If You Think FISA Doesn't Matter

Tomorrow the U.S. Senate will vote to take away the last shred of your protection against the government spying on your every move, without a warrant.

If you can't be bothered to follow Glenn Greenwald's impeccable arguments, if you still hold Judith Miller against the New York Times, then please take a few seconds to read a four-line poem from an Obama supporter opposed to his FISA cave:

When politicians continue to play fast and loose with the Bill of Rights, it's more than a core issue. It's a violation of their oath of office to uphold the Constitution. If you don't value those rights, that's fine. But there will come a time when you may have a need of those rights. Don't think that the government will just give those rights back once they take them. Martin Niemöller's poem comes to mind. If you will allow me a slight variation (Original Poem):

First they came for my right of protection against illegal searches and seizures,- but I had nothing to hide, so I did not speak out.
Then they came for my right to due process,- but I was not accused, so I did not speak out.
Then they came for my right of habeas corpus,- but I was not locked up, so I did not speak out.
And when they came for my freedom of speech, there was no way left for me to speak out.

Slippery slope, people. Slippery slope.-Alexis N. Mueller

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.