Keeping the Right Doors Closed

Do they think that no one's paying attention? With the do-nothing press corps and the unwillingness (up until a couple of days ago) of Congress to do anything that might put a check on the President, I suppose it's fair enough to assume that no one is. But even so, my jaw dropped yesterday when I heard National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell tell NPR yesterday that the main sticking point on the surveillance legislation is telecomm immunity. They're apparently not interested in keeping the American people safe until differences on the immunity bill can be resolved. They're just interested in whether Sprint or Verizon might have to defend themselves in court.

It's never been about keeping you or me safe. It's been about protecting the profits of the communications industry. Even I find that overly cynical for the Bush administration, and I wonder if the real reason is protecting themselves. If the telecoms did break U.S. law on the say-so of administration officials, who is really liable for the law being broken? The telecoms have to be responsible for what they do, but so do the Bushies who authorized it. If the telecoms have immunity from prosecution (and, by extension, investigation), then we'll never have occasion to take a look into the West Wing to assess blame. Does that sound like the American way to anybody? Anyone?