If you have not had an opportunity to read this morning's New York Times op-ed by Chicago writer and oral historian Studs Terkel, you can find it here. Terkel is the ACLU of Illinois' lead plaintiff in the case against AT&T challenging telecom companies collaboration with the government in listening to telephone calls, reading emails and gathering customers personal records without a judicial order.
That case, along with numerous other similar cases from around the country, has been consolidated in federal court in San Francisco. Terkel's piece provides a terrific historical perspective for the current debate over legalizing massive data collection by the executive branch.
What We Call The News
The folks over at JibJab have put together a nice commentary on the state of the media in America.
My thanks to Josh Rorhscheib for suggesting the link. Sorry I didn't make it out to DC this trip.
My thanks to Josh Rorhscheib for suggesting the link. Sorry I didn't make it out to DC this trip.
Quote of the Day
Glenn Greenwald has a wonderful response to Fred Hiatt's pathetic plea in today's Washington Post for amnesty for the telecoms who helped Bush break the law by warrentless tapping of the phones of American citizens. The last paragraph of his post sums it all up for me:
The real point, of course, is that corporations -- just as is true for ordinary citizens and small companies -- can dramatically reduce their chances of being subjected to long, protracted litigation by obeying the law. Hiatt's rationale -- it's so unfair to make these poor corporations endure the costs of litigation -- would "justify" granting general amnesty to corporations for all illegal behavior, i.e., it would eviscerate the rule of law. We want there to be a price to pay when private actors violate the law. But the "price" which AT&T, Verizon and others are paying from "litigation costs" is so miniscule that to cite it as a reason to give amnesty is either incredibly ignorant or purposefully dishonest.
The Mobilization That Wasn't
I'm in the United States for six weeks, visiting friends and taking care of some business, and getting caught up on life in the US from right here on the ground. I'm near the end of week five at the moment, and I can tell you it's been an eye-opening experience. I'll share some of my observations in the next few days, but here's one thing for right now:
For those who don't believe that the mainstream media in America are culpable in Mr Bush's nasty little war, here's a message: Believe it!
If Americans were shown the same feed of CNN that we see in Europe (from Sky via Great Britain), things in this country would be a whole lot different today! And that's just CNN. If it were the BBC, we would be having a revolution. Speaking of which . . .
Did you know that there were demonstrations against the war on Iraq all over the United States today? You sure wouldn't if you depended on the news networks for information, although CNN did tell us (as late as 4 p.m. CDT) that United for Peace and Justice was organizing demonstrations for today. No coverage whatsoever of the tens and hundreds of thousands of Americans who were in the streets with chants and placards telling the current occupant and their congresscritters that they wanted the illegal occupation of Iraq to stop -- Now!
Incredible! But you're probably used to it.
Anyway, that was a digression from what I meant to write today. I mostly just wanted to say "hello" and welcome you to this blog. I've found a lot to be depressed about on this visit, but I've also seen a lot of things that make me think that things are looking up. I'll write more about both over the coming weeks. I return home to Spain on the 5th of November, and from there I'll continue to comment on events in America as seen from a distance.
Your comments or questions appreciated and welcome.
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