records involving calls to/from known terrorists.
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So then you can prove conclusively that all phone records that were gathered as a part of this were "terrorist phone records"? Of course not. Besides, FISA is there to approve these kinds of domestic surveillance methods based on merit. Bypassing FISA was done because there was not enough merit to approve these wiretaps.
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Originally Posted by aceventura3
4) No evidence was produced showing anyone was actually damaged.
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If they listened to amy of my phone conversations or read any of my emails, I was damaged. And you had better believe I'm on several government lists because of my outspoken beliefs. Anyone who had their emails read, phones taped, etc. were damaged.
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Originally Posted by aceventura3
5) The litigation would be excessively costly with class action lawsuits.
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So is the litigation against Enron. Should those victims just quit?
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Originally Posted by aceventura3
6) The only real winners would be trial attorneys.
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This is incorrect. Any victory would provide legal precedent to keep future telecoms from circumventing the law and invading the privacy of their customers.
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Originally Posted by aceventura3
7) The costs of litigation would be passed on to American consumers.
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Consumers? You mean tax payers?
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Originally Posted by aceventura3
8) US telecoms are already behind international competition, litigation would divert resources from investment.
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This would be the free market punishing those who didn't act in the best interest of their customers. I'd think you would support that.
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Originally Posted by aceventura3
9) The original legislation lacked clarity.
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You should actually go back and read FISA, just as I have. It's clear as a bell.
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Originally Posted by aceventura3
10) I would have done the same as Bush, given the circumstances.
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This isn't a reason.