maddogs hideaway

Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon who is a member of the Senate Select  Intelligence Committee, is joining with Colorado Democrat Sen. Mark Udall to  “introduce legislation that would limit the federal government’s ability to  collect data on Americans without a demonstrated link to terrorism or espionage”  (“Udall, Wyden Propose Limiting the Federal Government’s Ability to Collect Vast  Amounts of Data on Americans,” wyden.senate.gov, June 14).

Furthermore, Wyden is insisting on public hearings because, as he said last  month, “the American people have the right to expect straight answers from the  intelligence leadership to the questions asked by their representatives” (“Sen.  Wyden: Clapper didn’t give ‘straight answer’ on NSA programs,” Aaron Blake, The  Washington Post, June 11).

But why stop there? Barack Obama should be in the witness chair as well.

How  could a president with such disdain for the Constitution be re-elected? Find out  how he did it in Jerome Corsi’s brand new book “What Went Wrong: The Inside  Story of the GOP Debacle of 2012 … And How It Can Be Avoided Next  Time”

And there is also a strong bipartisan drive to reopen the Patriot Act, which  was passed in a panic by Congress soon after 9/11. The law became a primary  source of the subsequent dismembering of the Constitution through its approval  of secret surveillance.

Udall gets to the American Revolutionary core of his and Wyden’s legislative  mission: “The NSA’s collection of millions of Americans’ phone call records is  the type of overreach I have warned about for years. …

“We need to protect our national security, but we cannot lose sight of our  constitutional liberties and the privacy rights of Americans” (“Support Builds  for Udall, Wyden Proposal to Limit the Federal Government’s Ability to Collect  Vast Amounts of Data on Americans,” wyden.senate.gov, June 18).

Also aiming at the Patriot Act is a multi-dimensional lawsuit by the ACLU and  the New York Civil Liberties Union attacking the shadowy Obama administration’s  omnivorous surveillance program as violating “the First Amendment rights of free  speech and association as well as the right of privacy protected by the Fourth  Amendment” (“ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging Constitutionality of NSA Phone  Spying Program,” aclu.org, June 11).

Exposing the dictatorial side of Obama is Alex Abdo, a staff attorney in the  ACLU’s National Security Project: “The Constitution does not permit the  suspicionless surveillance of every person in the country.”

Unknown to most Americans, Congress’ 2011 extension of the Patriot Act for  four more years deepened its spying powers on us with the cooperation of the  mysterious FISA Court. From the American Bar Association’s Patriot Debates  website (a sourceblog for the USA Patriot debate):

“Section 215 (of the Patriot Act) revises substantially the authority under  the FISA for seizure of business records, including third-party records of  individuals’ transactions and activities. Previously, FISA Section 501 permitted  the FBI to apply to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) for an  order to seize business records of hotels, motels, car and truck rental  agencies, and storage rental facilities.

“Section 215 broadens that authority by eliminating any limitation on the  types or businesses or entities whose records may be seized.

“In addition, the section expands the scope of the items that the FBI may  obtain using this authority from ‘records’ to ‘any tangible things (including  books, records, papers, documents and other items).’”

And since this is no longer America:

“The recipient of the order may not disclose the fact that the FBI has sought  or obtained records.”

Furthermore, “There is no requirement for an evidentiary or factual showing  and the judge has little discretion in reviewing an application (from the  FBI).”

Have any of you learned about that in any school you have attended? Courses  in our schools should be given on how our American identity has been stolen from  us. Students should be taught how to make sure the tactics of President Obama  don’t carry over to the next administration, no matter its political  affiliation.

In the meantime, I shall keep reporting on how effective these and other  legislative actions are at restoring the rule of American law. I will also  continue to focus on a part of American education that has received too little  attention: students not only learning about and identifying with American  history, but also becoming actively involved in decision-making in their schools  as well as in their neighborhoods, cities, states and country.

In my book, “Living the Bill of Rights” (University of California Press), I  bring forth patriot educator John A. Howard:

“We have in the U.S. produced several generations of cultural orphans – who  have little knowledge and even less appreciation of their heritage of freedom,  or the sacrifices which produced it. We have been engaged in a kind of  unilateral disarmament, which could well prove more devastating to the cause of  liberty than would be the destruction of our defense arsenals.”

That’s how Barack Obama got re-elected.

My main job now is to focus on how we can keep future Obamas out of the Oval  Office. And that, of course, is your job, too, as committed Americans.