What Every American Needs to Know (and Do) About FISA Before Wednesday Voting 228 Comments

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228 Comments

• 

  Dean Ouellette — July 7th, 2008, 5:03 am

  Tim love your blog but dont be so naive. Not sure why you are buying this leftist spin. Under this bill the ONLY time they will listen to your conversations is if you are talking to a KNOW terrorist overseas. We are not in any danger of losing any rights. I am a very strict constitutionalist and in no way would I ever give up my rights and if they were to listen to my conversations I would be upset, but if I was talking to a KNOWN terrorist then I would understand. Stop the spin and talk to the other side and get the other side of the issue.

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  Ben — July 7th, 2008, 5:17 am

  Well done Tim…

  And what are you doing with the Hurley in the picture above?

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  Becky — July 7th, 2008, 5:18 am

  No comments yet?! Then let me be the first to say, “Kudos to you, Tim!” I’ll definitely be contacting my senators & Mr. Obama.

  Sadly, this historic vote did not make the front page of either my local news or the New York Times website.

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  Lewis — July 7th, 2008, 5:20 am

  Oh man! It just keeps getting worse for you guys!

  Is it too much to ask for honorable people in positions of power?

  Glad I live in the uk. But we will be having the same problems soon enough…

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  This is important « Never Too Late — July 7th, 2008, 5:25 am

  [...] This is important Very, very important… [...]

• 

  Chris — July 7th, 2008, 5:37 am

  Tim, thanks for this. It’s incredibly important and affects us all – not only americans. Even as I’m in Norway, writing this comment, I’d be surveilled by the US government, without my own knowledge and without judicial oversight. It’s a breach of fundamental principles that has created democracy, and it’s slowly but surely eroding.

  I’ve recently worked with attempts to stop both the Data Retention Act in the EU, and the FRA law in Sweden, which are both laws severly limiting civil liberties. And the last one is even being used from January 1 next year. The FISA amendment is pretty close to the Swedish law, actually. Approved by so-called liberals.

  It’s a bit late now, but feel free to get in touch for campaign tips, if you need to. We’ve had quite some success creating debate and sparking interest here, and it’s the only way of getting people out of apathy.

  Otherwise, I’ll say what Bruce Schneier would say: If I don’t have anything to hide, you have no reason to watch me.

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  Dafmetal — July 7th, 2008, 5:43 am

  What frightens me somewhat, is this the ease with which you suggest that privacy is only for U.S. citizens.

  Quote (part of highlight 3.):
  “The current bill does include one useful amendment to FISA, which could be passed with virtually unanimous approval in an afternoon, to allow warrantless interception of foreign-to-foreign communications that happen to pass through the United States. No one opposes this.”

  So, if you were to communicate with your friends, the U.S. government has no right to snoop on that. But if I communicate with my friends (and this communication passes through the U.S.), the U.S. government can just listen in?

  How would you feel if it was the other way around?

  This could also have big repercussions on corporate communications for instance? Should the U.S. government be allowed to listen in on foreign corporations talking with each other if it passes through the U.S.?

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  Kevin — July 7th, 2008, 5:58 am

  Thanks Tim. Took action.

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  Tim Ferriss — July 7th, 2008, 6:00 am

  @Dafmetal and all:

  I don’t mean to imply that privacy is just for US citizens. Not at all. I added “not to mention foreign nationals,” as the effects will be even more severe for you all. It just happens that we Americans would be living in an evolving police state, and since we’re responsible for contacting our Senators, I addressed this post mostly to my fellow Americans.

  @All who might consider this leftist spin:

  There are Republicans in Congress who oppose this bill. It’s not a party problem, it’s a 4th amendment problem with good people on both sides who have voiced real fears.

  Those of you who know more about these issues, please speak up! And remember folks — I didn’t write this for the debate but for the action we need to take.

  Please act. It cannot hurt to postpone or eliminate the immunity in the amendments, but it could end up being irreversible if we wait.

  Pura vida,

  Tim

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  Annie — July 7th, 2008, 6:06 am

  Good for you Tim. It’s brave to make a personal, political stance clear, in public. It’s also very responsible. I’m thanking my lucky stars that, for now, I’m in Canada. I’ve passed your video on to my American friends (many of whom live in Washington D.C.).

  I try to stay on top of major American news and I’m a little startled that this issue isn’t a front-center, top-of-the-page headline. How eerie.

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  Jeremy — July 7th, 2008, 6:13 am

  It’s ridiculous that such a measure is even being considered, but we have strayed very far from our roots.

  Tim, I realize you don’t like or believe in the dogma of politics – you could do a LOT worse than read The Revolution: A Manifesto (Ron Paul) to realize just how far America has wandered and to finally see a real discussion of the problems we face and what solutions are available.

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  Mary — July 7th, 2008, 6:24 am

  Thank you for posting this, Tim. This bill will retroactively will make crimes that already have been committed by corporations and the Administration legal. (Yes, folks – domestic wiretapping without a court order is illegal).

  Only a fool would trust ANY government (let alone this crime family) to use such power only for counter-terrorism.

  This is not a left-vs-right argument. This is a “are we a nation of LAWS or of corporations” argument.

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  Sean Mathena — July 7th, 2008, 6:31 am

  Thanks Tim, inspiring post as always! I will definitely pass this one one!

  Sean

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  Cameron — July 7th, 2008, 6:44 am

  Thanks Tim, I did my home work and I happened to agree with your request and took action!

  With Respect,

  Cameron C.

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  KM — July 7th, 2008, 6:46 am

  “For American readers, the short video above could be the most important video you watch in your lifetime.”

  And today’s Most Extreme Use Of Hyperbole Award goes to…

  It’s not “leftist spin” to oppose this bill. It is spin, however, to act like it portends the doom of democracy as we know it.

  Call your senators, discuss the bill, oppose the bill, do what you like, but let’s not get into the apocalyptic nonsense that drives network news cycles.

  ###

  Hi KM,

  No hyperbole intended. I lived in Beijing circa 1995-96 in a “foreign experts” dormitory where we had all of our calls, mail, and e-mail monitored. If this amendment passes, in particular the immunity, we are a stone’s throw from this scenario.

  I do appreciate the comment, though. If we all agreed on everything, the world would be a boring place indeed.

  All the best,

  Tim

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  Rayni — July 7th, 2008, 6:57 am

  Tim i support you!

  I live in holland and we had that discussion as well some time ago. But any real democracy should not do so. The intentions of the bill might be good, but i’m sure it will be used for many other things than tracking terror suspects.

  Big brother will be watching us better i guess. I’d rather keep living with the risk of an attack than losing my precious privacy.

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  Jack — July 7th, 2008, 6:59 am

  Another nail in the coffin of Americans’ liberty.

  @Dean Ouelette
  “the ONLY time they will listen to your conversations is if you are talking to a KNOW terrorist overseas.”

  Who decides what is a “known terrorist?” That label could be applied to anybody (like the terms “enemy combatant” and “person of interest”).

  Even if the intent truly is to listen only to known terrorists, how would we know the rule is being followed?

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  Jose Castro-Frenzel — July 7th, 2008, 7:08 am

  The truth is that by giving up this right we are allowing the government to come one step closer to dictatorship. This is a point that Tim pointed out clearly. Imagine each and every word that comes out of your mouth being overheard by some “intelligence” in the white house? No way!!! It is critical to vote against this act. We will continue to sell out this country by giving up our basic rights. This reminds me of communism. Could it be the iron curtain is going to come back? We must definitely step up and take IMMEDIATE ACTION.

  Best,

  Jose Castro-Frenzel

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  Dr. Zoltan! — July 7th, 2008, 7:12 am

  Tim: this is exactly what I was looking for when I criticized you for fooling around with all your free time. I am glad you ARE doing something serious, and this one is of personal interest to me. I am going to forward this piece as is to my own fans. Thank you very much!

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  Mike Caulfield — July 7th, 2008, 7:19 am

  Another important action:

  If you really want to have an effect on this bill, the most forceful way is to donate to this fund:

  http://www.actblue.com/page/fisa

  This is a fund started by Glenn Greenwald, FireDogLake and other prominent Democrats. The purpose is to get a fund of money together that will support primary challenges against select Democrats who vote for this bill.

  Calls are good, but history has shown that money is better.The specter of a primary challenge is one no Democrat wants, and the place we get the biggest bang for the buck in politics is via primary challenges.

  Tim, please check out the history of this fund, or ask people about it. If it gets up to $500,000 today — a half a million dollars floating around looking for challengers to those that voted for this — *that* will be something that the Blue Dog Democrats will listen to.

  One final thing — I loved your book, but on the thing on politics I flipped out a little — you said basically, don’t follow politics, just wait until the election and then ask the smartest people you trust. I screamed — political action is not only elections!

  I see now I completely misread you. The Low Information diet gets FISA — and those on the High Information Diet seem to have missed it. That’s a powerful endorsement for reading less…

  Congrats on a brave blog post — it’s always hard to know where that line is where you should pull politics into a blog like this — this was clearly one of those instances.

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  chris tackett — July 7th, 2008, 7:29 am

  Thanks, Tim.

  I was already aware of the issue, but am glad to see you posting about it here to help spread the word.

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  Derick — July 7th, 2008, 7:43 am

  Dean,

  This leftist, rightist crap does nothing but separate us. What if I told you this was a bill was resurrected by the Democrats? It was pushed by the Democrats and helped by about half of the Democrats.

  If you actually read the bill, you would know it has nothing to do with known terrorists. Anytime you have a conversation with someone from another country it will be recorded.

  Derick

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  Duane — July 7th, 2008, 7:50 am

  Why is it so hard to find the actual text of the proposed legislation so I can decide for myself? The more I look into this, the more I’m confused. It seems there are amendments (proposed) to the amendments. It also seems the EFF is supportive of amendments, but against the bill itself.

  I’m too independent to listen to ONLY the ACLU and Daniel Ellsberg.

  That said, this isn’t the last chance, right? Still would have to be reconciled with the house bill in conference before becoming the final legislation. But I understand the desire to shape the Senate version, esp. with fewer Senators to target.

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  John — July 7th, 2008, 8:06 am

  Tim, I’m a college professor and I would like to clarify a couple of points. First, the poster stating that this bill will allow the US gov’t to listen to our conversations with KNOWN terrorists only is incorrect. This bill will allow the US gov’t to listen to any US citizen calling ANY foreign national. So, if you want to call your 90 year old grandmother in Canada or the UK, then guess what, your call could be listened to because your dear old grandma could be a terrorist, according to this Bill.

  Second, why did you take the position that we should call Senator Obama? I mean, sure, he might change his mind again and vote against this bill, but most recently he changed his stance to support the telecom immunity bill. I personally found his switch extremely disappointing. His statement on the issue went on about how he disagrees with the Bush administration on this, but due to security concerns he will vote FOR the bill. He’s playing the I have to look like Mr. Right, not act like Mr. Right game. Haven’t people yet grasped the concept that the “anything but Bush” campaign strategy doesn’t work? Where’s the substance? The substance is rearing its ugly head right now. I doubt that Obama will vote against the bill.

  Once again, Congress and certain politicians that have gained our support by saying they themselves will be different, have sold us out and sold our civil rights out to telecom companies that increased their contributions to Senators opposed to the bill. You can check CNN for the telecom funding issue as it hit mainstream media early last week.

  Don’t buy into the rhetoric. Obama is going back on this extremely important issue because the politics of fear sells.

  I applaud you for pointing out this issue to such a broad audience. I truly hope that it will make a difference. BTW, I’m politically independent as I no longer see significant enough differences between the two main political parties. We’re in a Democrat controlled Congress and little has been done to promote change. This is another example of how the “I’m different” rhetoric doesn’t live up when it comes to action.

  Ironically, Senator Obama is using Nixon’s election playbook in his own campaign. History does continue to show that there are very few original ideas yet lots of long term memory loss. I could recommend a book on this issue if anyone is interested in a scholarly take on political rhetoric:

  http://www.amazon.com/Winning-War-Words-Selling-Afghanistan/dp/0313349673/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215442472&sr=1-1

  Cheers,

  John

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  RogerDodger — July 7th, 2008, 8:11 am

  I used to lobby Congress for Pfizer. Can I add two things to this debate?

  1) When you call your Senators ask then where they stand on the bills before reading the script. If they are with you on most issues, thank them! Then ask why they don’t support the issues you differ on. Then go on to ask for their support on those issues. If they are against you in most things, then refer to the entire script.

  2) If they get enough calls, they will change their minds on an issue. 10 activists saying an issue is important to them may equal the opinion of 10000 constituents. If you don’t believe that, just talk to any Real Estate Developer in your area and listen to their war stories on how 10 people coming to a community meeting and shouting blocked a multi million dollar project from happening.

  Be nice. And be interested in the person on the other end of the line. These people have nutjobs calling all day to scream at them.

  I was amazed at how uninformed people in Congress (not just the elected, but their staff as well) were on issues. I was talking heathcare with them and in most cases, ten months after passing the Medicare Part D, I was the first person who they’d talked to who had interviewed doctors on how they felt Part D was working.

  Inform your Congress on issues you are interested in!

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  WP — July 7th, 2008, 8:15 am

  Stupid idea. Recognize that we have not had a terrorist attack since 2001 in this country. It is naive to think that it is just coincidence. This is the result of hard work by dedicated people who are interested in protecting our freedoms.

  Tom — stick to economic thought — this venture into politics is not your strength and all it does is demean you in the eyes of others. Why is it that every entertainer — most of whom either can’t make it out of school or graduate with a BA in the “arts” thinks that they know enough about world affairs to lecture others publicly

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  Mike — July 7th, 2008, 8:26 am

  “His action are often credited with helping end not only the Nixon presidency but also the Vietnam War.”

  Tim- I agree with you, but you have to read over your posts for typos. You meant to say “His actions are often….” or “His action is often….” (I wouldn’t write this on any blog, but you seem to pride yourself on attention to detail and thoroughness)

  Also, when I studied an earlier version of FISA in grad school, the acronym stood for FORIEGN INTELLIGENCE AND SURVEILLANCE ACT. Does it have a new name? I’ve never heard of the FEDERAL INFORMATION SURVEILLANCE ACT?

  Just wanted to check.

  ###

  Hi Mike,

  Good catches — I finished this at around 6am after a long stretch, so just fatigue-induced typos.

  Best,

  Tim

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  Tiga Beck — July 7th, 2008, 8:30 am

  Tim you can say whatever you want but it’s pretty obvious what side (politically) you fall on here.

  Your disclaimer of evidence or whatever you wish to call it.. that there are even Republicans voting against this as some sort of proof that this is not just a leftist drive shows you naivety. The Republicans are in shambles because so many are gutless and are falling to represent their constituents and their views.

  The Democrats have been waiting with baited breath for Bush/Cheney to break the law or commit any infraction against the constitution so they could begin the impeachment process… and they never have… and they’ve had the power to do so (by their numbers) since ’06. Why haven’t they? Mainly because what they say and what they actually know are two different things. The bottom line is they have NOTHING and wonks like Ellsberg keep spewing this same old BS.

  Tim from a small businessman/marketer’s perspective I think it’s wise to steer clear of the political fray. You only set yourself up to lose have of your following… can you afford this?

  Tiga

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  Kevin — July 7th, 2008, 8:35 am

  I’ve been providing monthly support for the good work of EFF for years, and I encourage you all to join in. These days, the ramparts of defense of our electronic liberties are very thinly manned indeed. Only in our numbers, our votes and our pocketbooks can we overcome the disproportionate influence of corporate lobbyists in Washington. But we can do it! Go EFF!

