Sweeping New Erosion of American Freedoms - Barr Cites Bush-McCain Contempt for Fourth Amendment

The House just passed the latest version of the FISA bill and it’s quite possible the bill will go to the Senate next week. It’s no surprise that John McCain supports this bill, which erodes privacy rights and provides telecommunications corporations with legal immunity for violating the Bill of Rights. What has surprised and angered the left is Barack Obama’s support of the bill.

“Given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay,” said Obama shortly after the bill passed. “So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as president, I will carefully monitor the program.”

Bob Barr released the following statement today:

The House on Friday passed legislation that greatly expands the power of the government to surreptitiously surveil phone calls and e-mails of American citizens. If, as expected, this legislation is passed by the Senate and the President, as promised, signs it into law, it will represent the greatest expansion of the government’s ability to conduct warrantless surveillance of Americans ever.

While the Administration will tout this as a bill to “listen in to phone calls with al Qaeda” and other terrorist organizations (a power the government already possesses), the fact is, under this legislation, every phone call or email that takes place between a US citizen in the United States and any person “reasonably believed to be” overseas, can be surreptitiously surveilled by the government without ever going to a judge. Yes – it is that broad.

It also gives telecommunications companies that previously allowed government agents full access to the private records and calls of their subscribers in violation of the 1978-FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) completely off the hook for such privacy-invasive actions; it grants them prospective immunity as well.

The day before the bill passed in the House by a 293-129 margin, Barr issued the following press release:

Bob Barr Urges Congress: No Surveillance of Americans Without Fourth Amendment Protections

Atlanta, GA -- “In asserting his power to conduct warrantless searches of Americans, President George W. Bush has expressed his clear contempt for the Fourth Amendment. So has Sen. John McCain, despite his reputation as a supposed maverick,” says Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate for president. Now the Democratic-led Congress is preparing to approve a so-called compromise that gives the Bush administration almost everything it wants in order to expand dramatically the power of the federal government to surveil American citizens without court orders. “America desperately needs leaders who will stand up for the Bill of Rights,” observes Barr, “not those who flaunt its vital and time-honored protections.”

The president already has the power to conduct surveillance of foreign terrorists. The 30-year old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act provides for court oversight, along with the requirement that the government get a warrant. “The court has virtually never rejected a request,” notes Barr. “Changes in technology require updating the law, not gutting it.”

However, the bill being advanced by the Democratic leadership “would allow the government to listen to millions of phone calls by Americans with neither an individualized warrant nor an assessment of probable cause,” he adds. Although the law would offer some protection when a particular American was expressly targeted, even then “the proposed rules fall short of what the Fourth Amendment mandates.”

Moreover, the bill would immunize telephone companies from wrong-doing, protecting them against law suits even when the firms violated the law by helping the government conduct warrantless searches. Past cases would simply be dismissed. “Conservatives once said, ‘you do the crime, you do the time,’ but no longer,” observes Barr. Now virtually the entire Republican Party is prepared to sacrifice the Fourth Amendment rights of Americans in favor of federal government power.

And the Democratic leadership is ready to do the same. Congressional Democrats privately say that they don’t want to take the political risk of opposing the president. “But the individual liberty of Americans is not a political football, something to be tossed about when an election looms,” insists Barr. “It is the constitutional duty of lawmakers of both parties to defend the Constitution, even when they believe doing so might be politically inconvenient.”

Advocates of abandoning the Constitution warn us that we live in dangerous times. But Americans have long lived in dangerous times. “That didn’t stop the nation’s founders from creating a Constitution that secured individual liberty and limited government,” notes Barr. “It shouldn’t stop us from following the Constitution today.”

Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003, where he served as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, as Vice-Chairman of the Government Reform Committee, and as a member of the Committee on Financial Services. Prior to his congressional career, Barr was appointed by President Reagan to serve as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, and also served as an official with the CIA.

