Get FISA Right

By: Harry Waisbren

Our tweetchat during the Cato Institute event, The USA Patriot Act: Renew, Revise, Repeal?, was quite instructive as to both the need to fix the Patriot Act and the degree to which more attention (especially from media) is warranted in regards to this issue in particular and civil liberties in general.

The event constituted a lively debate including views from across the political spectrum, and we encourage everyone to read through the full transcripts of coverage from the tweetchat in the Patriot Act Action Hub as well as Mark Dorlester’s coverage in a parallel chat. Below you will also find some highlights of key points from the participants:

• The event started strong, with Moderator Tim Lynch of the Cato institute describing bluntly that  the debate in congress hasn’t been a front page news story because “Obama signaled that he wanted all provisions renewed”. It is a sad state of affairs for our media environment, regardless of what one thinks about the ‘liberal media bias narrative’, that this has come to pass, as there are very few issues in which a bipartisan consensus has been achieved amongst our citizenry as civil liberties.
• Lynch also specified that it “seems clear that the patriot act will be renewed in some form in the near future. If not, by the end of the year, some kind of extension, early next year”.
• Julian Sanchez, also of the Cato Institute, worked throughout the debate to “take a step back and put the disparate powers in the context of a larger shift in the contours of American surveillance law.” His argument that we are no longer surveilling “people”, but “populations” is particularly jarring and powerful language.
• Gregory Nojeim of the Center for Democracy and Technology powerfully argued that “at the end of the day, every Patriot Act power is wielded by mere humans, with human frailties, who make mistakes.” This is what our founding fathers understood, and why centralized power without checks is so abhorrent to the nature of our country. Such an argument is why Mark cited the “central issue: NSLs create a government of men, not laws. Any investigator can target you no matter how he/she thinks you’re connected to terrorism.”
• Jena Baker McNeil of the Heritage foundation continually cited 9/11 as a continuing justification for the civil liberties infringing aspects of the Patriot Act, and emphasized that “terrorists often manipulate our own liberties against us.” I don’t believe she realizes, however, that the terrorists win in a way much more profound than a building’s collapse if we relinquish our own liberties out of cowardice…
• Richard Samp of Washington Legal Foundation argued from a limited government standpoint that “simply because there is the potential of abuse, doesn’t mean we have to add additional layers of bureacracy” while somehow forgetting the layers of public servants necessary to maintain a surveillance society.

Much thanks to Jim Burrows for his fantastic work summarizing the notes in the tweetchat into tweets, to Korkie for retweeting vociferously, to Amy for her extensive outreach, to Mark for his coverage, and to Jon and everyone else who participated or paid attention.

These tweetchats are not an end in and of themselves, just as the Cato Institute event isn’t either. The key is to change people’s minds and encourage others to become active, all within a focused effort to move congressional legislation while pushing the president to engage.

We will continue to hold these events to amplify these arguments while keeping our eye on the larger prize. As Julian argues, we need to take that step back and look at the longer term implications of this massive shift, and adjust our strategies while digging our heels in for the fight ahead accordingly. Our tweetchat during this Cato event really is illustrative of this larger context, as we all must do whatever we can to get the word out as to what is happening—as well as to our leaders to alert them that we are paying attention and intend to hold them accountable to their oaths to uphold the constitution.

By: Harry Waisbren

We are organizing another tweetchat this Thursday 1pm PST/4pm EST during the Cato Institute’s event USA Patriot Act: Renew, Revise, or Repeal?.

Once again we will be flocking to the Patriot Act Action Hub to discuss the issues at hand and to coordinate actions encompassing what we can do about it. Anyone can participate by using the chat room in the action hub and/or by tweeting to #patriotact (which are relayed into the chat room as well).

It bodes to be an intriguing event including participants across the ideological spectrum. Furthermore, it will be another opportunity to help us spread our Open Letter to President Obama as we engage with others following this issue.

Hope to see you there!

