Open letter to my Congresscritter.

[Pab Sungenis]

The Honorable Frank LoBiondo
5914 Main Street
Mays Landing, New Jersey 08330

Dear Frank:

Hope you and your family are doing well, and are enjoying a very merry Christmas.

This past week we have learned some very disturbing facts. It appears that our President, the chief law enforcement officer of this nation, has gotten it into his head that he is above the law.

On Monday afternoon, the President not only admitted to ordering wiretaps without approval from the FISA Court, which had been set up to protect against the horrible abuses of such surveillance methods that had become common in the Nixon Administration, but declared that he would do so again.

As you are aware, there was absolutely no reason for the President to ignore the requirements under the FISA law. The law acknowledges the need for fast action in certain cases, which is why the government can apply for retroactive warrants, so the President’s claim to need for “quick action” rings hollow. The FISA Court operates in total secrecy, so there would be no need for worry about the application for a warrant tipping off a suspect and sending them into hiding. And out of nearly 20,000 applications for wiretap warrants made by the government since 1979, only five have been rejected.

Not five thousand, or five percent, but five applications total. Under such lenient conditions and apparently loose standards of reasonable cause as this Court apparently employs, it’s highly unlikely that any even remotely legitimate application would be turned away by this Court.

That the President feels the need to circumvent this safeguard of our precious civil rights disturbs me, and it should disturb any decent man, especially one whose bumper stickers carry the slogan “Defend Freedom.”

Frank, our families have known each other for generations. My grandfather knew and respected you. Even though we have butted heads in the past over many issues, I have still respected you and believed you to be an honorable man. I would like to think you have thought the same of me.

Our civil liberties and our way of life are under assault; not only from foreign forces, but from people who have hijacked your Republican Party, the Party I once considered myself a member of. This is not a time for ideological purity. This is not a time for Party loyalty. We need someone to stand up and vigorously defend what is right, and bring those who are enemies of our Constitutional rights, including our Fourth Amendment rights, to justice.

Nearly seven years ago, a wise man said “I cannot in good conscience allow the nation's chief law enforcement officer to violate the law without consequences.”* I truly hope I don’t have to remind you who it was who said that.

The time has come for Impeachment, Frank. I hope the People can count on you to lead the way.

Peace and Love be with you this Holy season.


Yours,
Paul L. Sungenis

* For those who don't know, that was the beginning of LoBiondo's statement on why he was voting to impeach Clinton.

[LeftNYC]

1. Nice letter....nt

[Lyle]

2. Excellent. I sent this to Feingold.

And I live in NJ!! I just like the guy's style - and I think he has balls. I just wanted to show my support for him.

Dear Senator Feingold:

While I am not one of your constituents (I live in NJ), I am one of your most vocal supporters. You have emerged as a beacon of hope in these most troubling of times. I am contacting you to express my support and gratitude for your outspoken posture. And for your willingness to enact much needed change.

While the main stream media ignores the reality of the times, the Constitution and the country it defines are in harms way. Anyone who has invested a small amount of effort reading alternative news sources is fully aware of the pubic sentiment in this regard.

The cabal that comprises this administration has hijacked the offices they were hired to occupy. The tone of our government now smacks of fascism - or more succinctly - corporatism. And the ideologues that hatched the PNAC have performed nothing short of a coup - and they are now directing policy.

History has afforded us the benefit of perspective. The events of 9/11 now emerge in a different light. As do the actions that were predicated on that horrible event. Specifically, this administration's complicity in that event is now blaring obvious. As are the true motivations for the war (oil grab), the patriot act, domestic spying, decimation of environmental regulations, and host of other offensive actions taken by this administration.

I am contacting you specifically because I believe you posses the character - and the initiative to address these issues in an effective manner. Elected representatives must honor the oaths they took when they accepted their positions. The country deserves no less. Specifically, I call on you to publicly support the effort to impeach and remove Bush, Cheney, ET AL. They must be held accountable - and perhaps incarcerated for their crimes.

[mrdmk]

3. This is the letter that I received back for Senator Boxer

Dear mrdmk:



Thank you for contacting me regarding recent reports of domestic spying. I appreciate the opportunity to review your comments on this important issue.



On December 16, 2005, the New York Times reported that President Bush had repeatedly authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to eavesdrop on American citizens and others without the necessary approvals from Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts. Until this program, which began in 2002, no widespread wiretapping had been conducted within U.S. borders without a court warrant.



I have worked very hard to help provide our law enforcement and intelligence communities with the tools they need to effectively combat terrorism; at the same time, I have fought to protect the civil liberties and privacy protections that define our nation. It is unacceptable that the Bush Administration has sanctioned programs that so blatantly violate this balance.



Many of my colleagues - both Republicans and Democrats - share my shock and disappointment that President Bush went outside the law and subverted the system of checks and balances that is so vital to our democracy. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, plans to hold hearings on this matter when Congress returns in January 2006. In addition, I have written to four presidential scholars to ask for their expert opinions on former White House counsel John Dean's statement that President Bush admitted to an "impeachable offense" when he acknowledged that he authorized the NSA eavesdropping program.



Rest assured, I will do all I can to make sure that this matter is fully explored and resolved. The American people should not have to choose to between their security and their liberty.




Again, thank you for writing to me. Please d o not hesitate to contact me about this or any other issue of concern to you.

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

Please visit my website at http://boxer.senate.gov