Since leaving Congress, Barr has been practicing law and has teamed up with groups ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to the American Conservative Union to actively advocate every American citizens’ right to privacy and other civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. Along with this, Bob is committed to helping elect leaders who will strive for smaller government, lower taxes and abundant individual freedom.

Coming To America

In the past year there has been much discussion about how America needs illegal aliens because of a shortage of American workers. We have read that much of California’s harvest may rot because there are not enough workers to gather it in. There have also been news stories about the shortages of eligible young men and women to serve in our Armed Forces, and America’s aging “baby boomers” worry about whether there will be enough working Americans to pay for the Social Security benefits and Medicare that will be needed by the baby boom generation.

Nature abhors a vacuum, but so too, apparently, does the American economy. Increasingly, thoughtful Americans are considering that this shortage of workers is a direct result of the nearly 50 million lives that were terminated over a thirty year span through abortion.

Georgia’s former Senator, Zell Miller, asks “How could this great land of plenty produce too few people in the last 30 years? Here is the brutal truth that no one dares to mention: We’re too few because too many of our babies have been killed. If those 45 million children had lived, today they would be defending our country, they would be filling our jobs, and they would be paying into Social Security.”

Charles Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries, is more blunt. He states: “The reason we must allow millions of illegal aliens in to fill these jobs is because we have murdered a generation that would otherwise be filling them … sacrificed since 1973 to the god of self-fulfillment.” Colson adds: “Remember the compassionate stuff that the abortionists used to tell us: ‘We are just preventing these poor kids from growing up in deprived, impoverished circumstances?’ Hah! False. What happens is that others come in from abroad to live in those deprived, difficult, and impoverished circumstances and at great public cost.”

Columnist Nathan Tabor points out that, according to the Centers for Disease Control, legalized abortions in America terminated the lives of about 11.9 million babies during 1973-1983. He states that “if those aborted children had lived and grown to adulthood, their median age today would be 30.5 years old.” With tragic and chilling irony, Tabor points to the corresponding number of working-age illegal immigrants now in America, crucial replacement workers in a sense.

Newsweek published a lengthy story about how the “birth dearth” throughout the world will have enormous geo-political consequences. It quotes a new book on the subject that “Never in the last 650 years, since the time of the Black Plague, have birth and fertility rates fallen so far, so fast, so low, for so long, in so many places.” It’s estimated that Germany could shed nearly a fifth of its population over the next 40 years, and some European countries are on such a downward trajectory, it may be impossible for them to ever recover.

There are disturbing exceptions to this phenomenon, however, and the United Nations projects that the Middle East will double in population from 326 million today, to 649 million by 2050. Saudi Arabia has one of the highest fertility rates in the world, along with other Muslim countries like Pakistan.

Human life should never be valued on the basis of what it can do for us or for what it provides for the society in which we live. Human life is sacred, because human life is wonderfully created by God in His own image. Perhaps we are beginning to see the price mankind is paying for rejecting the Author of Life, and for making decisions about which of our children shall live and which shall die.

Those “progressives” that imposed abortion on the United States told us that it would liberate women and free us from Judeo-Christian precepts that merely inhibit freedom, induce shame, and prevent us from enjoying life fully. How arrogant!

It will be a tragic twist of history if, in sacrificing unborn children for the sake of our personal expediency, we find that the price of that terrible slaughter of the innocents is both our freedom and our country.

The liberated new world sought by the progressives is coming into view, and they can rest assured that madrasahs and imams, here and abroad, also eagerly await their dream of a post-Christian world.

Worldwide Anglican Communion At An End

From The Telegraph
By Tim Butcher in Jordan and Martin Beckford

Hardline church leaders have formally declared the end of the worldwide Anglican communion, saying they could no longer be associated with liberals who tolerate homosexual clergy.

The traditionalists dealt a serious blow to the Archbishop of Canterbury by claiming he can no longer hold the church together.

