...And I thought George Orwell was a fiction writer!

I was wrong, in actuality he had the ability to look into the future.

Yes, the "compromise" surveillance bill has passed. Our civil liberties held at gun-point, our 4th Amendment, for the most part, non-existent. You know, when I read the news most of the time these days I can't help but think to myself, "damn, I'm not a good enough comedian to find anything funny about this."

This new surveillance law allows the government to wire-tap its citizens without court permission while simultaneously granting amnesty to the initial wrong-doers, namely the telecommunication companies and the bush administration.

"Surely Ron, there must be some provisions? The government can't just wire-tap whoever they want, that'd be unconstitutional wouldn't it?"

We'll find out once somebody digs the constitution out of george bush's garbage can.

But, there are in fact some provisions: The government can only spy on citizens without a court order if they would miss out on "important information" otherwise. Such descriptive language assures that our civil liberties would be protected.

Important information of course ranges from potential terrorist threats, international conspiracies against the U.S., and potential brownie recipes from Grandma Smith. Do you dislike the president? Talk on the phone about it and they'll find out.

This bill was supported by Barack Obama. It's true. Although, he doesn't agree that amnesty should be given to the telecoms...umm, then why did he back a bill that gave them said amnesty?

That's like saying "I support Taco Bell but am complete opposed to cheap, delicious, crunch-wrap supremes!!" Well, maybe you shouldn't support Taco Bell.

Maybe, just maybe, Obama shouldn't have supported this bill. A bill to enhance security in a manner that interferes with our civil liberties as little as absolutely possible is one thing, to give amnesty to people who broke the law, and give unreasonable amounts of spying power to government officials through vague wording is something entirely different.

The bush administration has literally pissed all over this democratic congress, and they've let it happen. From war funding, to oil, and now to our civil liberties, I wasted a night of celebration in November of 2006.