Snowden's Dad: If Edward Would Have Stayed In the USA: "He would have been buried under the capital"

[ProSense]

67. What?

"2005 is irrelevant, ant the Tamm case is irrelevant because the programs themselves had not been made 'legal' by Congress. Obama had not yet voted to OK them.

Remember, they had to give retroactive amnesty to the companies that had cooperated with the government in the program. "

This is exactly what people get wrong when they conflate Bush's illegal spying with the current programs. The FISA amendments did not make Bush's illegal activities legal. It gave immunity to the telecoms.

Bush bypassed the FISA court completely, and actually eavesdropped on Americans. That was illegal and still is.

That was what Obama criticized when he said:

In 2007, then-Senator Obama criticized the Bush administration for monitoring Americans who had done nothing wrong:

“This administration also puts forward a false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we provide. I will provide our intelligence and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to track and take out the terrorists without undermining our Constitution and our freedom. That means no more illegal wiretapping of American citizens. No more national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime. No more tracking citizens who do nothing more than protest a misguided war. No more ignoring the law when it is inconvenient. That is not who we are. And it is not what is necessary to defeat the terrorists. The FISA court works. The separation of powers works. Our Constitution works. We will again set an example for the world that the law is not subject to the whims of stubborn rulers, and that justice is not arbitrary.”

http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/06/no-comment-necessary-obama-on-surveillance-in-2007/

There have been a number of media reports using the same Obama quote to basically claim that he once called out Bush, but then embraced the policy. They are intentionally conflating a quote about the push for the Protect America Act with his position on the 2008 FISA amendments, which he voted for. They are not the same thing. The PAA was a Republican effort to absolve Bush.

Obama voted against the Protect America Act (http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00309), which in fact expired in early 2008.

Senator Mitch McConnell introduced the act on August 1, 2007, during the 110th United States Congress. On August 3, it was passed in the Senate with an amendment, 60–28 (record vote number 309). On August 4, it passed the House of Representatives 227-183 (roll number 836). On August 5, it was signed by President Bush, becoming Public Law No. 110-055. On February 17, 2008, it expired due to sunset provision.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protect_America_Act_of_2007#Legislative_history

Here's Bush's statement at the time: http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/02/20080214-4.html