Blog of Darryl W. Perry

Dangerous votes pending

Tue, 8 Jul 2008 11:08:53 -0500

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

Quote of the Day:

HEDRICK SMITH: A more fundamental question confronts all of us. The 4th Amendment protects us against unreasonable search and seizure without probable cause. So does the strategy of (terrorist) prevention collide with the Constitution? When the government is doing this kind of data mining, has it moved from individualized suspicion, getting an individual warrant, to generalized suspicion, to check everybody to find out who are the bad guys?

PETER SWIRE (White House Privacy Counsel, 1999-01): Yeah. Check everybody. Everybody's a suspect. Everybody's phone records, everybody's email is subject to government scrutiny. And if you're good, we won't bother you, and if you look a little strange, then you might get on a watch list.

HEDRICK SMITH: Isn't that a huge change in Anglo-Saxon law? I mean, Anglo-Saxon law is based on "Get a warrant." The 4th Amendment is based on individual suspicion.

PETER SWIRE: Right. General warrants was part of the reason for the American Revolution. It was that the king's agent could go in and search a house everywhere, search a whole neighborhood with one warrant. And the Boston people said, "We don't like that. We'll have a tea party. We'll fight you." We said no.

-- from FRONTLINE

Subject: Dangerous votes pending

Two dangerous votes are pending this week. You know about the "FISA Amendments Act." We've been hammering on it for weeks now, and you've been hammering Congress. The other dangerous pending vote is a resolution that's a virtual declaration of war on Iran.

House Concurrent Resolution 362 urges the President to blockade Iran, stopping all sea traffic in and out of the country. It has 220 co-sponsors. The Senate version is Senate Resolution 580. It has 32 co-sponsors.

In the space of a week we're facing the virtual repeal of the 4th Amendment and a major step toward a major new war.

* If you think your gasoline prices are high now and the economy is in trouble, just imagine what will happen if a U.S. blockade removes Iranian oil from the world market.

* Just imagine how the rest of the world will react to that.

* Imagine how many Muslims will be radicalized by this action.

* Imagine how many new recruits there will be for terrorist cells.

* And imagine what will happen to the last shreds of your rights in the face of an escalated terrorist threat.

Is all of this what Americans thought they were asking for when they went to the polls in 2006 to repudiate the Bush administration? Meanwhile . . .

The non-elected branch of government, the U.S. courts, has handed down a ruling in favor of the 4th Amendment protections that Congress seems intent on repealing. Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of the Northern District of California has just issued a key ruling in Al Haramain v. Bush, one of the cases challenging the NSA's warrantless spying program. There are a lot of details to this decision, but what you need to know is this . . .

Those challenging the government and the telecoms over the warrantless spying program have a case, and would be allowed to present their evidence in court, in spite of the state secrets privilege, IF ONLY Congress would allow them to do so by NOT passing the "FISA Amendments Act."

We are deep in the grip of a reckless Congress and lawless White House, with only the courts as our only option to get it right. It's up to us, as individuals, to make sure that the politicians understand that they do NOT have the consent of the governed in these matters.

Please send Congress a message asking them to prevent an attack on Iran. Use your personal comments to tell them you also oppose House Concurrent Resolution 362 and Senate Resolution 580. You can do so here.

Please also send another message asking your Senators to support a filibuster of the "FISA Amendments Act." Use your personal comments to mention Judge Walker's ruling and that you want the cases against the telecoms to be able to move forward. You can send that message here, using our old campaign against the "Protect America Act."

When you've done that, please also call your Senators. Ask them to support a filibuster and to vote against the "FISA Amendments Act."

Congress must know that they do NOT have your consent on either of these issues.

Please also make a contribution to further our work. You can do so here.

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army.

Jim Babka

President

DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

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Obama's response

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 12:24:52 -0500

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

Quote of the Day:

"The government already has "the authority to collect the intelligence it needs to protect the American people." That authority is called FISA, which already allows the Government extremely broad authority to spy on any suspected terrorists. The current law results in virtually no denials of any spying requests. So how can Obama -- echoing the Bush administration -- claim a new law is needed to provide "the authority to collect the intelligence we need to protect the American people" when the current FISA law already provides that?"

-- Glenn Greenwald

Subject: Obama's response

Will Senators Feingold and Dodd really filibuster the "FISA Amendments Act?" What will Senator Obama do? We're about to find out.

Senator Obama has been hammered, not just by us, but also by his own supporters. He has had to issue a response to his critics. Those of you who sent him a message probably received this response. It was very disappointing. It could have been written by any hack politician. Much of it could have been written by a neo-conservative.