By: Harry Waisbren

During our call today we worked to foster further tangible action as we continue to promote our Open Letter to President Obama.

We had a great start following our Tweetchat last week and are now working to create further similar surges in our effort to go viral. Feel free to read through our call transcript or check below for the call’s key takeways:

• We need to keep tweeting out links to sign our Open Letter and have provided some samples in our listing of suggested tweets.
• The Cato Institute is holding an event on the Patriot Act this Thursday at 4pm EST which we will be covering during a Tweetchat in the Patriot Act Action Hub similarly to how we covered the House and Senate Judiciary Committee markups. Mark has offered to help provide commentary during the chat which others will be relaying via Twitter, and make sure to check out his Huffington Post article on Get FISA Right.
• This event will also be used as buildup for another Tweetchat to be held this Tuesday in which we will coordinate outreach to media and legislators alike. Details are to be determined, but stay tuned as we will need a lot of help on this collaborative project!
• We will be engaging in more extensive outreach of our own communities as we strive to find more personal stories about how the disintegration of civil liberties affects us all (in ways that might only constitute a low level of annoyance, i.e. the obnoxious nature of airports).
• Lastly, we continue to view the Pennsylvania primary as a potential harbinger of these issues, and Amy is currently going through her networks to lay the groundwork.

As usual, it was a fantastic call. Much thanks to Mark, Amy, Korkie, Jim Burrows, Jim Babka and Jon (calling from the airport) for taking part!

By: Harry Waisbren

Our Open Letter has been released, and now it is our job to promote it to ensure it is heard far and wide! Below you will find our latest suggested tweets for spreading the letter and promoting the different ways to sign:

Ask @BarackObama to support #patriotact reform! http://act.ly/1fp Please RT

You can sign our Open Letter to @BarackObama to fix the #patriotact at @BORDC: http://bit.ly/8Pzd4o

You can sign our Open Letter to @BarackObama to fix the #patriotact at @Change: http://bit.ly/7T02BS

You can sign our Open Letter to @BarackObama to fix the #patriotact at @care2: http://bit.ly/7ctiyd

By: Harry Waisbren

Our tweetchat is over, our Open Letter has been released, and now is the time for action! We must work to amplify our collective voices to both ensure President Obama hears us and compel him to respond.

With that in mind, here are the various ways you can join us by signing on to the letter:

• sign on via BORDC
• sign on via change.org
• sign on via Care2
• sign on via Twitter

Furthermore, democratic discourse is inherently an act of activism, and it is our duty as citizens to speak out about the issues that matter to us. Quite fortunately, the Thanksgiving holiday is a time in which families and friends come together with precisely the opportunity to have this conversation.

The bipartisan, ideology-crossing nature of the fight for civil liberties is just the sort of topic that could bridge divides that might occur in other areas. The more people engaged in this fight and discussing it in the public sphere, the better the chances for us to force this issue into our national conversation.

So have a wonderful thanksgiving, and as you’re giving thanks, consider mentioning those little old civil liberties as something to be thankful for…

By: Harry Waisbren

Our tweetchat held in our Patriot Act Action Hub was quite successful and much fun! It acted as a solid launch event for our Open Letter to the President, helping us make traction on all the various ways we have available to sign, i.e. through BORDC, Change.org, Care2, and Twitter. However, it’s greatest utility came through how it exhibited the degree to which our national discourse is missing the message in regards to the Patriot Act and civil liberties.

It is the void of this conversation that has inspired our letter, and the expert commentary from Julian Sanchez of the Cato Institute and Shahid Buttar of BORDC exhibited the degree to which the “experts” in our mainstream media could do a better job. I’d encourage anyone to read through the transcript, but members of our 4th estate in particular would do well to take advantage of this on the record discourse.

Fortunately, new media tools such as Twitter serve as distribution outlets that can bypass the media filter to get the word out. Even better, it does this while simultaneously alerting those outlets to the groundswell of demand that there is for such coverage.