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  The People's Chemist — July 7th, 2008, 8:35 am

  He seems confused…Speaking on democracy, he quotes the benefits of having a republic…Which is it? Republic or democracy? I’ll take “…and the republic for which it stands.” Still though, the U.S. constitution is died long ago. And most American’s have had their rights “infringed upon” before they were born…ho hum.

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  Erik Shear — July 7th, 2008, 8:42 am

  I hate this bill and it makes me ill reading it. This is not about being liberal or conservative its about bending our freedoms in a direction we don’t want to go in. So in the fine print the bill says only if you are “talking to a known terrorist” well my question is how did they know you were talking to them to begin with and what constitutes a terrorist? Any manipulation or bending of our right as outlined by the constitution in the name of anything is BAD period no matter what side of the fence you sit on.

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  Marke — July 7th, 2008, 8:46 am

  Thanks for the post, Tim! As you mentioned about yourself, I, too, have generally avoided politics and politically-oriented topics. But because of this morning’s post I have just called my local Senators for the first time in my life! I was nervous about it – not knowing what to expect – but in the end it wasn’t difficult at all! Thank you for the information.

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  Brian Walker — July 7th, 2008, 8:46 am

  Hi Tim,

  I’m glad you don’t talk about politics much…but I’m thrilled to see that you have the courage and vision to write a post like this. We need people with your influence to help get the message through.

  America is in deep, deep trouble. We are only a few steps away from Fascism and most people don’t even see it coming.

  Personally, I am in the process of acquiring a second citizenship as a contingency plan.

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  Peter — July 7th, 2008, 8:52 am

  Thanks Tim,

  I’ve been concerned about this for a while and your post got me off my butt. I just typed up two letters for my senators and faxed them to the senators’ offices.

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  Lee Laslo — July 7th, 2008, 8:55 am

  Thanks, Tim!

  As someone who’s spent 15 years in the military (Marine Corps, Army), I’m all too familiar with the what it means to support and defend the Constitution in the face of constant attack in the name of the ‘public good’. This isn’t leftist spin: It’s about protecting the principles America was founded upon.

  “The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.” … Thomas Jefferson

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  Peter Andrén — July 7th, 2008, 8:57 am

  Just an advice. Take the chance here, America, and act.

  We just got an equal bill, FRA, passed in Sweden despite massive protest for authorities and the people and the goverment is defending it by saying that they’ve ensured the integritet with 4 different control institutions.

  If you make a good control institution you only need one. There has been big protests and there are still protests going on so…

  Please, America, before its to late. Protest!
  Hope that you still try to stop the bill and wish you the best in the fight!

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  Richard Keene — July 7th, 2008, 9:02 am

  Tim, As I believe that we are still at war there are certain things that have to done to keep us safe. You interviewed a person who broke the law by disclosing certain information (SECRET) to of all anti-american institutions, the NYTIMES! It’s our rear ends they’re trying to protect so I would definitely investigate these actuations throughly! GOOD LUCK!

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  Andrew — July 7th, 2008, 9:03 am

  Hi Tim,

  I am a big fan of your blog and also follow politics quite a bit…I have not made up my mind on this particular issue but would like to comment in general about the preservation of freedom.

  - First, we do not live in a democracy, we live in a Republic…there is a huge difference between the two. I suggest your readers research why we are not a democracy and why this is a good thing.

  Why is it that so many people (both on the left and the right) are concerned about their freedom in terms of this particular legislation? Why the outrage here?
  The government is taking away more and more of our freedom every single day and no one gets outraged.

  We are facing the possibility of a new president (I’ll let you figure out who it is, it shouldn’t be hard to figure out) who is advocating for trillions of dollars in new taxes and entitlement programs. For those readers who think there is nothing wrong with this, consider it in these terms – when I earn money, I am trading a portion of my life for the means by which I can take care of my family or improve my life in the way I see fit as a free citizen. So by definition, when money is taken away from me, that traded portion of my life has been taken away. We have a candidate wanting to strip away the freedom of one American in order to pander to another…Where is the outrage?

  I am sure a lot of readers of this blog are entrepreneurs or very motivated professionals. These are the kinds of people who make this country great, not our government. Everyday the government is chipping away at the resources of these individuals through tax policy and over-regulation. Where’s the outrage?

  I challenge everyone to look past the bumper sticker slogans and do your research…though I don’t like to see political topics on this website, I do applaud Tim for backing up his position with research.

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  Brian Walker — July 7th, 2008, 9:07 am

  …oh…and… just because you’re not paranoid, it doesn’t mean they’re not after you…heh heh

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  Jen — July 7th, 2008, 9:11 am

  Kudos, It’s important to speak your mind, remember you can’t please 100% of the people a 100% of the time. I am glad your let us into this part of who you really are. Last night I was watching CNBC. David Farber had a special about Big Brother, Big Business. I think it was broadcast for the timeliness of this bill on Tuesday. People forget that even their library books are called in to question under these kind of surveillance.
  I pray our forefathers aren’t rolling over in their grave’s just seeing what we have let happen to this country in terms of freedom from persecution and tyranny.

  Hugs,
  Jen

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  Sally O'Boyle — July 7th, 2008, 9:16 am

  Thank you, Tim. I blog about our lives as expats living in Costa Rica. I take a humorous view, like “Erma (my hero) lives in a third world country.” Like you, I think about what I post and how it pertains to my topic. I don’t want to have a political blog, but, in today’s world, it could become so political so fast…

  We came to Costa Rica for a year adventure, never intending to live permanently outside the good ole USA. But what an eye-opener! For starters, you learn firsthand what non-US citizens think of us. Goodness, we’re smug! You also gain a new perspective on life there and what we’ve given up in the name of “liberty.”

  To Dean I’d like to say don’t be so naive. To the rest of the world, the US military is a known terrorist organization. We’ve bombed and killed more citizens of other countries in the name of spreading democracy and homeland security than any other country ever. You are five times more likely to die from an attack of killer bees than by a terrorist. Please educate yourself before you discount any spin.

  As an expat, my conversations could be routinely monitored. I have nothing to hide, but… that’s not the point.

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  Kevin Dangoor — July 7th, 2008, 9:20 am

  Recognizing that Tim wants to keep this to action, rather than debate, I’ll stay brief.

  @Dean from the first comment: this issue really has nothing to do with who you might be communicating with. It’s about following the Constitution and limiting the power of the executive branch. The balance of powers is one of the most important parts of keeping our country “free”.

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  Marcie — July 7th, 2008, 9:21 am

  Tim – you can’t please everyone all of the time Thanks for the excellent information & interview.

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  Jon Davies — July 7th, 2008, 9:21 am

  Chris from Norway is right – even citizens in the UK would be subject to this and without recourse to the representatives of the US government.

  We’ve already had the cases of extraordinary rendition in the UK which the UK government implied the US hadn’t informed them of so we’re under no illusions as to where we stand in the ‘special’ relationship vis-a-vis intergovernmental exchanges.

  We have our own issues with our government trying to overturn some of the principles of Magna Carta and detain ‘terror’ suspects for up to 42 days without trial.

  I see a ‘thread’ emerging from Western governments in this ‘war on terror’, but none of these measures would have stopped 9/11 or 7/7 here in the UK surely.

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  Alex Berger — July 7th, 2008, 9:30 am

  Tim, I saw you mention this on Twitter and I’m so glad you decided to go ahead with it. It’s so important that we stand up against this stuff. The constitution and our rights over the last few years has taken such a horrendous beating, it truly is frightening.

  I’d just like to add, that to those who think our terrorism policy is making you safer/grounds for sacrificing certain rights, you’re so, so completely wrong. I recently did a writeup which i’ve linked (click name) outlining just a few of the threats that just one or two hackers could facilitate as an illustration that caution and diligence is necessary, but sacrificing our civil liberties, quality of life, and failure to hold our government accountability will not make us any safer.

  Remember, they’re called your inalienable rights for a reason. They are profoundly important and central to the ideals of being an American. The decision to support things like the FISA bill, Patriot Act and other similar mumbo jump isn’t patriotism. It’s submission to fear mongering and a betrayal of your patriotic duty to yourself, your fellow Americans and the constitution.

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  Dan Sweeney — July 7th, 2008, 9:37 am

  Buzzed and Digged.

  Also joined the Barack group.. and about to call.

  (I hardly keep up with politics.. but do take
  action when necessary)
  Faithful Reader,
  Dan Sweeney

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  Jose Castro-Frenzel — July 7th, 2008, 9:38 am

  Tim,

  What are your suggestions in planning for unpredictable government where the constitution is not even followed?

  Jose Castro-Frenzel

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  Marcus Putzetta — July 7th, 2008, 9:54 am

  Tim,

  Thank you very much for taking this important step and posting this interview. For these very reasons I will not participate in the CLEAR program “those who sacrifice liberty for convenience, will get neither”

  When I was a child I went to bed thinking 40,000 Soviet ICBM’s might rain down us overnight, but I wasn’t scared. Now we are all terrified of a suitcase nuke, and of the Iranians – who by they way have no airforce or navy – What happened to the home of brave. We are destroying our country ourselves out of fear. Wake Up Everyone.

  Marcus

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  Lee — July 7th, 2008, 9:57 am

  I was trying to organize my thoughts to clearly articulate them. Then I found this quote:

  He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself. ~Thomas Paine

  Nuff said!

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  Karl — July 7th, 2008, 10:02 am

  Tim –

  Good reminder, and I’ve made the calls and pinged my friends via email.
  As a side note, I’m disappointed that one of my Senators (Feinstein) already form-emailed back a note defending her pro-FISA Amendment stance.

  From her second paragraph”…It is important to understand the consequences if the Senate does not pass this bill. We would either have to extend the temporary surveillance bill passed last August – which should not happen – or allow surveillance on certain foreign targets to expire which would lay the Nation bare and decrease our ability to identify and protect against terrorist threats. Neither of these options is acceptable.”.

  That’s a pretty weak argument – we don’t want to extend the temporary bill (er, why?), and we don’t want NO surveillance, therefore we must pass this bad, permanent bill.

  I = not impressed. To be fair, she indicated her willingness to support removal of Telco immunity provisions.

  - Karl

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  Pete — July 7th, 2008, 10:03 am

  I’m moving.

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  Adam Rice — July 7th, 2008, 10:15 am

  To me the first quote sums everything up.

  How many of us are too scared, too spineless to live in a free country?

  Soldiers spill their blood to protect these freedoms from foreign influence. Citizens on whichever side they happen to fall should see encroaching on anyone’s freedom a threat to their own freedom.

  If the Republicans trounce Democrat’s freedoms what happens if and when the Democrats take power? If the Democrats trounce the Republican’s freedoms what happens when the Republicans retake power?

  If the far left revolutionary’s rights are trampled shouldn’t the right wing reactionary stand up for those rights and vice versa?

  The current lack of respect for each other makes me sick.

  Religious leaders and people. Remember what you have to lose should the freedom to gather and worship freely from anyone. You might be next.

  Atheists, the freedom of religion protects you too.

  As for the argument that this is leftist bull crap, I’m a right leaning moderate. My friends are right leaning moderates or far into the right. And quite frankly we’re concerned about where we’ve come to.

  Trading security for freedom is a dumb trade.

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  jetsetlife — July 7th, 2008, 10:16 am

  I’m really proud of the fact that you spoke your opinion openly here. I have considered doing the same on my site but have been concerned about the ramifications. Once again you have inspired me. Thanks!

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  Don M — July 7th, 2008, 10:17 am

  To me it is very simple why Obama’s current position has evolved on this. If a terrorist attack were to happen, it would be very good for the McCain campaign (both McCain and one of his top campaign people have acknowledged this) and it would be serious detriment to the Obama campaign. Obama’s compromise for some oversight to this is a smart short term band-aid, and I have full confidence he will deep-six FISA if he becomes president.

  @Andrew “[the possibility of a president] who is advocating for trillions of dollars in new taxes and entitlement programs”

  I suggest you stick to FISA here and avoid the classic (outdated) liberal arguments, political jabs and unqualified statements.

  DM

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  Jose Castro-Frenzel — July 7th, 2008, 10:18 am

  KUDSO FOR GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN!!!!!!

  Jose

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  Justin W — July 7th, 2008, 10:25 am

  Thanks for stepping outside your comfort zone and posting this, Tim. I make a living in the security and privacy world and these topics havn’t received enough attention in the general public.

  My colleagues and I have debated the issues surrounding FISA quite a bit, and I was on the fence about various details (such as to what extent this really supports the fight against terrorism versus to what extent it excuses the illegal actions of the Bush Administration). However, all those doubts evaporated the instant I actually read the bill.

  [From Tim since URL expired: search “FISA Amendments Act of 2008″ at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/c110query.html

  Pay close attention to the sections of the original FISA Act of 1978 which this bill repeals (Title IV, Section 403).

  One of my favorite authors has pointed out that we’re not choosing between Privacy OR Security, but rather between Liberty OR Control. We should all remember that privacy and liberty are security mechanisms too – they protect us against a police state. (See http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/01/security_vs_pri.html for the full argument.)

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  Beau — July 7th, 2008, 10:32 am

  Tim, I applaud you for taking this stance, and for directing the “following” you have to a good cause. As suggested, I’ve signed up for the Obama group and contacted my senators.

  When I was in college, I studied electronic governance and legislation and the topic of ECHELON (check Wikipedia) came up. This bill sounds like an attempt to finally authorize and extend the powers of the network “legitimately”.

  The points Dan raised about extensive surveillance turning America into an autocracy or dictatorship are frighteningly prescient, and regardless of who ends up in power here, will be the likely outcome. Who will be able to resist using information when their “security brief” includes personal information that would never have been available before, but which is now “common knowledge” to the intelligence agencies due to wide-ranging surveillance?

  For anyone interested, my paper on the subject (written 5 years ago, so this isn’t something new) is linked from my name.

  Beau

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  Paul Strauss — July 7th, 2008, 10:43 am

  Tim,
  I’m a conservative, card-carrying Republican and I support the war against Islamic fundamentalism on any and all fronts- including Iraq. Bush was correct to invade Iraq, depose Saddam Hussein, and the military surge designed to help the Iraqi people restore order and establish the necessary political structure for the first democracy in the middle east other than Israel is working, will work, and posterity will judge Bush as spot on.

  That being said, this legislation that provides for government wire taps with the only pre-requisite being that the call is being made to – from overseas is disturbing. In a global marketplace, Americans who do not see this as a threat to their liberty are “useful idiots” for an already bloated, invasive, and abusive Federal Government. Consider just for example that an American citizen could be dealing with a call center in India, or a relative in France, or a Christian missionary in China- potentially jeopardizing their life- could be wire tapped without the government having to present probable cause, obtain a warrant, or– and this is most frightening– with any oversight whatsoever. Why conservatives in particular are not reflexively distrustful of government on this point is mystifying.

  While I agree the FISA law needs to be updated to account for things like disposable phones, etc. (for example, I would favor a warrant that follows a person vs. a device– for a SET period of time), that’s no excuse to ignore the FISA laws outright.

  I’ve put partisan politics aside in favor of personal liberty. Our government is involved in too many aspects of our lives already. I hope my fellow conservatives and Republicans will join me in contacting their representatives and John McCain to oppose this latest Federal Government usurpation of our rights.