But Senator Obama's response isn't necessarily the end of the story. The revolt among his supporters continues. His justifications and excuses for supporting the "FISA Amendments Act" are being picked apart on the web. Senator Obama may yet be forced to oppose the "FISA Amendments Act."

Meanwhile, what Senators Feingold and Dodd do will depend on whether they have enough votes in the Senate to sustain a filibuster. This question will likely be decided this week, so you're running out of time to persuade your Senators to support a filibuster and to oppose the "FISA Amendments Act." Please send another message now, using our old campaign against the "Protect America Act."

It doesn't matter how many messages you may already have sent on this issue, it's important to remind your Senators that this issue is still of grave concern to you.

If you have one or more Democratic Senator, call them too after you've sent your message.

It remains to be seen whether we can win this fight, but it's important to continue to register your dissent, right up until the vote is held. We must make Congress nervous about what they're doing, and pave the way for what happens next.

Our coalition is already making plans for what to do if we lose the vote. Remember what has happened with the REAL ID Act -- issues aren't settled just because Congress votes. We decide when an issue is settled, NOT Congress.

We live in a new era. The revolt among Senator Obama's supporters is a sign of the change. The Internet has empowered citizens to be informed, and to fight for their rights. The politicians no longer have it all their own way. This phenomenon will only grow as organizations like DownsizeDC.org grow.

Make the politicians nervous, send another message now.

Please also consider making a contribution to help us grow. You can do so here.

Thank your for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army.

Perry Willis

Communications Director

DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

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July 8 vote on FISA

Mon, 7 Jul 2008 12:15:57 -0500

On Tuesday, July 8th the Senate will consider an unconstitutional FISA bill that lets lawbreaking phone companies off the hook. These companies handed over huge amounts of information to the Bush administration, potentially millions of emails and phone calls and more,
without getting a warrant.

Without enough public outcry, the Senate will let these phone companies off the hook and let Bush and future presidents keep spying on Americans without getting a warrant. Will you please help stop this horrendous bill?

Send an email to your senators now and help protect freedom.

Go to:
http://www.restoretherepublic.com/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,119/

Watch this short video for more information:
http://www.restoretherepublic.com/component/option,com_seyret/task,videodirectlink/Itemid,40/id,808/

Please support the Freedom Media Project:
http://FreedomMediaProject.com

[PLEASE FORWARD, BLOG, AND POST WIDELY]
Sent from your friends at:
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A comment on Keith Olbermann's "Special Comment"

Tue, 1 Jul 2008 12:33:38 -0500

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

Quote of the Day:

"Man is not free unless government is limited. As government expands, liberty contracts."

-- Ronald Reagan

Subject: A comment on Keith Olbermann's "Special Comment"

DC Downsizers bombarded MSNBC's Keith Olbermann with more than 1,700 messages yesterday. These messages urged Olbermann to hold his favored president candidate, Barack Obama, to the same standards he has applied to President Bush. Your messages may have had an impact.

But before getting to that, I'd like to update you on our final numbers for June . . .

* We recruited 729 new Downsizers

* We sent 70,533 messages pressuring Congress (and Keith Olbermann)

* And we also made budget -- THANK YOU

This is the first time we've sent more than 70,000 messages in a single month. We shattered our old record by more than 19,000. Thank you to everyone who participated to make June such a successful month. Your efforts do have an impact.

They may have had an impact on Keith Olbermann. It seemed to us that his "Special Comment" seemed slightly softer than what it had been advertised to be. And others observing Olbermann have similarly opined. Moreover, Olbermann said some good things . . .

* He accused the Democrats of caving-in to fear-mongering in regard to warrantless spying and telecom immunity

* He quoted George Washington on the dangers of political parties

We like both of these things. However, Olbermann also asserted that the "FISA Amendments Act" would merely restore the old way of authorizing domestic surveillance, implying that warrants will still be required for such surveillance. We disagree. We think the bill pretty much allows presidents to spy on anyone they want, with insufficient judicial control. You can read our analysis here.

Mr. Olbermann also asserted that the "FISA Amendments Act" only grants immunity from civil suits, and that criminal prosecutions will still be possible. He bases this claim on an analysis by John Dean in collaboration with lawyers from the ACLU. We work in coalition with some of those same ACLU lawyers, so we'll be checking the claim and reporting back to you. However . . .

