Can the sausage making ever keep up with all our electronic gadgets?

Dark communications
Today’s policy post from the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) is an interesting study in contrasts as the slow wheels of democratic justice struggle to come to terms with a pace of change hardly imaginable to the authors of our government.

In two independent rulings, two federal appeals courts reached rather different conclusions regarding questions of right to privacy in the context of e-mail. I’ll let you go to their nice briefing for the details and jump to the final paragraph:

At a broader level, both of these cases highlight the disjointed nature of current law as it relates to electronic privacy and the application of Fourth Amendment protections in the digital world. Put simply, the law has not kept pace with the evolution of Internet technology. Judges and lawmakers must address these concerns and consider approaches to revitalize the Fourth Amendment in the face of technological change.

Here, here, and well said. How in the world would we make that a significant campaign issue in the upcoming election, however?

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Olbermann: Bush and Cheney should resign. Now!


Wow, this is one hell of a zinger. He is, as they say, angry as hell and not going to take it any more. The particular catalyst is the commuting of Scooter Libby’s sentence, which Olbermann considers

the fixed ballgame and the rigged casino and the pre-arranged lottery all rolled into one—and it stinks.

The connections he draws to Nixon, and especially the firing of Cox, are potentially quite powerful. I have no sense, however, of how well they will resonate with the undecided middle, which is where the battle clearly lies.

I love the ending, and the idea that even Our Fearless Leader might manage “that iota of patriotism”:

We of this time—and our leaders in Congress, of both parties—must now live up to those standards which echo through our history: Pressure, negotiate, impeach—get you, Mr. Bush, and Mr. Cheney, two men who are now perilous to our Democracy, away from its helm.

For you, Mr. Bush, and for Mr. Cheney, there is a lesser task. You need merely achieve a very low threshold indeed. Display just that iota of patriotism which Richard Nixon showed, on August 9th, 1974.

Resign.

And give us someone—anyone—about whom all of us might yet be able to quote John Wayne, and say, “I didn’t vote for him, but he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.�

The full text of his remarks are on the MSNBC web site. Thanks to my wonderful (and righteously angry) mother for the tip.

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