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  Andy — July 7th, 2008, 10:50 am

  Tim, great post today — very courageous of you to openly announce where you stand when it comes to freedom of the people, (no surprise how you feel!) Coincidentally I just watched the excellent film The U.S. Vs. John Lennon which explored this very subject in the days of Nixon. All of us in Anglo democracies should take serious note of this potentially precedent-setting infringement on the rights of individuals — privacy bills such as this attack and undermine the very core of Western society. The whole thing reeks of 1984!

  Bush = Nixon. Long live freedom!

  Cheers,
  Andy

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  Mike — July 7th, 2008, 11:02 am

  Hey Tim,

  Great post, I’m glad you did it. There is a distinct difference between being an alarmist and raising an alarm; with the way things have been going lately there happen to be a lot of alarms. People should be aware that the freedoms we have enjoyed in the United States are diminishing daily under the guise of protection. For every new law that is enacted to protect us the result is one less freedom we enjoy. For once liberty is lost, it is difficult to recapture.

  The growth of the Federal Gov’t and the power it wields is in direct opposition to the plan for this country that was founded in our Constitution. Perhaps, it’s time to consider what made this country great in the first place and return to those principles instead of running amuck and reacting to every perceived threat in an attempt to save what remains of its greatness.

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  Nate — July 7th, 2008, 11:12 am

  If these regulations didn’t stop them from spying before, how is preventing this bill going to turn on their moral compass?

  If I wanted politics, I’d visit the huffington post or CNN. What ever happened to the Tim Ferriss that taught us language or business automation?

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  number1 — July 7th, 2008, 11:16 am

  Great post Tim.
  George Orwell : 1984 – This law feels like Big Brother!!

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  lowellfield — July 7th, 2008, 11:36 am

  Just want to point out that first commenter Dean is completely wrong about the “compromise” legislation only permitting interception of calls to known terrorists.

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  Dan Morelle — July 7th, 2008, 11:38 am

  I thought you guys lived in a constitutional republic not a democracy?
  Always enjoy your interviews with interesting people.

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  Chris — July 7th, 2008, 12:03 pm

  Government has no legitimate function.

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  Tim Ferriss — July 7th, 2008, 12:04 pm

  Hi All,

  Thank you so much for your comments. Three important points:

  @All – great advice for calling Senators:

  From RogerDodger, who used to lobby Congress for Pfizer (Roger, I’m adding this to the post):

  1) When you call your Senators ask then where they stand on the bills before reading the script. If they are with you on most issues, thank them! Then ask why they don’t support the issues you differ on. Then go on to ask for their support on those issues. If they are against you in most things, then refer to the entire script.

  2) If they get enough calls, they will change their minds on an issue. 10 activists saying an issue is important to them may equal the opinion of 10000 constituents. If you don’t believe that, just talk to any Real Estate Developer in your area and listen to their war stories on how 10 people coming to a community meeting and shouting blocked a multi million dollar project from happening.

  Be nice. And be interested in the person on the other end of the line. These people have nutjobs calling all day to scream at them.

  I was amazed at how uninformed people in Congress (not just the elected, but their staff as well) were on issues. I was talking heathcare with them and in most cases, ten months after passing the Medicare Part D, I was the first person who they’d talked to who had interviewed doctors on how they felt Part D was working.

  Inform your Congress on issues you are interested in!

  @Tiga

  I appreciate your honesty. To you question: can I afford risking my following by posting this? I think about it differently: is it worth it, even if I do? I believe this is important enough.

  @All re: eliminating the bipartisan divide

  I want to thank the Republicans readers for leaving comments like this (this example from Paul Strauss):

  “I’ve put partisan politics aside in favor of personal liberty. Our government is involved in too many aspects of our lives already. I hope my fellow conservatives and Republicans will join me in contacting their representatives and John McCain to oppose this latest Federal Government usurpation of our rights.”

  Thank you to all for commenting and — above all — taking action.

  All the best,

  Tim

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  John — July 7th, 2008, 12:12 pm

  to WP,

  Actually, I have a PhD and teach in this field. However, your elitist attitude is the result of effective rhetoric. I’m a patriot that has stayed away from dogmatic debates and I try to teach my students about the issues aka. how to decipher the rhetoric. The current administration will not reveal evidence that their counter terrorism programs have worked directly. Another explanation, or two, as to why we haven’t had a catastrophic attack inside the US:

  1. We set a great policy standard. You attack us, then we invade your country. Simple. Yes, most leaders, even those that sponsor terrorism would like to stay in power.

  2. We’ve hardened our targets (so you’re partially correct) and guess what? It’s a heck of a lot easier to attack Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan then in the US.

  So, since rhetoric is aimed at the lowest common denominator, people who have not had access to acquire strong analytical and critical thinking skills, are very vulnerable to the rhetoric. As a New Yorker that used to work in Tower 2, I’m glad that we haven’t had anymore significant attacks in the US. However, I also know that statistically speaking I’m much more likely to die in a car accident than in a terrorist attack. Therefore, I’m NOT willing to give up my civil rights just to promote state power.

  Here’s a scholarly book on the topic:
  http://www.amazon.com/Winning-War-Words-Selling-Afghanistan/dp/0313349673/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215457922&sr=8-1

  Cheers,

  John

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  Ben Bleikamp — July 7th, 2008, 12:16 pm

  1. Tim, good post, you were right – I definitely agree.

  2. “I’m a conservative, card-carrying Republican and I support the war against Islamic fundamentalism on any and all fronts- including Iraq.”

  The United States does not fight religious wars – we are fighting against terrorists, not religious fundamentalists. Christian fundamentalists bombing abortion clinics are just as much terrorists as Muslim car bombers. The United States government should be working to stop all of these people.

  3. If you look at the two parties historically, the Republican party is the party that used to support individual rights, so if you have a Republican senator in your district you should be calling them and ask them why they are in favor of infringing upon our 4th Amendment rights. Using the fear to violate the Constitution is something that should scare Americans far more than any potential terrorist attack.

  4. We had the knowledge of an impending terrorist attack prior to September 11th, 2001 and we simply didn’t act on it. The best solution to the problem would be to organize the intelligence and military communities to allow free dissemination of information and allow individuals to act upon the information without fighting the bureaucracy that exists at the Pentagon, the White House, and within the military. There is no need to listen to more phone calls – it will simply add more noise to the data.

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  Mary M — July 7th, 2008, 12:23 pm

  Tim,
  This post makes me admire you even more. It’s very brave to stick up for something you believe in, especially in Politics.

  @ WP- we don’t know that we haven’t had terrorist attacks due to actions of the Bush Admin. It’s not as if we were having them constantly before. It’s naive of you to think that it could not be a coincidence. Since I served in Iraq, I would say I’m one of the dedicated people interested in protecting our freedoms, not one who’s out to steal them.

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  Dennis Mangan — July 7th, 2008, 12:28 pm

  No immigration = no surveillance. Think about it: the only reason this might be necessary is that we’ve let in so many foreign nationals who wish to do us harm. Had we not done so, we wouldn’t be having this debate.

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  Mary M — July 7th, 2008, 12:35 pm

  @ John,

  I just saw your last post, great job! Way better than mine.

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  Allen — July 7th, 2008, 12:36 pm

  Donate to the EFF. It’s sad we have to do this much just to prevent unconstitutional laws from being passed.

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  Jenn — July 7th, 2008, 12:37 pm

  Every Fourth of July, I enjoy the celebration and purpose of our nation’s creation. I get a great amount of pleasure from the writings of our nation’s founders and find myself refreshed by their words and having renewed hope for our beloved United States, warts and all.

  Thank you, Tim, for calmly and rationally bringing up an issue that needs our immediate attention. (And for using a Benjamin Franklin quote in the correct context.) I have sent a personalized e-mail to Senator Casey (D) and Senator Specter (R) and hope that they vote accordingly. I will follow up on their votes later this week.

  jenn
  P.s. I enjoyed your hard boiled egg demonstration (very funny!) but I could not get mine to cooperate. The cooked eggs seemed stuck to the inside of their shells. Any tips?

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  Victor — July 7th, 2008, 12:44 pm

  Made the call; forwarded to 20 friends. I’ve been watching this issue for some time, but thanks for prompting me to specific action.

  \/

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  Jeff — July 7th, 2008, 12:51 pm

  Tim, love your blog. While I agree this amendment should not be passed, it does read as if you are being an alarmist. Perhaps my own politics are swaying me, but the very fact that you feel you need to address the Obama supporters specifically does make me feel alienated. Obama has proven he will do what is best for Obama, not our country. Please stick to your normal blogging and leave the politics out.

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  Matt — July 7th, 2008, 12:55 pm

  As a traditional Republican (read: NOT a neo-con) I am glad that this post has been able to inspire and trigger some action on behalf of many of the readers. The unprecedented growth of government power since 9/11, especially under a Republican administration is frightening.

  And Tim – only you can go from how to peel hard boiled eggs to a detailed post on FISA.

  cheers
  Matt

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  Tim Ferriss — July 7th, 2008, 12:59 pm

  @All and Duane, re: where can I read the actual bill?

  To read the new FISA bill from the Library of Congress instead of a partisan group, just search “FISA Amendments Act of 2008″ at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/c110query.html

  Thanks to Justin W. for pointing this out.

  @All re: Obama mention

  I would love to give online Facebook-like groups for all Republicans and Democrats who originally opposed the bill, but Obama is the only Senator I can find with a group to join specifically related this FISA bill. Please don’t misinterpret this.

  This post is about a bill much larger than Obama, even though others Democrats are likely to follow his lead if he opposes the bill.

  Thanks!

  Tim

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  Charles — July 7th, 2008, 1:04 pm

  Thanks, Tim. I sent an email via the EFF and all of the folks in my office did the same.

  Email your senator(s) via the EFF:
  http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=391

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  Andy — July 7th, 2008, 2:29 pm

  Tim, thanks for the concise information. I’ve joined the BO group, and used EFF’s information to contact my Senators (both email and phone).

  Thanks again for doing all you’re doing.

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  anyfreeman — July 7th, 2008, 2:30 pm

  Let’s make July 14th “Support The Constitution Day” It could be a non-violent homage to Bastille Day, and send a message to the folks who are supposed to work for us and to reflect our values.
  Things we can do: Fly the flag, write your congressional representatives and tell them in no uncertain terms to support the Constitution and the principles of rule of law.
  Write your newspaper, contact the editor – ask why the paper doesn’t do a piece on government spying on its citizens, suggest some people to talk with. Forward the articles that resonate with your point of view to the papers, to the websites attached to the news business.
  Write to the Editorial Page editor, send a letter to the editor. Contact your local news station, television and radio with the same request. Send supporting information regarding the issues, and make it a Bill of Rights issue. It is not Right/Left, Democrat/Republican anymore, it’s Truth Justice and the American Way.
  After Abu Graibh, it’s imperative that America regain her rightful role as the beacon of liberty for hope. This is a way to prove that as a country we still uphold the principles of law.There are many thinking people around the world who are concerned that the US has descended into a fear induced paralysis, and that our best days are behind us. If we do nothing, they may be correct.
  Some suggestions: I have stopped my account with AT&T, and switched to another carrier who refused to pimp my information. Perhaps there are principled carriers in your area. Call around and ask, “Do you spy on me?”
  If they don’t, and they haven’t, consider switching to that carrier.
  Then send a note stating why to AT&T or the others (Verizon, etc) explaining why their abuse of your privacy has lost them a customer.
  Copy your newspaper, your television news station website and your better business bureau.

  Talk to your friends, associates, and co-workers about this issue in stores, cafes, and schools. Educate the folks who are struggling to pay for tuition, taxes, soaring rents and gasoline how this is related. When the cozy relationship between those who profit from our activities is conflated and combined with those who govern us, the amount of control over our economic well-being grows to alarming proportions. When the regulators are compromised by the business interests, we are truly on our own. Remember, at least Mussolini made the trains run on time. This gang of Keystone Cronies can’t even control their contributors.

  Finally, make July 14th “Support the Constitution” day.

  Send copies of your letters to your newspaper, to FOX News and CNN and TIME magazine. Ask them to do investigations on the illegal spying on law-abiding citizens, and to do reports on this abuse. Follow up. Send letters on this topic in your own words to your legislators, to your friends, and to the blogs you get your information from. Investigative journalism may be in hibernation during this election, but if enough people know about what’s happening, it may make a difference.
  We are not all “Good Fellas” on this bus.

  Thank you for your time.

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  JohnC — July 7th, 2008, 2:32 pm

  Those of you posting from the UK – you are by far the most heavily video survielled population of the planet. No one else even comes close. So don’t talk about the situation here.

  Right vs. Left does matter. It matters a lot. You will not lose your freedoms from the right; you will lose them from the left.

  Year by year the left enlarges government, requiring more taxes.

  A dollar is one Unit Of Freedom. Every dollar confiscated from you is a dollar you don’t have to do what you want to do, and a dollar unelected elites in a myriad of federal bureaucracies do have to tell you how to live your life.

  The people who will take them away from you will be the college professors who prohibit you from saying the truth in class, lest it violate official doctrine.

  The people who will take them away from you will be the self appointed masters of political correctness who limit what you can say or wear, lest it offend someone.

  The people who will take it away from you will be the petty bureaucrats who regulate you life in a thousand ways in blatant violation of the Constitution.

  Notice all these things are abstractions. No dictators or jack-booted troops marching in the streets.

  So guys like Ellsberg have to market their doom and gloom to those who can’t understand abstractions. Ellsberg’s argument is packaged for simpletons.

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  connector — July 7th, 2008, 2:36 pm

  Tim,

  Saw your tweet re:dailykos. Fan of the book, in the liberal “netroots” and want to get you connected. Drop me a line.

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  Stephen — July 7th, 2008, 2:38 pm

  Something for all of you conservatives to consider: if this bill is passed all future presidents will have this power. Do you really want the liberal, pinko, Democrats to be able to listen to you without a warrant?

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  Sally C — July 7th, 2008, 2:47 pm

  Hi Tim,

  Thanks so much for going out on a limb and sharing this information with all of us, I wasn’t remotely aware of it. After reading your post and watching the video I not only called my senators for the 1st time ever (turns out it’s really easy – who knew?) but encouraged all my friends and family members to do the same.

  I’m sure this wasn’t an easy decision for you to make so thanks for doing the conscionable thing. And who knows how far your post will “ripple”?

  - Sally

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  Jim Parsons — July 7th, 2008, 2:50 pm

  Awesome piece with Daniel Ellsberg.
  Hate to chime in with an English example from a dramatic work (play then film) but this scene from “A Man For All Seasons” seem to apply to this situation:
  http://tinyurl.com/5olhgf

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  Craig — July 7th, 2008, 2:55 pm

  After watching the video you posted with Mr Ellsburg, I love that he mentioned the film, The Lives of Others.

  If you have not seen this film, please watch it. It is a great movie, and accurately displays what it is like to live in a society where the government can spy on all of their citizens. It will really make you think.

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  David Gratton — July 7th, 2008, 3:14 pm

  As a Canadian, I know it is in many ways inappropriate for me to comment, especially as my country was not the one attacked “from the inside” on September 11. However, my political views have been highly influenced by Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. As such, I am a very big admirer of the US constitution.