We're not as thrilled by this as Olbermann and Dean seem to be. They seem confident that Obama would pursue prosecutions if elected. We are less confident. And what will happen if McCain is elected? The answer is NOTHING. Olbermann and Dean seem not to have considered this possibility.

Olbermann and Dean do acknowledge that President Bush could pardon the telecoms, but they think this would be a good thing, because it would be an admission of guilt. Again, we disagree, because we're more worried about the future than about this particular instance of law breaking.

If the "FISA Amendments Act" passes, and the telecoms get off scott free, either through a pardon, or through a failure to prosecute by either Obama or McCain, then the way will be cleared for more illegal activity in the future. The fact remains that if the "FISA Amendments Act" fails, then . . .

* Warrants will be required for surveillance

* The existing court cases against the telecoms will be able to proceed to their day of justice

This is what all of us, including Olbermann, should be aiming at. We should NOT be trying to create wiggle room for Barack Obama or the Senate Democrats. Olbermann has done good work in the past by criticizing President Bush's lawbreaking, but his partisan preference for Obama and the Democrats has now led him astray, as partisanship almost always does.

Olbermann has tried to give Mr. Obama an excuse for abandoning his defense of the Bill of Rights. We intend to compensate for Olbermann's mistake by pressuring Mr. Obama to lead his party in defeating the "FISA Amendments Act." We have created a new campaign for this purpose. Please send Barack Obama, at his campaign, a message. You can do so here.

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army.

Jim Babka

President

DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

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Downsize DC Foundation

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Petition for Redress of Grievance

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:40:11 -0500

As many of you know, today (June 30), is the day that the We The People Foundation filed Petitions for Redress of Grievance with all 535 members of Congress. I went to the District Office of Representative Artur Davis (AL-7), walked into the office and informed the Secretary that; "my name is Darryl Perry, I'm with the We The People Foundation, today we are serving members of Congress with a Petition for Redress of Grievances, I need you to sign that you've received this." She informed me that the Office Manager would be right out. About 30 seconds later, gentleman walked out (confused), I told him, "I'm with the We The People Foundation and I'm serving a Petition for Redress of Grievances, there is a letter along with a DVD of the seven Grievances. I need you to sign that you've received it." He stated that he would give it to the District Supervisor, but he wasn't signing for anything. I left the Petition and DVD on the Secretaries desk and quietly left.
Luckily, I was able to film the event, and will post the video within the next couple of days.

Olbermann, Obama, & FISA

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:24:44 -0500

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

Quote of the Day:

"Politicians are like bad horsmen who are so preoccupied with staying in the saddle that they can't bother about where they're going."

-- Joseph Schumpeter

Subject: Olbermann, Obama, & FISA

Part of our strategy for combating the new FISA bill will involve doing doing some new things. One of the things we want to do is pressure Barack Obama to step-up and lead the fight against warrantless spying and telecom immunity. The other thing we're going to do is pressure Keith Olbermann of MSNBC.

It appears that Mr. Olbermann is going to use one of his "Special Comments" tonight (Monday, July 30) to make an argument for why it's okay for Obama to support the new FISA bill. We want to urge Olbermann to NOT do this. Here are the details . . .

Five months ago Olbermann was quite critical of George W. Bush for promoting "textbook fascism" designed to "immunize corporate criminals." The fascism to which he referred was the telecom immunity provision of the FISA Amendments Act. He had similar rough words for the way the bill would eviscerate the Fourth Amendment.

Well, on Friday night Olbermann announced that he was going to do another one of his trademark "Special Comments." Specifically, he said . . .

"Speaking of FISA, following up on what he said here last week, John Dean has reviewed the newest version of that bill and again concluded, nothing in it gives the telecoms criminal immunity, only civil immunity. So Monday on Countdown, a brief Special Comment on FISA: How Senator Obama can have his cake and eat it too."

It isn't difficult to figure out Olbermann's plan for the presumptive Democratic nominee to both have and eat his cake. He's been hinting at it for the past week. Here's Olbermann in his own words . . .

"Seriously, there is little in the polls to suggest McCain has anything to run with other than terror . . . So why hand them a brick to hit him (Obama) with -- Obama Voted Against FISA -- if voting Aye enhances his chances of getting himself his own Attorney General to prosecute FISA."

Olbermann's wording is confusing, but essentially he has flip-flopped on FISA, just like his preferred candidate, Obama, has. When it was only George W. Bush supporting this bill Olbermann was against it, but now that Obama supports it too Olbermann is falling all over himself trying to concoct justifications for it. Salon's Glenn Greenwald picks up the story from here . . .