They warned that the church is gripped by its most serious crisis since the Reformation, and could only be saved by the repentance of the Americans who triggered the row by ordaining an openly homosexual bishop, the Rt Rev Gene Robinson, five years ago.

The formal pronouncement of the schism is contained in an 89-page document titled “The Way, the Truth and the Life”, which has been drawnup by conservative Anglicans ahead of the breakaway Gafcon summitnext week and which has been seen by The Telegraph.

It is supported by the heads of key African churches including Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda, who represent almost half of Anglican worshippers.

The Primate of Nigeria, Archbishop Peter Akinola, states in one section: “There is no longer any hope, therefore, for a unified Communion.

“Now we confront a moment of decision.

“If we fail to act, we risk leading millions of people away from the faith revealed in the Holy Scriptures and also, even more seriously, we face the real possibility of denying Our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

“We want unity, but not at the cost of relegating Christ to the position of another 'wise teacher’ who can be obeyed or disobeyed.

“We earnestly desire the healing of our beloved Communion, but not at the cost of re-writing the Bible to accommodate the latest cultural trend.

“We have arrived at a crossroads; it is, for us, the moment of truth.’’

He said schism could only be avoided in the unlikely event that churches which tolerate homosexual clergy and same-sex blessings change their ways.

“Repentance and reversal by these North American provinces may yet save our Communion,’’ the archbishop wrote.

He referred to the Lambeth Conference, the once-a-decade gathering of Anglican bishops which takes place next month, as effectively a lame duck event because he and other “orthodox” bishops will not attend.

And he called into question the power of Dr Rowan Williams in a fractured church.

“This very Communion has already been broken by the actions of the American and Canadian churches,’’ he wrote.

“The consequence is most serious, for if even a single province chooses not to attend, the Lambeth Conference effectively ceases to be an Instrument of Unity.

“Moreover, the status of the Archbishop of Canterbury, as convenor and as an instrument or focus of unity, also becomes highly questionable.’’

The final section of the booklet, titled “Our Journey Into The Future’’, was written by Canon Vinay Samuel, an Indian-born theologian based at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies.

“We see a parallel between contemporary events and events in England in the sixteenth century,’’ he wrote.

“Now, after five centuries, a new fork in the road is appearing.”

The booklet, written over the past six months, was put together by a group called the Theological Resource Team.

More than 100 of the traditionalists met yesterday at a hotel on the Jordanian shore of the Dead Sea to agree how it would be made public.

There was some disagreement about whether it was a template for a schism, which could lead to a new “orthodox” wing of the church, or merely a realignment of Anglicanism’s power base away from Canterbury.

Next week about 1,000 senior conservative figures, including Archbishop Akinola and other African and South American leaders, will meet in Jerusalem to discuss the way forward at Gafcon.

The city’s annual gay parade is due to take place at the same time.

Barr Is Gaining

An new poll just released by PollPosition (formerly InsiderAdvantage) shows Bob Barr at 6% in Georgia:

A New InsiderAdvantage / PollPosition survey conducted June 18 of registered likely voters in the November presidential contest shows Sen. John McCain leading Sen. Barack Obama by a single point in Georgia, making the race in Georgia a statistical tie. Libertarian Bob Barr, a former Republican Congressman from Georgia, received 6 percent of the vote.

Barr is also polling at 10 percent among seniors, according to InsiderAdvantage CEO Matt Towery.

SC Education Superintendent Cited for Illegal Political Activity

From South Carolinians for Responsible Government

Just one day before polls opened for last Tuesday’s political primary elections, Superintendent Jim Rex sent out an illegal email from his campaign account to his supporters, advocating the defeat of a long list of candidates Rex identified as supporters of school choice reforms.

The email sent by Rex, a sitting public official not seeking reelection this year, clearly stated that it was paid for by his campaign account and specifically advocated for the defeat of twenty-one House and Senate candidates in races throughout the state. This type of candidate-specific independent expenditure by a public official from his campaign account is a clear violation of South Carolina’s ethic laws (8-13-1340(A)).