  The continual restrictions and intrusions on personal liberties and freedoms, by the US administration(s) is literally heart breaking and I believe dangerous for the world’s liberal societies (classical sense) should it continue. The USA of today is increasingly not resembling the USA that was founded in a bloody war for the cause of liberty. So, it seems unconscionable that you may give your country’s founding ideals away without so much as a fight. You may actually vote your liberty away. Please do not let this happen, the world needs a strong and free USA.

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  Adam Rinkleff — July 7th, 2008, 3:34 pm

  It is naive to say that the bill ‘only’ comes into effect when you are talking to a ‘known terrorist’, because if you actually understood the law, you would know that the PATRIOT act defines what a terrorist is, and that happens to be anybody designated as such by either the president or the attorney general, who do not have to prove to anybody that their allegation is valid. Frankly, that sounds like a loophole.

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  Chris — July 7th, 2008, 3:54 pm

  @ JohnC

  Left, right, it doesn’t matter. Left-wing politicians take away your liberty in the name of children and of fighting poverty, while right-wing politicians do it in the name of family values and fighting drugs. Either way, government gets bigger and you become less free.

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  Kenny — July 7th, 2008, 3:59 pm

  Tim,

  I really salute you for taking this stance. I am a UK citizen but know how much America dictates world policy and feel like probably the whole world should get a vote in American elections.

  People must make a stand on all issues of importance because when small concessions are conceded over time the whole previous framework can be completely eroded and freedom can become facism in the same way that democracy can become tyranny.

  I absolutely love the 4HWW and recommend it to whoever I can and I am really glad that you have used the platform which you’ve gained to alert us to this other issue which is so very important in the overall makeup of our lives.

  To one of the fellow posters who said that they were glad to be in Canada and not in the USA I hate to be the one to inform you but the powers that be are in the process of merging Mexico, Canada and America into a North American Union which will use a new currency called the Amero. In times such as these no-one is immune and that is why it is very important that everyone take an active interest in these types of proposed policy, which can threaten our liberty and destroy the very fabric of our lives.

  Ignorance is not bliss.

  Once more thank you Tim for highlighting this issue and using your platform so wisely.

  Best Wishes,
  Kenny

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  Ben McAoson — July 7th, 2008, 4:01 pm

  This needs to be countered:
  “His actions are often credited with helping end not only the Nixon presidency but also the Vietnam War.”

  He may have helped create the political environment in which betrayal of allies was acceptable, but the war did not end when the USA left.
  Tim, think about it from a South Vietnamese perspective.
  How would you have felt 40 years ago if you were continuing to fight against tyrannical communist aggression, and you read the words: “The Vietnam War is ended.”
  The war was not over, we just stopped fighting in it. So there was not peace, there was only a one-sided war: China didn’t stop THEIR support of the Vietcong.

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  Romeo Bravo — July 7th, 2008, 4:10 pm

  Tim, stop freaking out. The government is already everywhere! I have to laugh at all the Europeans here who are making all these comments that we are having some super surveillance society here in the US while in almost all cases European governments provide cradle to grave socialism!

  Wake up all! Where where you when the government took over the schools, your retirement, aid to poor families, medical care, the setting of time, nutrition, food production and market prices, etc, etc. etc.

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  Jeff Nabers — July 7th, 2008, 5:05 pm

  Yes we are supposed to be living in a republic rather than a democracy. The fact that many Americans don’t understand the difference is indicative of the real happenings that we should oppose: manipulation of our attitude.

  Even if we have been spied on by ECHELON for decades, legalizing it takes our society one step closer towards having no grounds for complaint or protest. People get murdered every day, but that doesn’t mean we should legalize it.

  I agree with protesting this. A question for everyone though:

  Many of our laws today are illegal themselves. What can we do to reverse the constitutional infringement in additional to stopping its spreading?

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  Stephen A. — July 7th, 2008, 5:08 pm

  Hi, Tim. Never pegged you as a Leftst before, but now I know. It’s too bad you allowed yourself to get brainwashed by the hysteria.

  As others have noted, the UK is far more survailed, and Democracy has not failed there. Nor has it failed here, as evidenced by the fellow in the video and yourself being able to freely talk nonsense.

  The Left has long pushed the theory that the Bush/Cheney administration is evil and out to destroy our freedoms. Tim, if they have done this, why are all the liberal intellectuals, so called, still allowed to speak? Why aren’t the Universities closed? Why isn’t Michael Moore being tortured? Why hasn’t the DailyKos and HuffingtonPost been taken down from the Internet?

  Because it’s all a fantasy. FISA allows the US to monitor you if you call a known terrorist. Period. Libertarians hiding out in the GOP and Leftists in the Democratic Party are using this for political gain and are sadly misguided.

  I would be right out there with them if I thought for a minute that this could be used by the current administration – or the Chavez-like Marxist Regime of Obama that is likely to follow it – to shut down dissent. We ought to save our ire and outrage for the 2009 Congress, which will delete all radio stations and newspapers it feels are not giving Leftists are fair hearing with the “Fairness” Doctrine.

  I think you’ve been affected by your Leftist friends who hate America and have a rather abnormal and irrational fear of it. This Ellsberg character committed a crime by releasing classifed documents to the media. This nutjob thinks the UN actually has more power than the US Constitution over Americans and that Bush should be impeached (see Wikipedia entry)

  Tim, please, please, please keep your politics to yourself in the future or put it on another blog. There are few Capitalists who believe this bill or any other current measure is a threat to their liberties, and fewer still who buy into nutty conspiracy theories. You’re shrinking your base.

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  brian mcnitt — July 7th, 2008, 5:11 pm

  done.

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  Jeff Nabers — July 7th, 2008, 5:17 pm

  Also, I keep noticing people talking about the right vs. left & democrats vs. republicans.

  Has it not occurred to you that the trend of rising taxes and growing government has persisted no matter which party is in power? I have yet to see a time in recent history where government truly gets smaller and taxes truly go down.

  Our political system is broken, and something more significant than faxing a letter needs to be done. This is like treating a symptom instead of the cause.

  I don’t have the answer or solution, but we should all be looking for it and then standing behind it.

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  Kiwis do Fly — July 7th, 2008, 5:31 pm

  I was under the impression that the ideals the U.S. originally stood for are mostly all gone now anyway. Guess this is just another nail in the coffin. Very pleased I live in the land of the (mostly) free – though apathy will probably get us just as surely as it’s getting you. Well done to those of you who still dare to care.

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  Right Wing — July 7th, 2008, 5:50 pm

  I’m definitely not a leftist as I’m very much a right-wing conservative. However, I agree that many of our liberties are being taken from us. As the AT&T technician in San Francisco discovered, ALL of our calls are monitored (even if they are just domestic). All email is monitored as well dating back to Carnivore.

  Why?

  Isn’t this something that a totalitarian government would love employ? Even if our current leaders are trusted, what about the next ones?

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  Tim Ferriss — July 7th, 2008, 6:01 pm

  Hi All,

  Thank you for all the feedback — including critics — and action. To address a few important points:

  1) This is not a “leftist” post. In fact, I agree with many stances of far-right Republicans. The problem is legal and constitutional, not partisan — Senators take an oath to protect the Constitution, and this FISA bill violates the 4th amendment:

  “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

  2) The UK comparison doesn’t quite work. There is a big difference between being video recorded in public spaces (I have no issue with this) and being monitored and recorded in your home and having private communications recorded without a warrant (I have a huge problem with this and experienced in personally in Beijing in 1995-96).

  Best of luck and thanks again for listening, even if you disagree.

  Cheers,

  Tim

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  Matt Man — July 7th, 2008, 6:13 pm

  232 years old and still rings true-

  Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

  You are the man Tim Ferris

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  Doug B — July 7th, 2008, 6:20 pm

  65% ‘Libertarian’ / 100% 4HWW Fan

  This is ultimately why I still live in the USA. For all the talk of lost freedoms and liberties we still have the opportunity to voice our dissent and organize to enact change.

  For all the commenters: If you do not like this bill – get into action, BUT please consider our constitution is not a stagnant document. It is a living, breathing ideal that has been ‘amended’ several times already to contemplate new circumstances and views. If this was not the case women and minorities would not be allowed to vote… let alone run for president!

  Our role in a republic is to elect officials who we believe will represent our desires… If President Bush (or the opposition party leading the representative branch of our government) aren’t representing your desires you have a job to remove them with your vote! Get into action, if you don’t (or worse yet only get involved this one time with one call or letter) you/we will get what we deserve.

  The price we pay for freedom is the responsibility to actively engage in the political process.

  Just some food for thought!

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  Jason — July 7th, 2008, 6:24 pm

  great post – this is one of the few if any times I have posted a comment here, but I think it’s great that you’ve got the guts to take a controversial stand even though it may alienate some people.

  Some people just pee their britches at the mere mention of politics. Guess what? politics is part of life, so it makes sense to address these issues on a blog about life

  Also, frankly, I am not that alarmed about this particular bill and don’t necessarily agree with Tim’s position, but I do believe public figures should speak their mind on things they feel strongly about – so kudos to you, Tim.

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  Stephen A. — July 7th, 2008, 6:31 pm

  I submit to you, Tim, that laws allowing up to 45 days of detainment without charges being filed for British Subjects (note: not aliens) and recent calls to make it even longer, are far more restrictive than in the US. If rights anywhere were under seige, they are far more endangered in the UK under Gordon Brown and in the US under Bush/Cheney.

  But even that has proven to be much hysteria over nothing, thus far.

  There are people like Ellsberg who make a career out of predicting gloom and doom. (Remember hearing about the book “The Great Wall Street Crash of 1990?” peddled back in the 80s?) Don’t fall for such Chicken Little nonsense.

  And yeah, this is a Right/Left thing, when the Left denies all threats from the Middle East are real, and the Right (the TRUE Right) accepts them as real, but have only taken 1/3rd the measures necessary for fear of appearing jackbooted. Maybe its just as well, but the fact remains that it has NOT gotten out of hand. The Left is using this for poltiical advantage. Simple as that.

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  rob elamb — July 7th, 2008, 6:36 pm

  Thank you for putting this up. I can’t believe we Americans have allowed this to happen… then again Bush was elected twice so what the hell do I know.

  Now Obama supports it too proving all of my conservative friends right.

  There is only one solution, Tim… YOU must run for president.

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  rob elamb — July 7th, 2008, 6:52 pm

  This is not about right or left/conservative or liberal its about our rights as Americans… thats it.

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  Rich Keene — July 7th, 2008, 6:55 pm

  Tim, Your not old enough to remember the Second WW, but if you look back in the History books you will see we went to all kinds of deviations of the law to WIN THAT WAR. If we hadn’t we would be speaking German or Japanese now. Lets hope that in the future we will not be speaking Arabic!!! Rich Keene

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  Chris — July 7th, 2008, 7:07 pm

  Tim, re your latest post.

  1) It’s neither a constitutional nor a legal issue, it’s a moral issue. The question is whether it is right for one arbitrary group of people to force another group to pay for and submit to surveillance, while being immune to the process themselves (e.g. if an average Jane took some money from a congress critter and used it to plant cameras in his office, she’d be charged with theft and perhaps espionage). The answer is “no,” by the way.

  2) The UK is a fair comparison because of the taxpayers are forced to pay for the cameras and only people in government have access to the output. It’s entirely irrelevant that the cameras watch a “public” space.

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  Charlie — July 7th, 2008, 7:39 pm

  Tim, Thanks for spreading the word. I had no idea. I’ve done my homework as well. Email sent. Phone call skyped.

  Respectfully,

  Charlie J. Ellis

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  M — July 7th, 2008, 7:42 pm

  Dean…get real and learn the facts. Only uninformed Americans like you would call this ‘leftist’ This is a pure invasion of our rights…and I believe it is KNOWN terrorists.

  THANK YOU.

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  Cody McKibben — July 7th, 2008, 8:02 pm

  Tim, this is a fantastic post, great interview with an honorable, intelligent inside expert. The comments look like they are exploding, so mine will probably be lost in the static, but wanted you to know that I fully agree with you. I am glad to see your passion on this, and violations of the 4th Amendment, etc, are a large part of what got me started blogging 3 years ago.

  I Dugg, Stumbled, blogged, and shared this with everyone I possibly could. It is really disappointing to see how much energy most people are willing to put into arguing with me on this or resisting hearing what they don’t want to know about it, rather than investing that same energy and a few minutes into reading about it or taking any positive action to make their voices heard with the Senators, etc.

  I applaud your efforts Tim. Thank you. Hope people “wake up” on this important issue this time.

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  john — July 7th, 2008, 8:34 pm

  @Stephen A.
  “FISA allows the US to monitor you if you call a known terrorist.”
  Oh? I thought FISA allows the US to monitor you if they get a JUDGE’S APPROVAL. And please define “terrorist.” FISA allowed for and continues to allow for oversight. The Executive Branch ignored that.

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  David — July 7th, 2008, 9:20 pm

  Great discussion. Thank you.

  I’m sick of all this “leftist brainwashing” crap. Before the invasion of Iraq the same BS was said about anyone who questioned the wisdom of that action (and 4100 soldiers, billions of tax dollars, and our international reputation are gone as a result). It’s BENEFICIAL to talk about these things. These are IMPORTANT issues. Politics ain’t a football game. We ALL live under these laws. Don’t trust the government blindly or marry yourself to one party or ideology. Think.

  As an aside, you may want to cover up the all-too-prominent logo on the laptop lid. It’s draws focus.

  Thanks again.

  Ps. I took action.

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  Jose Castro-Frenzel — July 7th, 2008, 9:30 pm

  You can also leave electronic voicemails via their website. This is true at least for the senators in Texas. Keep it coming Tim.

  Keep the Freedom,

  Jose

  http://www.josecastrofrenzel.com

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  Paul Strauss — July 7th, 2008, 10:16 pm

  “The United States does not fight religious wars – we are fighting against terrorists, not religious fundamentalists. Christian fundamentalists bombing abortion clinics are just as much terrorists as Muslim car bombers. The United States government should be working to stop all of these people”

  That’s a fair enough point- however, I would point out that there are religious people fighting a war against us. “Terror” is the tactic of the enemy, not the enemy. So the term “war on terror” has been a persistent annoyance.

  I agree that all terror should be stopped– however, the prevailing threat in the world today is islamic fanatacism. That’s certainly not to say Muslim; and I get that there are other threats- but to pretend that we’re doing anything other than using military force to compel a kind of world-wide islamic reformation is naive.

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  Doug — July 7th, 2008, 10:17 pm

  Tim, did your outsourced India workers snag this interview wit this flaming leftist? I just finished reading your book and like it, but you admit in that book that you are not up on current affairs and that you rely on others for that.

  In case someone did not let you in on this one, these 19 terrorist who were running around at will around in our country flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon! In case you didn’t know. I for one am glad that a law exists that will help deal with these types of people. One of the problems identified after Sept 11 was the inability to connect the dots. Updated FISA laws help do that.

  I am certainly mindful of civil liberties, but I am also mindful that we have people that want to destroy us. I guess what I don’t get from you, is that in your book, you are so into living in these foreign countries. Yet, you attack a U.S. law that is tame compared to the civil liberty in these other countries. Many of these countries do not even have civil liberties.

  As you do in the book, I challenge you to interview someone that is a supporter of these laws and then post that interview. A little balance I think is due unless you want to be lumped in with dailykos lefties.

  BTW, Love the book.

