Bush calls telecom execs traitors
From Klaus Marre of The Hill:
In a move that puts great pressure on the House, President Bush said Wednesday that he would not sign any more temporary extensions to legislation updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Bush praised the Senate for passing a long-term FISA fix Tuesday by a “wide, bipartisan” majority. He added that there is “no reason” why the House could not “immediately” pass the same bill.
However, on the contentious issue of retroactive immunity for telecom companies who illegally wiretapped Americans, Bush adopted this unusual position:
A main sticking point is a provision included in the Senate legislation that would provide retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated with the government. Bush said the companies “won’t help protect America” without such liability protection.
The president stated that terrorists must communicate with each other and exchange information to carry out their plans and argued that enlisting the help of telecommunications companies is crucial in uncovering their activities.
In simplest terms, he’s arguing that innocent Americans must accept a plea bargain. Let the telecom executives go free or they “won’t help protect America.”
So he’s saying if government agents have legal orders to wiretap potential terrorists, the telecom execs will refuse to do so. But they didn’t refuse - except for Qwest - when they were asked to illegally wiretap.
So why do these criminals deserve presidential protection? And when did it become a vital interest of Americans to have their president defend businesspeople who hate America and its laws?
