[Clips] A small editorial about recent events.

Sun Dec 18 13:22:44 PST 2005

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 Delivered-To: clips at philodox.com
 Date: Sun, 18 Dec 2005 15:17:30 -0500
 To: "Philodox Clips List" <clips at philodox.com>
 From: "R. A. Hettinga" <rah at shipwright.com>
 Subject: [Clips] A small editorial about recent events.
 Reply-To: rah at philodox.com
 Sender: clips-bounces at philodox.com

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  Delivered-To: cryptography at metzdowd.com
  To: cryptography at metzdowd.com
  Subject: A small editorial about recent events.
  From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry at piermont.com>
  Date: Sun, 18 Dec 2005 13:58:06 -0500
  Sender: owner-cryptography at metzdowd.com

  A small editorial from your moderator. I rarely use this list to
  express a strong political opinion -- you will forgive me in this
  instance.

  This mailing list is putatively about cryptography and cryptography
  politics, though we do tend to stray quite a bit into security issues
  of all sorts, and sometimes into the activities of the agency with the
  biggest crypto and sigint budget in the world, the NSA.

  As you may all be aware, the New York Times has reported, and the
  administration has admitted, that President of the United States
  apparently ordered the NSA to conduct surveillance operations against
  US citizens without prior permission of the secret court known as the
  Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (the "FISC"). This is in clear
  contravention of 50 USC 1801 - 50 USC 1811, a portion of the US code
  that provides for clear criminal penalties for violations. See:

  http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sup_01_50_10_36_20_I.html

  The President claims he has the prerogative to order such
  surveillance. The law unambiguously disagrees with him.

  There are minor exceptions in the law, but they clearly do not apply
  in this case. They cover only the 15 days after a declaration of war
  by congress, a period of 72 hours prior to seeking court authorization
  (which was never sought), and similar exceptions that clearly are not
  germane.

  There is no room for doubt or question about whether the President has
  the prerogative to order surveillance without asking the FISC -- even if
  the FISC is a toothless organization that never turns down requests,
  it is a federal crime, punishable by up to five years imprisonment, to
  conduct electronic surveillance against US citizens without court
  authorization.

  The FISC may be worthless at defending civil liberties, but in its
  arrogant disregard for even the fig leaf of the FISC, the
  administration has actually crossed the line into a crystal clear
  felony. The government could have legally conducted such wiretaps
  at any time, but the President chose not to do it legally.

  Ours is a government of laws, not of men. That means if the President
  disagrees with a law or feels that it is insufficient, he still must
  obey it. Ignoring the law is illegal, even for the President. The
  President may ask Congress to change the law, but meanwhile he must
  follow it.

  Our President has chosen to declare himself above the law, a dangerous
  precedent that could do great harm to our country.  However, without
  substantial effort on the part of you, and I mean you, every person
  reading this, nothing much is going to happen.  The rule of law will
  continue to decay in our country. Future Presidents will claim even
  greater extralegal authority, and our nation will fall into
  despotism. I mean that sincerely. For the sake of yourself, your
  children and your children's children, you cannot allow this to stand.

  Call your Senators and your Congressman.  Demand a full investigation,
  both by Congress and by a special prosecutor, of the actions of the
  Administration and the NSA. Say that the rule of law is all that
  stands between us and barbarism. Say that we live in a democracy, not
  a kingdom, and that our elected officials are not above the law. The
  President is not a King. Even the President cannot participate in a
  felony and get away with it. Demand that even the President must obey
  the law.

  Tell your friends to do the same. Tell them to tell their friends to
  do the same. Then, call back next week and the week after and the week
  after that until something happens. Mark it in your calendar so you
  don't forget about it. Politicians have short memories, and Congress
  is about to recess for Christmas, so you must not allow this to be
  forgotten. Keep at them until something happens.

  Perry

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 R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
 The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
 "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
 [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
 experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
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-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'