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  banana jim — July 7th, 2008, 10:40 pm

  Thanks for the heads up, I went to the site and emailed my objections…much better subject matter than how to peel an egg

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  Jose Castro-Frenzel — July 7th, 2008, 11:01 pm

  The egg was cool. Always good to keep it mixed up, makes the blog so much more interesting. I replaced TV with Tim’s blog…AWWWWWW!!!!!……

  Need to get off the blogs,

  Jose

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  joahn joahn — July 7th, 2008, 11:04 pm

  On the EFF website they have a link to an article: “Bush: Telecom Immunity More Important Than Surveillance Powers”.

  This article seems to imply that either:
  the immunity will be granted and surveillence will be increased OR
  the immunity will not be granted and surveillance will stay the same.

  I would rather let the companies have immunity and have the surveillance stay the same.

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  Solo500 — July 7th, 2008, 11:10 pm

  Kudos Tim! I am linking to your post & have written emails to both of my senators.

  Thanks!

  Steven

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  brkily — July 7th, 2008, 11:18 pm

  i donated to Feingold to thank him for his leadership on this.

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  Andrew — July 7th, 2008, 11:39 pm

  Referring to the first comment…

  “Tim love your blog but dont be so naive…. they will [only] listen to your conversations is if you are talking to a KNOWN terrorist overseas.”

  Dean, couldn’t it be seen as naive to believe that powers granted with one intention will only ever be used with that intention in mind?

  I’m sure both of us can agree history has done enough to teach that power can and often is abused. It’s not about my view of the current administrators of that power and their likelyhood (or otherwise) to abuse it… it’s about my view on the people wielding it in 5, 10, 25 years time. Since I can’t predict that, I prefer to manage my risk by not allowing people I don’t know I cant trust the freedom to operate too far out of my sight.

  And that’s not cynical about democracy – clearly our system elects people to make decisions on our behalf and becomes unworkable if we refuse to give them any leeway to make their own decisions in enacting office. And naturally, I already understand that governments and civil servants make decisions I disapprove of every day without the sky falling in.

  We’ve all got to judge the appropriate length of the leash.

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  sixxiron — July 8th, 2008, 12:22 am

  This reminds me of when I was younger and met my first “big-time” rockstar. Standing next to him, I realized I was taller than him, had more (real) hair than him and was a lot less strung out. I guess it had to happen, but another hero has fallen.

  Tim, you’ve now pegged yourself as an alarmist, lefty puke. I suspected this from some of your earlier posts, but now it is confirmed. You can say this isn’t a left/right issue but your view is the same nonsense spewed by every leftist, ex drama club student, Hollywood actor and millionaire heiress on the web.

  The government is already everywhere anyway and who really cares if some FBI agent listens to one of your phone calls? If one terrorist attack could be stopped and 3000+ American lives could be saved from listening to one of my boring phone calls, then forget wiretaps, I’ll three-way anybody that wants to listen in myself. The bottom line is that the chance of anyone involved in this post having one of their calls tapped is extremely, extremely unlikely and if your nose is clean, then what the hell are you worrying about anyway?

  It is obvious from all of the “atta boys” received in this thread that you won’t miss me much as a customer but now I get to express one of my great American freedoms, the freedom of choice. Thanks for the inspiration and ideas from the past. Looks like I have to find a new hero.

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  Jean — July 8th, 2008, 12:30 am

  Dear Tim,

  Thank you for this piece of information. As an expat I’m sometimes a bit disconnected from the events at home, but care not a single bit less. I have sent emails as it is not night-time in the U.S. I will attempt to call in the early morning in hopes of putting in a bit more last minute support.

  Best Wishes,

  Jean

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  disenfranchised voter — July 8th, 2008, 12:51 am

  There are those who are thinking Obama is the Pancea that we’ve been calling for but this proves he’s the same old Washington Political Scab. If Obama opposed this he’d oppose it now, not in January of 2009. Those acting like he’s trying to fool the right don’t realize that his message of change is that he wouldn’t be playing the same old politics.

  Changing you politics to win voters and saying what ever they want to hear is the same old game. Don’t be fooled by the message of “change” we already have seen he’s the same old crap we’ve had in office. Congratulations to all those who voted for him, you’ve now given us two candidates and turned this into a game of lesser of two evils once again (and no the answer was no Hillary either).

  Bill Clinton ran on a policy of Change from Bush, Obama is running on a policy of change from Bush… And I don’t think Obama has the lucky timing of Bill to have an economic boom in him.

  Then again Mccain on the right is about the same as Bush, but at least it’s obvious what he’s going to stand for. Personally I find both candidates to show how badly our political machine is doing.

  FISA is a symptom of the problem. The blogist is right, a lot of the amendments COULD be passed in an afternoon, however you’ll never see that happen in out current political structure. What we really need, and need soon is a true change, not the bullshit change the democrats offer, but a real governor. Just don’t try to tell me your answer is Ralph Nader or Ron Paul, because those cures are far worse than the virus.

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  T — July 8th, 2008, 12:57 am

  I had this conversation in business law class two weeks ago. A very heated topic. Americans, people stuck in apathy, be intelligent and look at this in a nonpartisan view.

  This FISA bill violates the 4th amendment. Fact. Look to the views of intelligent, honest and informed citizens.

  ” Therefore, I’m NOT willing to give up my civil rights just to promote state power.”

  It be cool to set up some outsourcing marketing campaign.HA.

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  Humblecritic — July 8th, 2008, 1:59 am

  This is neither alarmist nor a partisan issue.

  It is a constitutional issue.

  Those who think this is “lefty” spin consider what a president Obama could do with unchecked spypower. He’ll call it “national security” but it’ll really be spying on Republicans, and blackmailing them into raising your taxes.

  For those who think this over-inflated, consider how representative a government is that may be manipulated from above on any given issue. Where are the checks and balances. If this seems like fantasy to you, do yourself a favor and read the Church Comittee Report. You’ll be amazed.

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  stevenik — July 8th, 2008, 2:03 am

  Hi Tim,

  I too spent time in Beijing in the early 90s. I agree with your statements and the comparisons you are making. The lack of freedom that I experienced for several months in ’94 was ridiculous and to think I was just trying to learn Kung Fu.

  Emails were sent to my Senators this afternoon. Thanks for the heads up. I too spent time researching and agree with you 100%.

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  Ian — July 8th, 2008, 2:51 am

  Waking up monday morning to see a political post on 4hww was really more than enough to lend the contents credit to me… I have never seen anything posted here remotely politically charged. I took the video and sent it to anyone i thought would listen as well as signing on with the Obama campaign group who oppose this.
  Thanks for the warning Tim.

  A question for Tim- what would you do if the bill passed?
  Thanks

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  JIm Jones — July 8th, 2008, 4:38 am

  Heil Bush! Dictator Bush and the new Regime!

  JT

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  TimZim — July 8th, 2008, 5:03 am

  Look at this mess.

  Terrorists everywhere must be laughing their asses off at Bush and his cronies for doing their job for them.

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  Jonnie — July 8th, 2008, 5:41 am

  B.S. – your credibility was strained on the “picking up a perfect 10 in a bar is easier than the average women” comment – but now you’ve shown you believe a guy with an agenda. Tim: 3 million people are dead because that blowhard helped “end the Vietnam war” …gee, what about helping those people that were exterminated after we left the region? Guess what – just because republicans are “against something” doesn’t mean a partisan with a video is right. You haven’t done your homework here and the fact that you have highlighted a leftists video proves it. Do me a favor Tim and stick with showing us lifestyle and entrepreneurial articles – because this kinda’ garbage just underscores how some of the smartest people in the spotlight have the ability to be manipulated. (yeah, I mean you).

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  Harry Ness — July 8th, 2008, 5:57 am

  Did what I could, Tim. Thank you for bringing this issue to my attention. I’m especially sensitive to the issue right now as I’m living in Beijing, where I must temporarily suspend my civil liberties. As a world traveler, I’m sure you know how patriotic one becomes after spending time in less free societies.

  To the commenter below me, I’d say you were the one who is being naive. Tim understands the concept of “bad precedent.” Free societies do not becomes autocracies overnight, but rather gradually as they allow fear to blind them while the government slowly strips them of their civil liberties.

  Perhaps they truly are only watching those communicating with “terrorists,” but who’s to say how loosely they define that term. Moreover, it might be “only conversations with terrorists” today, but what about twenty years from now?

  I imagine the constitution as a great Dam protecting a valley city from being inundated by repressive government. Sure, a crack in the damn probably won’t affect anyone for a long time, but if those citizens neglect to fix it, well…you can finish the terrible metaphor.

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  Terry — July 8th, 2008, 6:53 am

  Tim,

  Thanks for posting this. I ran across it from a link by boingboing.net. I was so moved that I posted the video on my blog also.

  To those who want Tim to stay away from this kind of thing,

  I have a popular blog where I usually just post images that I’ve made. Most of them amuse people. There have been times that I’ve had the gall to show other sides of me (some political images), and some are uncomfortable with that. So I guess I’m supposed to be quiet? I guess we’re supposed to leave all spoken opinion about our country to professional “experts”, or to only political blogs?

  I won’t speak for Tim, but as far as my blog goes- you’re right, I stepped outside the box that you like me to stay in. Drop me a note, and I’ll refund your subscription. Maybe we should all keep very quiet about what we believe. Better yet, let’s all not question our leaders and believe whatever we’re told by the experts, whoever they may be.

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  Ron Paul’s Campaign For Liberty » Blog Archive » FISA Vote Postponed Until Tomorrow — July 8th, 2008, 7:18 am

  [...] Above is an amazing interview with Daniel Ellsberg, the man who released the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times in 1971 (Video & blog post found here). [...]

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  AvangionQ — July 8th, 2008, 7:59 am

  That the Telecoms were violating the 4th Amendment even *before* 9/11 comes as a bit of a surprise … that such violations have not been made public through journalistic investigation is sad … but that the new FISA revisions would allow Telecom immunity for these offenses *must* be fought to the highest level of government!

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  Aaron — July 8th, 2008, 8:27 am

  Just left a message with an assistant with Senator Feinstein.

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  Marcie — July 8th, 2008, 8:44 am

  Well, as you can see from the above linkback, this post was just referenced on Ron Paul’s site, which reports what I was about to say – all Senate votes have been postponed by one day due to Jesse Helms’ funeral being held today, in case some of you are still interested in taking action…FYI.

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  Lorna — July 8th, 2008, 8:50 am

  Good job, Tim. I applaud your willingness to take a stand.

  For those who think you should stick to economy and lifestyle design without the politics, I outsource small jobs to India, the Phillipines, Argentina, etc so that I have time to concentrate on bigger projects. So if I have AskSunday make my family’s medical appointments for the next month, those conversations would be monitored as well, based on what I’ve read.

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  Kevin Walker — July 8th, 2008, 9:36 am

  If anyone wants to know where all of this is going?

  Watch this movie: http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

  This is just the beginning …

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  Clifford — July 8th, 2008, 9:51 am

  Tim,

  The reason why this article appears leftist is because only one candidate is mentioned. Obama. To truly make this a bipartisian article, contacting McCain should have been referenced as well as Obama. Both Republicans and Democrats are outraged by this act as the comments here show. And for those that may argue that McCain’s voting record may support this type of legislation, then the argument that 10 Activist phone may equal 10000 constituents is false.

  Reading the constitution, the President derives his power and authority from Congress. It will not matter which candidate wins in November, if Congress passes this into law then the next President must enforce it. The President cannot pick and choose which laws will be enforced and which ones won’t.

  Having the call to action, contacting your senator or representative, is the best thing you could have done. This legislation only passes if both Democrats and Republicans vote for it. Both Houses of Congress and both political parties need to know this type of action is not acceptable and will not be tolerated by the people.

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  j — July 8th, 2008, 9:58 am

  Tim, I like the call to action but things like these tend to draw the “blame amerikkka” crowd out of the woodwork and thus nullify any chance at rational discourse.

  Oh BTW, this may cause some cognitive dissonance:

  “In France, terrorist investigations are overseen by a special unit of magistrates with unprecedented powers to monitor suspects, enlist the help of other branches of law enforcement, and detain suspects for days without charges.

  French civil libertarians have raised concerns about detentions that, in some cases, can last for years without trials. Allegations of police brutality are also common in France’s predominantly Muslim suburbs. “

  Sound familiar?

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  Strathy — July 8th, 2008, 10:14 am

  I hesitate to comment on this post, but here goes anyway…

  Reading the post and listening to the video has left me with a sighing sense of disappointment. While the topic is a very important one and requires a great deal of intellectual thought, the fact that you chose to bring it to the people in such an emotional and rhetorical way is what disappoints me. As any good experimentalist knows, you must remove yourself from the equation. What you have attempted (and succeeded) to do is to appeal to peoples emotions by evoking hysteria – emotion rather than intellectual thought.

  My main question is: What are ALL of the possible outcomes of this legislation? What does the “other side” present? Who else did you interview? Is one side’s argument more valid than the other? Why? What was your thought process?

  You march to a different drummer, and I think you would be the first one to advise people not to follow Chicken Little just because he is running. I for one, would love to hear the other side of the equation, so that I could be informed rather than influenced.

  Yours in an Experimental Life,

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  Wil Wells — July 8th, 2008, 10:30 am

  Thank you for taking a stand and providing a vehicle for this information to reach the people, as well as resources to take action.

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  James Byers — July 8th, 2008, 10:58 am

  I have no problem with the government listening to any of my open phone conversations, here or abroad. I never expect that to be a “private” conversation. The wire or wireless extends outside my home. This is not a 4th Amendment issue. Come in my house without a warrant, or search my person, or take any of my property or personal goods without a warrant – now that’s a 4th Amendment issue! “Right to Privacy” is a construed right, not a specified right. Consequently, drawing a line that requires a warrant to cross is not so defined as you people would like.

  If you want privacy, speak in private – not on the phone, or “in the clear”. If you want privacy, take action to ensure it: encrypted wireless, encrypted IM texting, encrypted email. You are an idiot to trust phone companies to trust “contractual” obligations to you at their expense.

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  abaybay — July 8th, 2008, 11:07 am

  hey good post

  here is another video about the subject
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeUHj04euBw&eurl=http://www.votenader.org/index.html

  xiexie

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  Tony — July 8th, 2008, 11:12 am

  Tim, as a professional in risk management / information security, here are some interesting facts to consider when people throw out the “9/11″ fear tactic, I use these frequently during public speaking on assessing risk:

  Peanut Allergies kill more people per year than the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In fact, more people have died from peanut allergies than since the 60′s than all world-wide terrorist attacks combined during that time.

  Swimming pools kill more per year than 9/11

  An Israeli citizen is 100 times more likely to die in a car accident than a terrorist attack.

  Kinda puts it all in perspective and demonstrates how poorly we assess risks as humans. Would those who think losing freedoms to protect us from terrorists also support a full ban on handguns, swimming pools and peanuts?

  Less than 1% of 1% of 1% of the population was directly affected on 9/11. It is statistically impossible to mitigate a risk of that level and ensures peoples security.

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  Bob — July 8th, 2008, 11:23 am

  Just a quick point that the Franklin quote at the top is wrong.

  It’s a misquote of something of which Franklin was the publisher, but not the Author.

  http://www.futureofthebook.com/stories/storyReader$605

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  Devin — July 8th, 2008, 11:32 am

  Great job Tim

  You have done your country a service today.

  Patriots like you are needed.

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  Devin — July 8th, 2008, 11:34 am

  @: Tony

  9/11 Had a far bigger impact than the other examples you cite. Stock market value etc. Your statistics discount human nature.

