Tomorrow will be a rather momentous day in the history of our country. A vote on cloture will take place in the U.S. Senate, at 4:30 p.m. EST. Cloture, for the uninitiated, is the only means of overcoming a filibuster, actual or threatened. This vote concerns the renewal of the so-called “Protect America Act,” which deals with FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act). At this point, without debate or a filibuster, the Republicans will most likely shove the bill through. If a debate/filibuster is allowed, Russ Feingold, Chris Dodd, and others will attempt to preserve our privacy in regards to FISA.

I’ve covered FISA several times on this blog, and will continue to do so, because I think civil liberties are a cornerstone of the America we’ve all been taught to believe in, and I have no intention of letting our civil liberties vanish without a fight. Additionally, I’m leery of allowing our government to have expanded powers where surveillance is concerned; too many times in our history, agencies and individuals have abused the power granted to them and to the government as a whole (for examples, see: J. Edgar Hoover, COINTELPRO, the Church Committee…).

The battle right now isn’t so much over beefing up security, or fine-tuning FISA; no politician or citizen in their right mind wants to weaken security. The real struggle is over three things: 1) the fact that Smirk et al knowingly broke the law, including a public admission by Smirk; should we permit the executive branch to be above the law, and be unaccountable for its actions? 2) blanket warrants; in the past, warrants could only be submitted for use with individuals. Now our gummint wants the ability to just vaguely mutter about “enemies” and “suspects” and receive the right to snoop without oversight; should we as a country permit this? and 3) providing immunity, whether retroactive or future, for the telecommunications industry, which aided and abetted our gummint in breaking the law.

The squawking you hear comes from the gummint and its allies (including Jay Rockefeller, who is supposedly a Democrat), who claim the telecoms were merely doing their patriotic duty, that they shouldn’t have to be “punished,” etc., etc. What I find funny about this is that despite all the sympathy our “leaders” are trying to garner for these poor, defenseless telecoms is the fact that earlier this month, it was reported that these corporations (and they are national/global corporations, mind you) cut off the FBI from accessing our phone records because of unpaid bills.

So much for noble acts of sacrifice and patriotism. The telecoms apparently don’t care about their customers’ privacy or civil rights; they don’t care about “security”; they’re just in it for the money. Surprise, surprise…

Allowing our gummint (including Smirk and Shooter) the ability to evade the law and skirt rules and regulations where wiretapping is concerned angers me. But it also upsets me that Congress is willing to aid and abet by letting the telecoms off the hook. As I and others have said before, good prosecutors don’t let suspects or “persons of interest” off the hook without knowing all the details first. Yet, that’s exactly what the gummint wants us to do. One has to wonder why they’re so interested in the welfare of large, rich corporations that have well-paid lawyers on retainer. Who’s hiding what, and why? What is the real cost of allowing immunity to take place? What are the consequences that will happen in both possible outcomes?

We’ll never get the answer to these questions, and many more, if we allow the bill to pass as is, and for Smirk and his corporate pals to get their way. Right now, the Republicans are blocking all amendments, from every Senator that’s submitted one (including one of their own, Arlen Specter). Right now, Congress is potentially poised to once again sacrifice its constitutional rights of oversight, and in the process, once again upset our long-standing system of checks and balances. Right now, we have business executives and high-level government leaders, including our President and Vice-President, who don’t want to have to answer anything, who don’t want to be responsible for their actions, and who think they should be above the law.

If you’re okay with that, sure; no problem. Have fun re-living life in East Germany and other repressive nations throughout history that spied on their own citizens.

“It can’t happen here,” you say.

Oh? Want to bet? It already has. Check this out, at CQ Politics (h/t Firedoglake): “Collateral Damage: Surveillance Aimed at Terrorists Can Easily Go Awry.” As a writer and historian (of sorts), it alarms me what happened to Lawrence Wright. For those of you who are deaf, here’s an analogy: suppose I’m doing research into Deaf history or linguistics of signed languages in another country, and I call, write, or e-mail someone abroad about this. I am then subsequently investigated, wiretapped, my mail opened, my e-mails diverted, and I get a visit from government agents. It could happen; it’s already happened to Lawrence Wright.

Lest you think it’s just “lefties” like me who are concerned about what’s happening, check out this poll [PDF] commissioned by the ACLU (the folks who are fighting for all our liberties): even 51% of Republicans oppose this power grab.

If you’re like me and think that immunity and the ability to obtain blanket warrants should not be granted, then get on the phone NOW and call or fax your Senators, and tell them to vote NO  on cloture. Time’s of the essence. If this one is lost, the bill will most likely pass, and you’ll soon see a billboard in your neighborhood: “Wiretapping: Coming Soon Near You.”