Senator Obama flip-flopped on civil liberties and privacy during his presidential campaign landing on supporting telco immunity. Now President Obama continues the assault on our civil liberties by siding with former President Bush and going beyond: Obama extends immunity to protect government officials, something not surprising but exactly what Democrats said was the saving grace of Bush telco policy. Glenn Greenwald has more with plenty of details you should read for yourself.
[…T]he Obama DOJ has now invented a brand new claim of government immunity, one which literally asserts that the U.S. Government is free to intercept all of your communications (calls, emails and the like) and — even if what they’re doing is blatantly illegal and they know it’s illegal — you are barred from suing them unless they “willfully disclose” to the public what they have learned.
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This is the Obama DOJ’s work and only its work, and it is equal to, and in some senses surpasses, the radical secrecy and immunity claims of the Bush administration.
If you ever made the mistake of believing that your civil liberties are better off under Republicans or Democrats, please stop believing that. Corporations don’t care which of these parties wins because they fund both of them. I know it’s asking a lot, but try to remember this when voting time comes around again and don’t fall for the lame scare tactics aimed at supporting the least-worst. Least-worst politics means, unlike corporations, you’ll always lose.