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  Tom Roberts — July 8th, 2008, 12:32 pm

  Thanks Tim ( and Ben Mack for the heads up ).
  I called my two Ohio senators and wrote Obama.

  D.E,. is an American HERO.

  The Telecomms don’t deserve protection for what they did. Congress doesn’t deserve a pass for not doing its due diligence either.

  This law is a Constitutional emergency looking for a place to happen.

  Have you heard aboiut the project in Germany where they are trying to piece together the Nazi SS files shredded at the end of the war? No government has the right to know what you’re doing or saying if you aren’t breaking the law. Period.

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  Tim O'Keefe — July 8th, 2008, 12:57 pm

  Tim-
  I think you crossed a line that I appreciate and will take you for your word that you are sincere. However, to take a man’s biased view(we are all biased) without a counter view. then I have no other way than to take it as disengenous and veiled attempt at pushing favor to Obama. This interview was a one sided political speech.

  This topic is so hot that to allow some guy to have this valuable space after you yourself just learning of the issue is shortsighted no? Would you make such a compulsive move with your own business? Would you be sold so easily?

  I have no problem with someone picking a side but to pick a side and say you are not is insulting. Not once did this guy say anything about McCain. How is this a fair discussion? How can I take it any other way than to see this as a veiled Obama endoresement? Especially when you tell me to go join his group at his site. Why not email McCain too? LAst I checked he is still a Senator.And in fact carries much more weight in the Congress than Obama.

  Say overtly that you are for Obama and I would have respected this “report”. I suspect you did much more research on your last flight than you did for this endorsement.

  Reply
• 

  Dino — July 8th, 2008, 1:22 pm

  Good for you Tim on speaking out. Not saying anything and enjoying your life as ‘business as usual’ would have been the easiest thing possible for you. But you have the courage of your convictions and conscience to do what is right and what you must do.

  Thanks for giving us the heads up on this emergency in spite of some people here who would try to silence you and censor your right to speak up. These types probably also tell their wives to shut up all the time cause only THEY are allowed the right to speak. Shame on them. Praise to you Tim and others who are sounding the alarm. It’s not pretty but someone needs to sound this emergency alarm all right. Get out there folks and lets all do our part.

  God Bless!

  Reply
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  Devin — July 8th, 2008, 1:50 pm

  “The fact is that the alternative to Congress passing this bill is Congress enacting far worse legislation that the Senate had already passed by a filibuster-proof margin, and which a majority of House members were on record as supporting.”

  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/opinion/08halperin.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

  NY Time Op-Ed piece.

  MORTON H. HALPERIN

  Thoughts?

  Reply
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  Andrew — July 8th, 2008, 2:13 pm

  Forgive me, before making the comment I failed to notice the name of the person being interviewed. Carry on.

  Reply
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  Tony — July 8th, 2008, 2:20 pm

  Devin, you are correct, and quite frankly only an idiot would not grasp that. The ultimate problem is that your metric of economic loss (GDP, stocks, currency values, etc.) still pales in comparison to the amount of money we are spending trying to mitigate a statistical anomaly… it is counter productive to spend $5 to prevent $1 in losses. If you are concerned with your portfolio, I would suggest that the negative impact of our anti-terror spending and debt levels on our currency are far more damaging and of more concern to you.

  It is also counter productive to hand over your 4th amendment rights in the hopes that it will make a difference, it won’t. There is a term in the industry for all of this nonsense, Security Theater, put a big new shiny expensive lock on the front door for all to see, but leave the backdoor wide open. Make the sheeple (sheep-people) FEEL secure and they will go back to their normal lives under the illusion of security. The essence of this debate and support for this bill is fear based on terrorism… or more appropriately, terror. That fear response is more dangerous than the initial act itself. You are still far more likely to die in a car accident any day of the week than you are from terrorism, and if the ultimate goal is saving lives, wouldn’t we be better off focusing our energy elsewhere? Ban peanut butter, Big Macs and automobiles… they are greater killers than terrorists, if you goal is to save lives.

  Let’s keep in mind our government had intelligence that led them to the 9/11 plot and they did nothing… what makes you think collecting more evidence that will also go unnoticed will do any good? Humans are not good at looking at risk, 9/11 was an anomaly, a once in a generation event. No human or govt. agency could accurately predict that, just like Black Tuesday in 87′ or the current credit crisis; we collect mountains of intelligence data and little of it has value and we missed the big one buried in the haystack, it will happen again. While we are focusing on airports and slick new drivers licenses, the bad guys we so desperately fear are discovering new holes we haven’t even noticed. Besides, a little education for the non-technical… if the terrorists KNOW we are monitoring phone calls why would they use the phone! Just get on any number of Instant Messenger clients and have an encrypted conversation… or send an encrypted email, Al Queda operatives have been using steganography (information hidden in pictures or music) for years!

  The lesson to consider is this… Elliot Spitzer. How did Elliot Spitzer’s little tryst get discovered? Terrorist surveillance. A post 9/11 banking transaction act that requires banks to report suspicious transactions to catch terrorists was used to catch a governor and a prostitute… wow, money well spent huh? Any one of us could be at the wrong end of a warrantless FISA wire-tap and if you even make a bad joke you could be buried in legal bills facing a federal prosecution. Is that the country we want to live in? Do we really want to start a telecommunications arms race where all voice traffic becomes encrypted and covert over the internet?

  Tim and others here are dead on… this has NOTHING to do with partisan politics… leave your labels and party cards at the door. This is about our rights and the Constitution a few wise men who were willing to live with a price on their heads from King George gave to us to protect and we are doing our best to throw it away day by day.

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  Tom Roberts — July 8th, 2008, 2:21 pm

  OK gang. We do have a surveillance bill. The Prez decided he and his were above the law on this ( like so many other things they have and do ).

  The original bill allowed wiretapping as needed without permission up to 72 hours. Sorry Mr Gov’t man, you have to have permission. Someone else in gov’t has to know what you are doing. It is called checks and balances.

  So let’s say you’re going to blow the whistle on politization of the DOJ, or lack of inspections for food or aircraft. Maybe vote rigging ( hey I’m from Ohio it’s a sore spot ). Maybe you have insider info on a terror attack that the gov’t isn’t letting out or maybe the potential invasion of a allied foreign country by another country. Maybe someone doesn’t agree with your presidential position on invasion and outs your wife as a CIA operative and gets ab bunch of her contacts killed overseas. If someone in gov’t “thinks” you might let the cat out of the bag then you’re on a tap before or after. Whenever they want however long they want and you’ll never know what they heard. And they can use it against you and never share it with you or your attorneys. Do you see the potential for abuse of power here, today.

  If you never thought someone in the presidency would abuse the public trust, or will in the future, you must be dreaming. I grew up during the Vietnam War, I was 18 years old for Watergate, these guys served in the Republican machine then.

  The Presidency in not a monarchy. The Administrative Branch is not royalty beyond reproach or questioning by or for the people.

  There must be checks and balances between all three branches of gov’t.

  Comments…bring ‘em. I’m merely a member of John Q. Public.

  PS Don’t say bad things abot Elsberg. He is a patriot.
  He saw the wrong thing and did the right thing.

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  Tim Ferriss — July 8th, 2008, 3:07 pm

  Hi All,

  Thank you for the comments. If possible, please focus on the problem and not the commenters. Attack the logic first.

  @Tim O’Keefe and all

  This is not a veiled endorsement of Obama. In fact, I’m disgusted by Obama’s waffling on this issue. That’s why I put the following in the above post:

  “I would love to give online Facebook-like groups for all Republicans, especially McCain, and Democrats who originally opposed the bill, but Obama is the only Senator I can find with a group to join specifically related this FISA bill.”

  Obama has a simple platform for making your disagreement known, and joining his site temporarily doesn’t require donating or voting for him.

  Obama has lost a ton of credibility with this move, as far as I’m concerned, and his social network just allows me to tell him so.

  Democrat or Republican, I don’t trust politicians to protect our greater good without legislation that punishes abuses of power. The 4th amendment is a crucial shield for citizens against such abuses.

  All the best,

  Tim

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  Devin — July 8th, 2008, 4:38 pm

  @Tony.

  Hey Buddy. I agree with everything you said. As you would or should have seen from my comment above the one directed at you. I called Tim a patriot. I’m a Ron paul supporter.

  I just don’t like the way you equated lives lost in peanut butter etc. in comparison to terrorism. It simplfies the issue and discounts all the other issues that terrorism creates or qualities it helps bring out in human nature.

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  Coach Kip — July 8th, 2008, 5:39 pm

  Thanks for the information and the great video. I am a huge fan and I have no problems with you passing on information that is useful and effects all of us in our daily lives.

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  Marco Polo — July 8th, 2008, 6:15 pm

  Wired has an article about how people are using the Internet to campaign about this: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/07/online-activist.html

  We need to join the dots. See the graphic in this Wikileaks article: http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/On_the_take_and_loving_it
  then read the article. Then find the BBC article entitled “Biometrics picks up the penguins” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7475654.stm
  then this Mainichi Daily News one about “Cigarette vending machines with face-recognition technology approved” http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080705p2a00m0na015000c.html
  Just used to track penguins. And prevent minors from buying cigarettes. Sure.

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  Will — July 8th, 2008, 6:37 pm

  @Doug
  “As you do in the book, I challenge you to interview someone that is a supporter of these laws and then post that interview. A little balance I think is due unless you want to be lumped in with dailykos lefties.”

  Tim, that sounds like fantastic advice, I’m interested to see if you really do this…I bought three copies of your book and sent them to friends…please tell me I didn’t fall for a line of slick marketing, which I then shared with friends, touting it as a “fantastic read with great real world examples of success following the ideas outlined”, only to find out from your blog that you yourself don’t follow the advice in your book.

  I do want to add that I admire you for posting your views. I may not agree with those views, but it is very admirable that you were not afraid of potentially alienating your market for something that you believe in (and it is obvious by the numbers of individuals showing their support that this was a risk that was rewarded). I think healthy debate is very important on all topics from all sides, I have little problem respectfully disagreeing with someone and I’m glad to see that you did take the risk of mixing in a political issue that you are passionate about on your blog. I do want to reiterate though, that I think Doug’s post makes some very valid points and I do hope you take the a similar risk once again and post an interview exploring the other side of the issue.

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  Richard Keene — July 8th, 2008, 7:07 pm

  TIM, IF YOU WANT A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SLANT ON OUR OIL CRISIS PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO. RICH KEENE

  http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3340274697167011147

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  abaybay — July 8th, 2008, 10:44 pm

  HEY RICHARD KEENE, YOU DONT NEED TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS haha

  And why you are wrong:

  First, the crude oil market is global. Oil companies sell all over the world. The price of crude is established by global supply and demand. So even if 3 million additional barrels a day could be extruded from lands and seabeds of the United States (that sum is the most optimistic figure, after all exploration is done), that sum is tiny compared to 86 million barrels now produced around the world. In other words, even under the best circumstances, the price to American consumers would hardly budge.

  Second, whatever impact such drilling might have would occur far in the future anyway. Oil isn’t just waiting there to be pumped out of the earth. Exploration takes time. Erecting drilling equipment takes time. Getting the oil out takes time. Turning crude into various oil products takes time. According the the federal energy agency, if we opening drilling where drilling is now banned, there’d be no significant impact on domestic crude and natural gas production until 2030.

  Third, oil companies already hold a significant number of leases on federal lands and offshore seabeds where they are now allowed to drill, and which they have not yet fully explored. Why then would they seek more drilling rights? Because they want more leases now, when the Bushies are still in office. Ownership of these parcels would serve to to pump up their balance sheets even if no oil is pumped.

  Last but by no means least, environmental risks are still significant

  Reply
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  Dennis — July 8th, 2008, 11:25 pm

  I did call my senators, I am glad I switched to throwaway phones I can use different phone each week or each month… I Love my privacy

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  humblecritic — July 9th, 2008, 1:26 am

  To the partisan posters: please check your agendas at the door.

  The FISA issue is real and it is the subject of concern for many people of various party affiliations– both left and right.

  By all means, look into the issue and educate yourselves. But know this: There is precious little time.

  Reply
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  Richard Keene — July 9th, 2008, 6:58 am

  HEY, ABAYBAY,, I TYPE IN CAPS SO I CAN READ WHAT I TYPE SINCE I[M HALF BLIND. AND AS FAR AS ME BEING WRONG, I DIDN’T GIVE THE SPEECH, YOU SHOULD ADDRESS YOUR CORRECTIONS TO THE PERSON THAT GAVE THE SPEECH..I PERSONALLY BELIEVE HIM BECAUSE WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS GOVERNMENT ARE CRIMES OF TREASON PUNISHABLE BY DEATH , THOSE ARE MY OPINIONS AND I WILL STICK BY THEM!

  Reply
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  niteowl — July 9th, 2008, 8:12 am

  @Kevin Walker
  Thanks for the link to the Zeitgeist movie. I was almost in tears by the end…

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  Kevin — July 9th, 2008, 11:15 am

  Tim,
  Thanks for posting this.

  The problem here is not republicans/democrats or left vs. right, as you have correctly pointed out.

  The problem is the idea of government itself.

  Government is simply rule by force, or rule by violence. Taxes are collected at the point of a gun.

  The United States was a great idea in the late 1700′s. However, I think we can safely say that the constitution has not restrained the government much at all! It seemed to work well until around the civil war, and then everything broke down in 1913 when we got the Federal Reserve and Income Tax. Now out government owes $9.5 trillion and is on the brink of an economic meltdown.

  Can you honestly say you need government to do what you are doing? What would your life be like if government disappeared tomorrow?

  We as a society have to move past the idea that we cannot be sovereign individuals, and that somehow these people that “represent” us know better.

  Clearly, that has not worked out, otherwise, we would not be dealing with massively horrendous issues like FISA.

  Cheers,
  Kevin

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  Easterling — July 9th, 2008, 11:48 am

  The Telecomm eavesdropping was done at Central Offices in the downtown sections of major cities and not at the point where international communications voice/data leave the contenental US of A. So the intent is to monitor ALL communications inter and intra not just that which is going to a foreign country or entity. Orwell’s writings are not based on fiction! The Constitution of the United States of America is over as far as our Federal Selected Officials are concerned. And the sheep say Baaa Baaaa Baaaa!

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  lokis — July 9th, 2008, 11:51 am

  let us not quibble over details and some discrepancies with the Executive office – these thiings happen in War. Let us rather huddle together and pray that if we join and increase our efforts the War on Terror will become even half as successful as our War on Drugs.

  Move on folks …..

  Reply
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  Devin — July 9th, 2008, 11:59 am

  Watching C-Span. Looks like it’s going to pass and the amendments that protect are civil liberties are rejected. Kit Bond from Missouri shame on you.

  What do we do now?

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  Allen — July 9th, 2008, 12:41 pm

  Good bye 4th amendment we hardly knew ye!

  Reply
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  Paul K — July 9th, 2008, 1:19 pm

  FISA, yet another infringement on our rights by the gov’t. Add it to the ever-growing list of violations:
  They violate the 1st Amendment by opening mail, caging demonstrators and banning books like “America Deceived” from Amazon.
  They violate the 2nd Amendment by confiscating guns during Katrina.
  They violate the 4th Amendment by conducting warrant-less wiretaps.
  They violate the 5th and 6th Amendment by suspending habeas corpus.
  They violate the 8th Amendment by torturing.
  They violate the entire Constitution by starting 2 illegal wars based on lies and on behalf of a foriegn gov’t.
  Support Dr. Ron Paul and save this great country.
  Last link (unless Google Books caves to the gov’t and drops the title):
  http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-38523-0

  Reply
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  Pete — July 9th, 2008, 1:53 pm

  So…we’re screwed.