And why shouldn’t there be such a groundswell, considering the kind of bombshells dropped even to activists well-versed on this issue from these experts. This is why we’re encouraging more retweeting, and below you’ll find some highlights to consider if you choose to do so:

Shahid of @BORDC: The long & short of this unfortunate story reflects an about-face by the Obama administration #patriotact

Shahid of @BORDC: struck by sheer ignorance within DC of the widespread rejection of these #patriotact authorities across the country

Shahid of @BORDC: Over 400 cities & towns, as well as 8 states, passed resolutions opposing the #PATRIOTAct over the past several years

@normative: Conyers bill watered down in a rather mendacious way. #patriotact

@normative: sea change in the way we conduct surveillance—a macro shift that eclipses all the specific policy points. #patriotact

Shahid of @BORDC: great 2 see so many voices, from so many political perspectives standing together 2 defend liberty & #privacy! #patriotact

Julian Sanchez aka @normative: We are not surveilling people anymore. We are surveilling populations. #patriotact

@normative: Minority Report fantasy u’re going 2 pluck potential terrorists from national pool of credit card records is stupid. #patriotact

@normative: totally irresponsible to act like we’re still doing old-school target/suspicion/investigation intelligence work. #patriotact

The tweetchat closed with Jon inspirationally describing where civil liberties activists go from here. He cited the need for these issues to impact elections, potentially through primary battles, and that the connections we’re making and the techniques we’re pioneering are the basis from which this future can begin.

Last summer, we took quite a big step towards this future through the innovative nature of our open letter. Now, we are trying to take another step again with our new letter, and we hope you join us as we push forward!

For now though, thank you to Julian, Shahid, Korkie, Jim, Mark, Amy, Triv33, Emily, Brandon, Amagi, Jenny, and Jon for joining us in the chat, to everyone who RT’d, and to anyone else following along. We hope you all enjoyed, and that you join us in the future as we continue to build on this model for 21st century activism that we are establishing.

Here’s a quick list of the posts about the open letter so far … if you write a post about it — or you see somebody else’s post that isn’t here already — please add it to the list!

• Vox Libertas on Daily Kos
• Jim Burrows on Change.org
• Jessica Pieklo on Care2 (link needed)

By: Harry Waisbren

Here are our latest suggested tweets for the launch of our Open Letter to President Obama and our tweetchat in the Patriot Act Action hub this Tuesday 8am PST/ 11 am EST:

RT @GetFISARight: Ask @BarackObama to please support #patriotact reform! http://act.ly/1fp Please RT

RT @jcool493: The Patriot Act: turning citizens into suspects since 2001
#patriotact

RT @GetFISARight: We are proud to present our now completed open letter
to Obama: http://bit.ly/8Pzd4o #patriotact #p2

At long last, we are proud to present the final draft of our open letter to our President. This letter would not have been possible, much less at the high caliber of quality it exhibits now, if it weren’t for the help of all of you that gave us your input in ways big and small.

Thank you again to everyone who took part in this collaborative project, and you can find our completed letter below.  We’re working with BORDC on a page to allow people to sign on, and will send the link out once it’s ready!

Dear President Obama,

In your response to Get FISA Right’s July 2008 Open Letter on my.barackobama.com, you promised to run “a White House that takes the Constitution seriously, conducts the peoples’ business out in the open, welcomes and listens to dissenting views, and asks you to play your part in shaping our country’s destiny.”  With Patriot Act and FISA reform once again before Congress, Get FISA Right would like to accept your invitation.

Last July, you told us of your intention to direct your Attorney General to “make further recommendations on any steps needed to preserve civil liberties and to prevent executive branch abuse in the future.”   Once Patriot Act reform legislation was introduced, Attorney General Holder talked about “a conversation that can be had” about civil liberties concerns.   So far, the conversation has been disappointing. Your administration opposed long overdue and badly needed protections for civil liberties and urged their eventual rejection by the Senate.  Absent this intervention, the legislation emerging from the Senate and House Judiciary Committees would likely include greater civil liberties protections.