“It is disappointing to see that Rex is willing to break the law in an unapologetic defense of his failing public schools,” explained Randy Page, President of South Carolinians for Responsible Government (SCRG). “As a public official charged with running the State Department of Education, his job is to effectively administer that agency, not to lobby for political candidates or push his anti-reform status quo legislative agenda.”

Rex’s illegal attack on running candidates came just days after public school officials in Lexington School District One sent a similar political email. Using school computers and employee email addresses, Lexington One’s Communication Director Mary Beth Hill implored district staff to vote against any and all candidates receiving donations from school choice supporters and then directed readers to anonymous political blogs that attacked school choice advocates.

With a high school graduation rate of just 55 percent, South Carolina’s public schools are the nation’s shame. This despite per pupil spending of more than $11,000 for each of the 700,000 public school students in South Carolina. When public officials like Rex and Lexington One Superintendent Karen Woodward illegally meddle in legislative races their actions make it clear: South Carolina’s public school bureaucracy is a partisan political machine fanatically dedicated to blocking substantive education reform.

Crackdown on Chinese Christians Launched at Two Month Olympic Countdown Mark

From Christian Solidarity Worldwide

With two months to go until the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, a fresh report detailing the persecution of Christians in China is launched today.

The report, ‘China: Persecution of Protestant Christians in the Approach to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games’, highlights the current government crackdown on China’s unregistered Christians.

Also covered in the report is the disturbing news that Christians have been arrested and fined for seeking to help the victims of the tragic earthquake in Sichuan Province.

As the Olympics draw closer, sources have recently reported that the Ministry of Public Security has received funding from the Chinese Central Government to increase its campaign of eradicating house churches throughout China. Among the tactics used to restrict religious believers is the targeting of multiple well-established churches in Beijing last month, directives to landlords to refrain from renting to those engaging in religious activities and controls to prevent those engaged in ‘illegal’ religious activities from participating in or attending the Games.

Alongside these specific measures, the report highlights the disturbing trend of increasing persecution of China’s unregistered Christians in the run up to the Olympics, including the use of separatism charges against Christians in Xinjiang, a level of expulsion of foreign Christians not seen since the 1950s, the largest mass sentencing of house church leaders in 25 years and targeted repression of the Chinese House Church Alliance.

The report is produced by Christian Solidarity Worldwide in association with China Aid Association (CAA), an organisation at the forefront of documenting religious persecution against China’s Christians. The President of CAA, Bob Fu, will be in London speaking on Wednesday 11 June at the Foreign Press Association, where he will show footage of firsthand testimony from persecuted Chinese Christians. Joining Bob Fu will be Chun Ki Won, an activist who has been imprisoned in China for helping North Korean refugees, who was involved in the escapes covered in the BBC documentary broadcast last week, Korea: Out of the North. Excerpts of the footage will also be shown. CSW’s National Director Stuart Windsor will also speak, providing a brief overview of China’s domestic and international human rights violations.

Mervyn Thomas, Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Chief Executive, said: “As we mark the two month countdown to the Beijing Olympics today it is truly disturbing to report the deteriorating picture for China’s unregistered Christians. As China takes her place in the spotlight for the Olympic Games it is important to highlight that she must play by international rules, including her binding international obligations on human rights.”

The report is available at: http://www.csw.org.uk/indepth/chinareportjune2008.htm.

Please Help a Worthy Cause

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund, a South Carolina based nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of educational opportunities in Micronesia, is seeking a large volume of t-shirts to complement their scholarships and book donations in the impoverished region.

Campaigns, schools, or civic organizations that may have left-over t-shirts or other clothing suitable to a tropical climate, and would like to help a very worthy cause, should send them to Habele at 701 Gervais Street, Suite 150-244, Columbia, SC 29201.

Habele is an IRS recognized 501(c)(3), so all donations are tax deductible.