  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/washington/10fisa.html

  Tim, would you mind writing another good book so we can keep our minds off the fact that we now live in a dictatorship?

  Thanks bro.

  Reply
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  rOger — July 9th, 2008, 2:58 pm

  Common Sense prevailed.

  Please note this thing passed with bi-partisan support.

  Reply
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  abram’s nickels » The Problem with FISA — July 9th, 2008, 4:05 pm

  [...] Senate bows to Bush, approves surveillance bill Link: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Link: What Every American Needs to Know (and Do) About FISA Before Tuesday Link: How domestic surveillance affects you and me Link: The new FISA compromise: it’s worse [...]

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  James — July 9th, 2008, 7:43 pm

  Welcome to the bushevik terrorist ussa!

  What a country!

  Hey dubya-surveill this!

  Reply
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  We Will Never Know by kamarvt (Daily KOS) | America For Purchase — July 9th, 2008, 10:08 pm

  [...] So really, in the larger context of the past eight years, the loss of the constitutional freedom from unwarranted or politically motivated searches and overall intrusions into the private lives of any American is not that big a deal. It’s only one more small step in the inexorable march to tyranny that happens when unchecked lust for power and control are met by an uncaring, distracted populace, a lazy and ignorant press, and a self-serving, misguided, lazy and ignorant legislative branch. So how will we know when the last facade of democracy falls away, and America officially becomes the authoritarian police state it is morphing into? As Daniel Ellsberg said in an interview over the weekend [...]

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  Antisoma — July 9th, 2008, 10:33 pm

  Tim,
  I’m not at all surprised that it passed and I’m not at all surprised that the so called “change” candidate “changed” his position on this. The bottom line is that this country was lost to us years ago. It really isn’t partisan. The sad fact is that there is no difference between the parties. Not in practice anyway.

  My plan is to spend more and more time out of country… Argentina, for example.

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  John T. Hoffoss — July 9th, 2008, 10:43 pm

  I find it humorous that it is the republican party, that based on minimal government and individual liberties, who would support this bill with lines like “if you’re not a terrorist, you need not worry.”

  Cory Doctorow’s book “Little Brother” is a timely update to the “1984″/”Fahrenheit 451″ dystopian view on what *could* happen when a government gives up liberty for “security”. It is an enjoyable read, but do not lose sight of the fact that it, along with the classics it is associated with, are fiction. While I consider this new law a severe erosion of personal liberties and enables the wanton violation of our rights as Americans and humans, also remember that not everyone in TLAs (three-letter-agencies) are Out to Get You, or that they care about your idle chit-chat. We (citizens of the US and the world) outnumber them, no matter how advanced their automation systems might be. I just hope the Supreme Court is not so easily swayed, and we see this legislation overturned. (See also: reasons to NOT elect the members of your court.)

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  Greg — July 9th, 2008, 10:51 pm

  Well, unfortunately it passed. Thanks everyone who wrote and called their congressmen. We’ve lost this battle, but it is time to start winning the war for the ‘hearts and minds’ and start making people aware of the cost to their freedom of this legislation.

  I am starting a campaign to chalk the sidewalk outside all telephone company facilities with the phrase ‘domestic wiretapping center’. Any time someone passes the facility they’ll be reminded that their constitutional rights have been curtailed. It is time we all participated in raising awareness that our freedom is being legislated away.

  http://domesticwiretapping.blogspot.com/2008/07/domestic-wiretapping-center-campaign.html

  Reply
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  Pascal — July 10th, 2008, 5:43 am

  Tim: I praise your courage. We’ve lost this round, but the Framers’ dream isn’t dead, no matter how much Obama and Bush/McCain want to kill it. Keep fighting.

  Though for the nonce, we’re screwed.

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  Mike — July 10th, 2008, 10:49 am

  See how your senator voted – http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=s2008-168.

  Reply
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  FISA bill; infringement of the constitution? - Meez Forums — July 10th, 2008, 6:59 pm

  [...] really well detailed, easy-to-read blog I’ve found describing the bill and how if effects citizens: What Every American Needs to Know (and Do) About FISA Before Wednesday Voting – The Blog of Author T… I’d explain it myself but I’ve got the flu, and the drugs I’m on are sort of making me [...]

• 

  Time to listen up. FISA vote postponed until tomorrow. — July 11th, 2008, 7:37 am

  [...] Ferriss author of the Four Hour Work Week interviewed the well known Daniel Ellsberg I didn’t know him, but he’s the guy responsible for the [...]

• 

  a — July 11th, 2008, 9:06 am

  at least the EU gives the perception of democracry by allowing its citizens to vote on a referendum that will only be overturned.

  Reply
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  gobytrain — July 11th, 2008, 9:29 am

  How depressing. Why Obama? WHY???

  Reply
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  Cam — July 11th, 2008, 3:24 pm

  Tim-

  The bill passed. Do you predict a steady and long decline into something more akin to the U.S.S.R? Should we start thinking about a permanent relocation to another country over the next few years? How serious do you think this is?

  This stuff is just going to continue. There’s an old saying in TX, maybe they have it in TN, but I know it’s in TX. It goes, fool me… fool me once, shame on,.. shame on you… umm.. fool .. fool me.. um…

  Basically, you can’t get fooled again.

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  Marco Polo — July 11th, 2008, 6:11 pm

  gobytrain wrote: “How depressing. Why Obama? WHY???”
  Obviously, like all pols, Obama is simply doing what he’s told by the people who really run the country (and not just your country). This has always been so, it’s only now that more and more people are waking up to it. Can we wake up in time and take action? Will we create the kind of freedom envisioned by folks like Thomas Paine, or will it be the ant colonies of the 21st century?

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  Dan Pierson — July 11th, 2008, 10:10 pm

  I find it ironic that Republicans contend that they’re all for civil liberties (right to bear arms, too much government intrusion into daily life, etc), but there wasn’t a single Republican to vote against this bill. What a joke.

  I gave Obama passes on the Wright thing, the ties to the Chicago slumlord, all of that. It didn’t really matter; he’s running for president of the United States, not President of my high school class. But this is ridiculous. This move had politics (rather than pragmatism) written all over it. Pretty damn disappointing.

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  Dan Pierson — July 11th, 2008, 10:11 pm

  Also, interesting that John McCain sat this one out. Which candidate were they harassing for sitting out of a lot of votes?

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  Tom Roberts — July 12th, 2008, 2:37 am

  Good Saturday morning to all…
  I did contact my Ohio Senators offices directly by phone.

  Sherrod Brown voted nay. G Voinovich voted in favor.
  I also contacted Obama’s offices and received the following reply.
  Sorry if the length of this message offends anyone ,
  but I feel it is important to give the man his space as well.

  It is the entire message I rcvd from Obama for America’s email:

  We appreciate hearing from you.

  Sincerely,

  Obama for America,

  —
  Given the grave threats that we face, our national security agencies must have the capability to gather intelligence and track down terrorists before they strike, while respecting the rule of law and the privacy and civil liberties of the American people. There is also little doubt that the Bush Administration, with the cooperation of major telecommunications companies, has abused that authority and undermined the Constitution by intercepting the communications of innocent Americans without their knowledge or the required court orders.

  That is why last year I opposed the so-called Protect America Act, which expanded the surveillance powers of the government without sufficient independent oversight to protect the privacy and civil liberties of innocent Americans. I have also opposed the granting of retroactive immunity to those who were allegedly complicit in acts of illegal spying in the past.

  After months of negotiation, the House passed a compromise that, while far from perfect, is a marked improvement over last year’s Protect America Act. Under this compromise legislation, an important tool in the fight against terrorism will continue, but the President’s illegal program of warrantless surveillance will be over. It restores FISA and existing criminal wiretap statutes as the exclusive means to conduct surveillance – making it clear that the President cannot circumvent the law and disregard the civil liberties of the American people. It also firmly re-establishes basic judicial oversight over all domestic surveillance in the future.

  It does, however, grant retroactive immunity, and I voted in the Senate three times to remove this provision so that we could seek full accountability for past offenses. Unfortunately, these attempts were unsuccessful. But this compromise guarantees a thorough review by the Inspectors General of our national security agencies to determine what took place in the past, and ensures that there will be accountability going forward. By demanding oversight and accountability, a grassroots movement of Americans has helped yield a bill that is far better than the Protect America Act.

  It is not all that I would want. But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as President, I will carefully monitor the program, review the report by the Inspectors General, and work with the Congress to take any additional steps I deem necessary to protect the lives – and the liberty – of the American people.

  ———————-
  Paid for by Obama for America

  I hope this answers some questions posed here. tr

  Reply
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  Ron Paul Supporter — July 12th, 2008, 5:15 am

  Tim,

  I hope it doesn’t just stop here. I hope you use some of these intelligent ideas you have to get yourself more involved in what’s happening to our country.

  Things you need to learn about:
  1. The Coming Economic Collapse–the destruction of the dollar.
  2. The End of the Internet
  3. The Fed’s Power Grab–they grabbed more this week!
  4. The End of America’s Sovereignty
  5. War with Iran

  Folks, you can no longer bury your head in the sand and say, “I don’t do politics!” There are things happening that need your attention. No matter where you stand, left or right, you need to understand what is happening to our country. The snowball is peaking, hitting top speed, it’s huge now and it’s about to wipe out your grandma, siblings, friends.

  These are NOT conspiracy theories–intelligent, sophisticated, experienced people have spoken out and have taken a stand… it’s about time you did!!!

  Reply
• 

  Tim O'Keefe — July 12th, 2008, 10:38 am

  TIm and @Tom Roberts
  The reason I did not like TIm’s post as I mentioned above is that such an important issue is not simply understood in your brief “awakening” you have had in the past few weeks.

  It would as the comments clearly illustrate could only get an AMEN! from the Choir, or get a few dissenters.

  I dissent because the argument that you put forth was disingenous in my opinion. To bring on a partisan career politician as your posterboy to get us to go against FISA was naive. You simply sung to to the koolaid drinking choir.

  It could not influence anyone other than who was was already influenced.
  Why didn’t your guest mention Clintons giant intrusion into privacy after Oklahom City? I can only guess because Clinton was his guy. Why didn’t you look into this?

  I have always thought of FISA myself as just a continuation and escalation of the Clinton policy. And when the dilligent researches this they can see that much of Bushs foreign policy came from pre-ordained policies that were on the books in the State dept. since Clinton and before.

  To point to FISA as the posterchild issue of an intrusion into our Privacy and the loss of the American dream as many are implying is naive. If for the only reason is that it is nothing new. Eschelon has been around forever as an example.

  Disengenous.And where were all the concerned citizens 12 years ago?

  So your argument instead of fully exploring the issue merely served to do what all politics does these days -polarize without informing. While we never get the real truth, just the speakers truth. As a conservative I would have loved to hear both sides. Not the spin, but both sides. I do believe that FISA is a big concern. However, I cannot trust the argument when it is so thin as presented here. And that is a shame, as I would have like to have.

  I have no problem and applaude when people like yourself attempt to discuss issues of the day. I was very excited to see a non politico like yourself discuss this. But it is always dissapointing when the presenter trolls the surface. That is what our journalists do today and is half the problem. As I said above, I believe you probably investigated your last trip around the world more than you did this issue.

  Tom the above reply by Obama is just another politicians dribbling from the mouth. Yah “change we can believe in” sounds like more of the same greasy dribble from a used car salesman. I would have loved to see this general election reply vs his primary reply. I bet the latter was less of an attempt of having both sides of hte waffle.

  Your guest in my opinion and many in the commentary used the FISA issue to get a plug in for Obama (again did anyone write MCCain? He carries much more weight in the Senate than the rookie Senator Obama).

  It is easy to test ones ideals against their politics when comparing reactions to our current President vs the last one. Same policies in many ways. Heck even some of the speaches were Xerox copies. But very unique responses depending on the choice of Koolaid.

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  Marco Polo — July 12th, 2008, 8:17 pm

  Hear, hear, Tim O’Keefe.
  Excellent points. It also hides the fact that UNofficial condoning of warrantless syping and wiretapping has been going on since at least WWII. However, is that an excuse for doing nothing? I see Tim Ferriss’ post as being that of someone who has just started to wake up (and who may now be regretting his decision to hand over all his important details so as to skip airport lines. As such, I’d cut him a break, but Tim O’Keefe’s points are right on. George Carlin got it: “Forget the politicians. The politicans are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don’t.” And if Bill Clinton is your hero, check out who was reponsible for requiring US drivers to be fingerprinted before they can get their licence renewed (and do you really think it will stop at fingerprinting? (Watch this video of Alex Jones getting arrested for refusing to be fingerprinted). Within weeks of Clinton being elected president in 1992, the head of the Federal Reserve told him what he had to do – which was the opposite of what he had promised in his campaign. (See this BBC documentary, 31:30 mins in). Obama is just doing what he’s told, like they all do.

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  Cari Smith — July 12th, 2008, 9:36 pm

  There’s a book called The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot by Naomi Wolf. It’s a little one sided but makes some interesting points.

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  Michael — July 13th, 2008, 10:04 am

  Hey Tim,
  I would advise you to look into market anarchism – the theory that government functions can be provided voluntarily by the market. I’m convinced that market anarchy is the most rational and just form of society.
  Here’s a good intro article:
  http://lewrockwell.com/orig6/molyneux4.html

  I’m also convinced that I can prove MA to be true in a structured debate. Give me a shout if you’re interested.

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  toes192 — July 13th, 2008, 11:26 am

  70 years old USMC geeze here + the modest credentials of working in Saudi Arabia for 14 years. Semper Fi, peeps. Although my memory is fading into the ether, I think I will never forget to my last breath… My own eyes… airplanes crashing into those buildings in NYC. My logic may be slightly garbled but I opine that had YOU, ANY OF YOU COMMENTERS…you PERSONALLY… Had you been in the World Trade Center, you would have fervently wished that our Gov had been listening and paying attention to any and all communications among those muslim ***holes. When I was living in Jeddah, [Saudi Arabia] we heard threats from Osama Bin Laden. [1993 or 4 as I recall] I wrote a “Dear All” to my relatives and friends about him and his threat… and then promptly never mentioned him again. Just another boob who didnt connect any dots. I believe I have some insights into the Arab/Muslim mind. They believe what they believe and “it’s in the Koran” is what they say in the face of irrefutable logic and facts otherwise. I do not know what to tell you. Your generation will face these ***holes forever and if you libs [I believe] will quickly abandon your fear of OUR gov when the bomb is planted on YOUR doorstep. Best wishes from one who has lived his life in the most frivolous of times. [Except for Viet Nam which was a b**tch, of course]

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  Rebecca — July 13th, 2008, 12:27 pm

  Hi Tim –

  I like being safe from terrorists. When Islamists announce they want to kill us all, I take them at their word.

  I’m much more concerned with creeping nanny-stateism. I’m especially concerned with the effort to ban supplements that keep me fit, healthy, and happy.

  How funny your brit blogger says he’s glad he lives in the UK, not the US. The gov there now proposes reporting to Big Brother toddlers who don’t like foreign food, as this indicates they’re budding racists.

  Thanks for your inspiring book!