We ask you and your administration to take a strong stand to support significant reform of key sections of the Patriot Act, including National Security Letters, Section 215, Lone Wolf, Sneak and Peek, and material support.  Legislatively, we ask for your public support of HR 3845 and 3846, and amendments adding similar protections to S 1692.

In spite of your promises for an open and transparent government, much of the conversation around this issue has been behind closed doors or via unnamed participants. We ask that you remember your promises and respond in an open and transparent manner.  With your background in constitutional law, and insight into the complex trade-offs you must make as President, you are uniquely qualified to help all Americans see beyond the false trade-off between national security and civil liberties. Please continue the discussion with us, and other voices supporting civil liberties, even when we disagree.

President Obama, the Organizing for America caption still reads, “I’m asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington…I’m asking you to believe in yours.”   We believe, and hope you do too.

Americans of all stripes have grown increasingly wary of giving up liberty for the illusion of security.  Get FISA Right’s 23,000 community organizers are the largest grassroots issue-oriented group on Organizing for America, and we are only one of many organizations across the political spectrum working to restore our civil liberties.

If you join us, you can inspire the same wave of grassroots energy that propelled you to the Presidency.  Together we can reject the politics of fear, and turn the page on the abuses to our constitutional rights during the last eight years.

Signed,

Update, November 22: thanks once again for the great feedback!  Please check out the final draft!

We received some really fantastic feedback from our proposed open letter to Obama and have revised it accordingly — for example, this draft is about 40% shorter. We’ve tried to incorporate everybody’s perspectives … please have a look at this version and see what you think:

Dear President Obama,

In response to Get FISA Right’s July 2008 Open Letter, you promised to run “a White House that takes the Constitution seriously, conducts the peoples’ business out in the open, welcomes and listens to dissenting views, and asks you to play your part in shaping our country’s destiny.”    With Patriot Act and FISA reform once again before Congress, we woiuld would like to accept your invitation.

Last July, you told us of your intention to direct your Attorney General to “make further recommendations on any steps needed to preserve civil liberties and to prevent executive branch abuse in the future.”   Once Patriot Act reform legislation was introduced, AG Holder talked about “a conversation that can be had” about civil liberties concerns.   So far, the conversation has been disappointing. Your administration opposed long overdue and badly needed protections for civil liberties and urged their eventual rejection by the Senate.  Absent this intervention, the legislation emerging from the Senate and House Judiciary Committees would likely include greater civil liberties protections.

We ask you and your administration to take a strong stand to support significant reform of key sections of the Patriot Act, incuding National Security Letters, Section 215, Lone Wolf, Sneak and peak, and material support.  Legislatively, we ask for your public support of HR 3845 and 3846, and amendments adding similar protections to S 1692.

Just as importantly, in light of your promises regarding open government, we ask you to respect the people’s passion regarding our rights as citizens and to respond in an open and transparent way.  Much of the conversation has gone on behind closed doors or via anonymous sources, rather than out in the open.  With your background in constitutional law, and insight into the complex tradeoffs you must make as President, you are uniquely qualified to help all Americans to get beyond the false tradeoff between national security and civil liberties.

President Obama, The Organizing for America caption still reads, “I’m asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington…I’m asking you to believe in yours.”   We believe, and hope you do too.

Americans of all stripes have grown increasingly wary of giving up liberty for the illusion of security.  Get FISA Right’s 23,000 community organizers are the largest grassroots issue-oriented group on Organizing for America, and we are only one of many organizations across the political spectrum working to restore or civil liberties.  If you join us, you can inspire the same wave of grassroots energy that propelled you to the Presidency.  Together we can reject the politics of fear, and turn the page on the abuses to our constitutional rights of the last 8 years

Signed,