"Olbermann -- just as he has done on his show repeatedly ever since Obama announced his support for the bill -- also suggested that Obama is harboring a Secret Benevolent Plan that he isn't telling anyone about whereby he is supporting the FISA bill so that he can prosecute the telecoms criminally once he's in office."

Greenwald then quotes Olbermann as saying that anybody who was as upset about this bill as Olbermann once was, "would prefer to see a President Obama prosecuting the telecoms criminally, instead of seeing a Senator Obama engender more 'soft on terror' crap by casting a token vote in favor of civil litigation that isn't going to pass."

Is Olbermann correct that the new FISA bill only provides the telecoms immunity from civil suits, but that they could still face criminal prosecution if Obama becomes President? It appears Mr. Olbermann has exaggerated this claim. And John Dean, Olbermann's supposed source for this claim, has denied that he's done the research necessary to prove it.

Is Olbermann correct that Obama has some secret plan to vote for this bill and fix the problem after he becomes President? Frankly, we've heard that kind of wishful thinking a lot over the years. Let's just say politicians are much better known for failure to keep promises, and this is a level of faith we cannot afford. If the civil cases are thrown out (and under this bill they will be), then valuable legal ground would be lost, such as deposition, discovery, and deals. The supposed secret plan to criminally prosecute not only the telecoms, but members of the administration, would be lost. But in this instance, Obama isn't even hinting at such a plan.

Here's the bottom line -- Olbermann is being partisan. He needs to hold Obama to the same standard he has applied to President Bush. Please send Olbermann a message urging him to be consistent. It is important that you personalize this message with some details you've learned from this message and/or the accompanying links. You can send that message here.

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army.

Jim Babka

President

DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

A tip of the hat to Glenn Greenwald of Salon who has published most of the original research and analysis about Keith Olbermann's FISA flip-flop.

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

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Repeal Setbelt Laws

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:08:51 -0500

Tuesday morning about 145AM, after leaving work and getting a late snack from Waffle House, i was pulled over and given a ticket for not wearing my seatbelt. I understand that there is a law against this; however, the seatbelt law violates my Constitutional rights. The Ninth Amendment of the Constitution states, "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." If the State can violate my rights and tell me that "for my safety" I must wear a setbelt in my car; then what is to stop them from telling me that "for my safety" I must wear a helmet in my house, because afterall there are alot of corners, and I may bump into one. I should probably install a seatbelt on my toilet so that I don't fall off of it and hit my head. Where does this violation stop?

The legal encyclopedia American Jurisprudence says the following;" The general rule is that an unconstitutional statute, though having the form and the name of law, is in reality no law, but is wholly void and ineffective for any purpose since unconstitutionality dates from the time of its enactment and not merely from the date of the decision so branding it; an unconstitutional law, in legal contemplation, is as inoperative as if it had never been passed ... An unconstitutional law is void. (16 Am. Jur. 2d, Sec. 178)"

Thus, any law that violates the Constitution is no law at all. And i will continue to not wear my seatbelt, only because the government tells me I must.

Ask your Senators to filibuster the warrantless spying/telecom immunity bill

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:57:33 -0500

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

Quote of the Day:

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an action, but a habit."

-- Aristotle

Subject: Ask your Senators to filibuster the warrantless spying/telecom immunity bill

Victory is still possible in the fight against warrantless spying and immunity for the telecom companies that collaborated in previous illegal spying. Just this morning the Politico reports that . . .

Senate leaders may split the warrantless spying and immunity provisions into two separate bills, and hold two separate votes.

This is a sign of significant divisions in the Senate that we may yet be able to exploit to defeat the Senate version of HR 6304.

The divisions are deep enough that there still isn't a Senate version of the House bill, or a bill number. And there are still multiple ways we could win this fight.

One strategy is to find a Senator willing to filibuster, and thereby block a vote.

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann reported last night that there's pressure on Presidential candidate and Senator Barak Obama to filibuster -- to show he can lead his party and stand up to the Republicans. Senators Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold have stated strong opposition to this bill and are also strong potential candidates to filibuster.

Toward this end we've changed the message to the Senate on our old campaign against the "Protect America Act", to read as follows . . .

"Please do everything you can to defeat the Senate version of HR 6304, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. Please use your power to filibuster."

Please send this message now, with your personalizing comments added.

You can use your personal comments to point out that HR 6304 violates the 4th Amendment, and that your Senators swore an oath to defend the Constitution.