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  Ron Paul Suppoter — July 13th, 2008, 8:25 pm

  toes192: “I believe I have some insights into the Arab/Muslim mind. They believe what they believe and “it’s in the Koran” is what they say in the face of irrefutable logic and facts otherwise.”

  Couldn’t this exact same thing be said about the American Christians, Neo-Cons, or even the left wingnut politically correct crowd?!?!?!

  I respect that you were a Marine, but believe me, that does NOT make you an expert in Arab/Muslim sociology!!!

  I would expect you to understand why THEY HATE US, since you were stationed on their land and wearing a military uniform.

  Hmmm, how would you feel if the Chinese built a base down the street from your house??? I’ll bet pretty pissed, and you might even consider joining a militia just like our ancestors did against the British, right?

  Why are we American such hypocrites? Is it a deformity or something in the water???

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  brian — July 14th, 2008, 9:42 am

  Here’s an article that spells out the real dangers of presidential spying – a virtually undetectable undermining of our democratic institutions:

  http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2006/01/real-danger-of-presidential-spying.php

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  Devin — July 14th, 2008, 1:46 pm

  RON PAUL Supporter. You speak the truth.

  I hope some people where reading.

  Check out http://www.campaignforliberty.com

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  non combatant — July 15th, 2008, 1:51 am

  I am not from the US but to the best of my understanding:
  The US (as opposed to the USA = constitution) is registered as a corporation (in Puerto Rico). Other countries such as Australia are registered as corporations in the US (HQs on Pennsylvania Avenue). All other corporations (including US citizens and citizens of other countries) registered in these countries are franchise-like ‘foreign’ entities, i.e. foreign to the corporation of the United States. So any ‘entity’ in any ‘foreign jurisdiction’ may be subject to surveillance. This is not legal advice. Anyone who accepts this as legal advice is ‘a fool representing himself’.

  Pardon me for mistakes, no malice intended. Occupation = n/a (i.e. non combatant)

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  Nina — July 15th, 2008, 8:08 am

  FYI: The Senate ultimately passed the FISA Amendments Act… this included a “Yes’ vote from Obama.
  http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/votes/?votenum=168&chamber=S&congress=1102

  Now what?

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  Stop Rationalizing and Make Hard Decisions: Learning from Dr. King - The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss — September 4th, 2008, 7:47 am

  [...] below quote, which was sent to me (Thanks, Thao!) when I was considering whether or not to put up the controversial FISA post. I knew beforehand that it would lose me some [...]

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  G Pen — September 4th, 2008, 9:15 am

  I think it’s funny, in a sad kind of way, that one of the first comment posters (Lewis, 7th July) on this site was a Brit who thought that maybe the UK was heading this way too… Buddy, what planet have you been on? I’m from Australia and even I know that, just like Australia and the US, the UK is right up there at the top of the list for governmental breaches in privacy. Don’t look now, Lewis, but you’re on candid camera – pretty much everything you do, say, pay for, etc. etc. is being monitored and has been for quite a while. Oh and freedom of speech and your rights – don’t have to worry about those – just toe the politically correct line and you’ll be fine.

  I applaud you, Tim, for posting this, but if you really want to do some good about this (and heck, you’ve got the platform to do it) start researching it buddy. First you’ll be amazed, bewildered, scared, then resigned but at least you’ll come to understand that it’s pretty much a done deal already – it’s just happening incrementally, just like the tale of the frog heating up slowly not knowing he’s being cooked (that is a falacy of course, because frogs actually hop out when it becomes uncomfortable – they’re smarter than humans; we just try to ignore it and just hope the water gets cooler – but unfortunately it’s not for humans – we allow ourselves to be cooked).

  There are individuals and organisation who have been warning westerners for the last 10 to 15 years ago about the enormous damage that had already been done to our constitutions in the name of security/protection of our borders, or environmentalism etc. All 3 countries have signed more sovereignty over to the UN than you’d want to know, and the comment about the US and other countries being setup as corporations which can operate outside of any constitutional boundaries is very true.

  Gotta keep standing up ’til the bitter end fellas. But better to die on your feet than live on your knees.

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  Ben — September 4th, 2008, 11:28 am

  I personally stopped contributing to the Obama campaign after his stunning deception on the FISA issue. I also wrote in and told him exactly why.

  My understanding is that the legislation protects the administration and the telecoms from any civil damages. However, I’ve heard that the administration could still be pursued CRIMINALLY for the warrantless wiretapping. I’ve started writing Obama and my senators/congressmen to ask that it be pursued criminally.

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  Helder — September 4th, 2008, 11:38 am

  I live in Portugal, and my country lived from 1928 to 1974 in a ditactorship. When Freedom came in the 25th of April of 1974, i was still a very young child, 2 years old, but i know one thing for sure, FEAR is the weapon polititians have always used and always will use, to make us accept to lose our freedom on our own free will. They take advantage of the fear of terrorism and other things to make laws that otherwise would have never been aproved, because the people would never let it happen. In Europe the way is the same, not just the USA. Good luck on your action.

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  Mike Johnston — September 5th, 2008, 7:22 am

  The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. That means watching the watchers if you will, not giving them more power to watch us.

  I just bought your book and through that found your website. Interesting stuff so far.

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  Natalie — September 5th, 2008, 10:04 pm

  While I do support you Tim, in identifying this issue, I think that now is a great time to step back from your rationalizing and trust your instincts. If you are putting out negative vibes about this subject- which you are whether you’re for or against, you are adding energy to it.

  So sure, make the call to the Senator, if that feels right, and then let it go. Trust that your Freedom is way larger than what man-made organizations have anything to do with. Freedom starts with the mind… Get clear there and then it wont matter what’s going on. Sure-easier said than done. My point is- like attracts like- isnt anyone paying attention to science these days? Quantum Physics anyone?

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  Michael Ostrolenk — September 6th, 2008, 4:27 am

  Glad you did the interview Tim. We reposted it on our site [linked from our name] which deals with civil liberties and privacy related issues.
  Best, Michael

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  Craig — September 6th, 2008, 11:03 am

  Anyone concerned with illegal surveillance absolutely must read the book IT DIDN’T START WITH WATERGATE by Victor Lasky. Presidents engaging in illegal wiretapping and bugging has been going on since FDR. The book was published in 1977, but I just read it and found it as relevant as ever. Here’s a link to it:
  http://www.amazon.com/Didnt-Start-Watergate-Victor-Lasky/dp/0803738579/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220723620&sr=1-1

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  Helder — September 6th, 2008, 2:41 pm

  @ Natalie, are talking about the law of atraction? It has been changing my Life, that’s for sure

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  mickey green — September 7th, 2008, 1:46 am

  surveillance laws were passed by our govnmnt with little fight, (in the uk) and, now they are not used ot fight “terrorists”, but to carry out surveillance on people (who are easy to fine), people who drop litter, people who don’t recycle enough. The local authorities use it for this, not terrorism.

  Only a fool believes that politicians would not use these laws for personal gain.
  What happens when you get accused fo something you didnt do, and get detained for 90 days without charge, lose your job, home, possibly partner, kids who knows.
  And then they say, sorry, your right you didnt do anything.
  I suggest, the more naive among you read up on DEMOCRACY and what it is supposed to mean.
  On the right to trial by peers, innocent until proven guilty.
  Without it, our world, is a dictatorship for the billionaires to enslave us all further. By pretending they are protecting us
  You see terrorists on ever corner, how many of you know a terrorist. I would say less than .01%.
  You are being conned. Wake up !!!!!!!!!!!!
  Your next.
  Not paying 99% tax, will be a terrorist offence in 30 years, if we let the have’s, have their way.
  Don’t be a have not for the rest of your life. Have the common sense to see, politicians do not work for you. And as for the current president, he was not democratically elected, he was elected by his cousin i believe rigging the votes.
  Which I don’t think many even bother to deny fully.
  Yet you trust these people with your freedom.
  Oil, GM crops. The next big dependence of man.
  They have shares in them all. They dont want you finding out what they are up to, so pass laws ot stop you finding out, pretending terrorists are in every street.
  Wake up, you will probably never meet a terrorist if you lived five lifetimes.
  Think of the world you are denying your childeren with these laws.

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  Charisa — September 7th, 2008, 5:46 pm

  Regardless of our stance on the issue, it is good to know what is going on in the world of politics and the direction the world is heading. Looking at world conditions and hoping for a solution can be quite discouraging… when one “problem” is fixed another is created…
  Most of us work our days away (or not) and will never see life as we wish it to be: perfect bodies and sharp minds that don’t age and die, a government that is fair for everyone, a happy family life, a healthy earth, no suffering for anyone, peace.
  Perhaps that’s why in the model prayer Jesus taught his followers to pray for God’s Kingdom to come, and for his will to “take place, as in heaven, also upon earth”. A government created by God. Not to be a “bible banger”, but that hope seems more permanent and satisfying to me; thus my neutral political stance when it comes to mankind’s governments.
  Suggested reading: Psalms 37:11, Jeremiah 10:23

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  Natalie — September 7th, 2008, 9:31 pm

  HELDER; Yes, I am talking about the LOA and quantum physics…And really excited about when more people start talking about the leading-edge research that proves that- what you think about you create. (see: the observer effect)

  TIM ,for every article that you post that is on the negative side, and submits negative news, wouldnt it be nice to post a good-news story that reminds us that life is pretty much REALLY GOOD!

  That way we stay on the positive side of things… because from there we make better, MORE EFFICIENT decisions. (that’s been my experience anyways) . Worth a try?…

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  Jack — September 7th, 2008, 11:09 pm

  I’m opposed to warrantless surveillance, even when considering that the rationale for such illegal activity is TO SERVE THE GREATER GOOD. Daniel Ellsberg broke the law and faced 115 years in prison. The charges were dropped because Nixon’s minions stupidly broke into Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office. That Ellsberg’s releasing the Pentagon Papers was utterly illegal is beyond dispute. And Ellsberg did it TO SERVE THE GREATER GOOD. (Sound familiar?) His is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

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  Nicolai — September 8th, 2008, 4:14 pm

  Hmm, interesting.

  Being Swedish, the surveillance debate has been quite interesting in Sweden the past year.

  The “FRA” law that was passed in Sweden is a bit more complicated than many seem to think. The preposition was originally created by the previous left government, and the new heavy surveillance legislation in the EU was actually driven quite hard by the previous left (social democrat) minister of justice.

  This is not a left/right issue, I am not left, far from it, but oppose what happened in Sweden with the new FRA law, and I can see the need for military surveillance for tracking and assessing threats, but the law as passed in Sweden was built for civil surveillance, any Swedish government authority or the sitting government is to be able to order surveillance by RFA as they see fit (no legal system to approve on beforehand).

  Next step of the surveillance legislation is coming now, which is the one pushed the hardest by the previous minister of justice (Thomas Bodstrom), which is detailed tracking of all SMS, MMS, phonecalls and internet connections by the Telco and ISP operators. This is intended solely to monitor the citizens in Sweden, the primary purpose is for crime prevention. But this is not an active surveillance, but the legislation will require operators to store all this information and be made available to government bodies on request. Original proposal put forward by Tomas Bodstrom, included allowance for authorities to install spy-ware with-out owners knowledge on computers (this was not accepted through out the legislation process).

  The problem here is not military surveillance for intelligence purposes, which in todays world must exist, but the fact civil surveillance of all citizens in a country with-out any third-party legal system that monitors it before it takes place.

  Talking about left and right, the left Tomas Bodstrom has been the one pushing this really hard, in Sweden and the EU (and is in much responsible for the EU legislation).

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  Luke — September 9th, 2008, 7:42 pm

  >>> Dean Ouellette

  When there are over 1 Million Americans on the terrorist watch list, it would make it pretty easy to spy on someone considering it doesn’t take much to be put on that list in the first place. What we have here is a government that is afraid of its people. The wealthy elite of this country are afraid of losing their grip that they have maintained for so long and will do almost anything to stop a person or group of people from overthrowing their ideas and/or positions of power. Anyone who is concerned with this should look up Choice Point Inc. They’re a private corporation that collects data on U.S. citizens and sells that information to the government. It’s a bit of a loop hole.

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  Helder — September 10th, 2008, 11:23 am

  Natalie, do you recommend any books or websites about LOA ?

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  Ben Garrett — September 16th, 2008, 8:12 am

  I have been a big fan of Tim’s book and applaud his independent thinking. And I think he showed courage by posting on a politicized topic.

  However, there is a strong legal case contrary to Mr. Ellsberg’s position.

  The best short summary of the legal issues that I have seen can be found at: http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/012631.php

  It is based on longstanding court precedent dealing with the commander in chief’s inherent constitutional powers to conduct a war.

  There is also a good overview of the legal issues in Wikipedia at:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_controversy

  Interested readers may want to read these short articles. This is a topic that the country will undoubtedly be revisiting as the war on terror grinds on.

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  Nick_S — October 1st, 2008, 6:26 pm

  Am I the only one that thinks it’s crazy McCain didn’t vote on this issue? Maybe I’m missing something. Please let me know.

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  From Tesla Motors to the “Patriot Hack” - Martin Eberhard on Protecting Your Privacy Online - The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss — October 8th, 2008, 7:16 pm

  [...] Let’s not forget most of the phone companies’ gleeful cooperation with the US government’s widespread warrantless wiretap program. You can bet that every service provider company – search engine companies included – is paying close attention to the immunity that Congress is right now granting to these phone companies for their illegal participation in this wiretapping program. [Note from Tim: I did a post on the practical implications of this and FISA here.] [...]

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  Natalie — October 16th, 2008, 5:54 pm

  HELDER:

  I like Esther Hicks’s books.

  TIM:

  Glad to see some great positive stuff on the blog lately- that feels nice to read and seems more productive to me. I am a strong believer that all is created from our thoughts/choices first, so why not have good vibes, Then make inspired decisions rather than those that are fear-based.

  But hey- whatever blows your hair back.

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  paul — October 22nd, 2008, 10:28 am

  WAKE UP!
  Given the established existence of ECHELON (through which every voice/data transmission is under surveillance by the NSA), FISA is irrelevant!
  FISA is only debated to make the public believe that there is some due process or choice or freedom in all of this.

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  John — October 27th, 2008, 4:52 pm

  Tim,

  Regression to the mean brother… Buying into the cospiracy theorist politics and then publishing it has lessened the overall great information you have otherwise provided on your site and in your book. Keep up the excellent work and get the hell away from politics.

  John

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  Chris Moline — August 28th, 2010, 3:21 pm

  Semper Fi
  I started watching the video because I truly enjoy your approach to life. Then, I saw Daniel Ellsberg. I am a former Marine (Parris Island, 1988) and Marines like Daniel Ellsberg are a badge of honor on the legacy of former Marines everywhere.
  He is a man of honor and we would do well to take his words to heart.
  All the best,
  Chris Moline
  Bowie, MD

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  wow fishing extravaganza — February 26th, 2012, 6:41 pm

  I drop a comment whenever I appreciate a post on a website or if I have something to contribute to the discussion. It’s a result of the fire displayed in the post I looked at. And on this article What Every American Needs to Know (and Do) About FISA Before Wednesday Voting. I was actually excited enough to create a thought I do have 2 questions for you if you usually do not mind. Is it only me or do some of the remarks appear like they are written by brain dead folks? And, if you are posting at other online social sites, I’d like to follow anything new you have to post. Could you make a list every one of all your social pages like your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?

  Reply

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