Why I confronted Nancy Pelosi at Netroots Nation Conference

As many of you might have heard I was the one who stood up at Netroots Nation and confronted Nancy Pelosi over the issue of NSA spying.

I was sitting there listening to her try to explain the vast difference between what Bus was doing and what Obama was doing and I felt like she was pumping poison into my brain to try to make me stupid. I just couldn't sit there and listen to it anymore.

What she was saying was that Bush broke the law. So then she helped change the law and made what Bush did legal. So when Obama did the same thing, it was no longer against the law. Therefore although Bush and Obama did the same thing, Bush broke the law and Obama didn't. And that is why Obama good - Bush bad.

Then she went one to say the FISA court had oversight and we had to give up our freedom to protect America from the Boggie Man and I just lost it. It was as if zombies were eating my brain and I just had to stand up and scream out that what she was saying wasn't true.

America is a nation built on the principle of Rule of Law. That means that our society is help together by a covenant of the people called the constitution where everyone, including the government, has to play by the rules. We are a nation of the People, by the People, and for the People. The government exists for the sole reason of serving us, and the way we keep the government in check is to make sure that the government is under the rule of law.

But the Cheney/Obama administration decided that they were going to undermine the Constitution with the so called "Patriot Act" to create a system of secret courts issuing secret rulings and making secret law. This secret court thinks it has the power to nullify the Constitution and declare that every person in the world is a criminal suspect as defined by the 4th Amendment. That is so wrong on it's face that it is shocking that Speaker Pelosi would even suggest it. There is absolutely no way that a judge in a secret court can make such a ruling.

This administration puts forward a false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we provide. We can provide our intelligence and law enforcement agencies the tools they need to track and take out the terrorists without undermining our Constitution and our freedom.

That means no more wiretapping of American citizens. No more national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected o a crime. No more tracking of citizens who do no more that protest a misguided and corrupt government.  No more ignoring the law when it is inconvenient. That is not who we are. It is not what is necessary to defeat the terrorists.

The Constitution works, The separation of powers works. We must set and example for the world the the law is not subject to the whims of stubborn rulers, and that justice is not arbetrary.

This administration acts like violating civil liberties is the way to enhance our security; it is NOT! There are no short cuts to protecting America.

The above 4 paragraphs are not my words. That's what Obama himself said in 2007 when he was running for President. I just made a few small changes to apply the same rule to him that he applied to Cheney/Bush.

You can watch the video of what I said and whaty Obama said here:
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2013/06/22/democrats-push-back-on-nsa-spying/

Finally - this is really really important and you need to understand this in the context that it's not about what is legal or illegal, but what is right and wrong. If America does the wrong thing and then they legalize it, it doesn't make it right. So I have to say that I am so proud of the people at Netroots Nation for pushing back and putting reality ahead of party politics.