Many Senators are opposed to this bill. If we can encourage just one to filibuster then we'll only need 41 votes to defeat the bill. We believe the three Senators we've listed in this message are the best candidates to do so. But every Senator needs to be contacted.

The possibility of victory by filibuster, combined with the urgency of this situation, means that once again, we encourage you to call your Senators. Once you're logged-in to send your message, you'll see their office phone number. Please call today.

Remember, we were in a similar position with this issue back in Fall 2006, and again in February this year -- defeat seemed certain -- but we ended up pulling out a victory. Now, in the space of just 24 hours, we've gone from expecting an immediate vote to having the Senate leadership contemplate splitting the bill into two parts.

Victory is still possible, and the filibuster is a powerful weapon we could use to achieve that victory. Ask, and you may receive.

Tell your Senators to filibuster. Give the pro-Constitution forces courage, and make the anti-Constitution Senators nervous.

Send a message!

Then call.

Also, please also help us make budget this month. There are only 6 days left, and we need just $1,509 to earn a $3,600 matching pledge AND make budget. We have no one else to ask but you. You can contribute here.

Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army.

Jim Babka

President

DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

is the official email list of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. &
Downsize DC Foundation

CONTRIBUTE to the Electronic Lobbyist project

Presidential Petition

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:58:48 -0500

I now have a petition ready for circulation to get Charles Jay and Thomas L. "Boston Tea Party" Knapp on the ballot in Alabama. Download the petition from: http://ALStatesmen.org/PresidentialPetition.pdf
you will need to write the name of the county from which you are collecting signatures, be sure to keep the counties separate. Each form holds 7 signatures. We need 5,000 valid; so we will need roughly 1,000 forms to each be full of signatures.

Please contact me and I will provide an address to mail them to.

Thanks,
Darryl W. Perry

Thank or "spank" your Representative

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:51:39 -0500

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

Quote of the Day:

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."

~Ambrose Redmoon (James Neil Hollingworth)

Subject: More urgent action needed

The Senate is likely to vote tomorrow on the bill that . . .

* Legalizes warrantless spying

* Grants immunity to the telecom companies that cooperated with previous illegal spying

Please send a message to your Senators telling them to vote NO on this bill. Please note that the Senate is rushing forward on this and there is no bill number yet. You can bet that the Senate won't even read it before they cast their votes. Just tell your Senators to vote NO on the Senate version of HR 6304. You can send your message here.

We've adjusted our old campaign on the "Protect America Act" so that your message will go to your Senators ONLY. Please let them hear from you on this issue AGAIN today. Use your personal comments to tell them you object to what the House did, and that you expect them to vote NO on the Senate version of HR 6304.

THANK & SPANK

You may think this is a lost cause, but it isn't. Even if we lose the vote in the Senate, as we lost the vote in the House on Friday, it's important to remember the example of the REAL ID Act. Congress thought this issue was settled when they voted to pass REAL ID. They thought that was the end of it. But it wasn't the end. It was only the beginning.

Hundreds of groups, starting with DownsizeDC.org, and thousands of people have joined together to fight for the repeal of REAL ID. And because of this REAL ID is dying a death of a thousand cuts.

The same thing must be done with warrantless spying. We must show Congress that they cannot steal our rights with impunity. We must convince them that when they attempt to do so, they will never hear the end of it. We must show them that this fight isn't over until WE say it's over.

Please send that message to your Senators!

But let's not stop there.

Many of you have repeatedly asked us to show you how your representatives voted on a particular issue, so you could either thank them for voting the right way, or spank them for voting the wrong way. You asked for it, and now we're delivering it. We've created our first "thank and spank" campaign for the House vote on HR 6304.

After you've sent your message to the Senate, go here . . .

* Look at the list we've provided to find out how your Representative voted on HR 6304

* If he or she voted against the bill, send them a thank you

* If they voted for it, send a message of polite disapproval

You can send your "thank or spank" message here.

Please take both of these actions.

* Tell your Senators to vote NO on the Senate version of HR 6304

* "Thank or spank" your Representative

It's important to understand that the Democratic leadership, and many Democrats in conservative districts, voted yes on HR 6304 because they were afraid of being called "soft on terror." We must teach them to be more afraid of violating the Constitutional rights of the American people, than they are of scare tactics. Please take action to convince Congress that you will NOT SUBMIT to this gross violation of the Constitution.

Thank you for being a member of the growing Downsize DC Army.

Jim Babka

President

DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

D o w n s i z e r - D i s p a t c h

is the official email list of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. &
Downsize DC Foundation

CONTRIBUTE to the Electronic Lobbyist project