Good grief, here we go again.

Taking a cue from Nancy Johnson's worse TV ad ever, the fear-mongering think-tank The Foundation in Defense of Democracy has unleashed a outrageous TV targeting Congressman Chris Murphy for his vote against President Bush warrantless wiretapping program. Bush's bill would give retroactive immunity to telecommunication companies and would basically give the government to completely monitor your communications without a warrant and would bring George Orwell's vision of big brother to reality.

Here's the nonsense.



Wow, this is ONE BIG LIE and for your pleasure, we here at People-powered media did the debunking for you.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), born after the
Watergate scandal, establishes how the government can secretly eavesdrop on Americans in their own country in intelligence investigations. It was originally passed to allow the government to collect foreign intelligence information involving communications with "agents of foreign powers."

Today, however, the federal government is exploiting this once-narrow exception to make an end-run around the Constitution. The USA Patriot Act, passed by Congress in 2001 and re-authorized in 2006, expanded FISA to allow the government to obtain the personal records of ordinary Americans from libraries and Internet Service Providers, even when they have no connection to terrorism. Recent amendments in the Protect America Act now authorize the government to use FISA to get around the constitutional requirement that it show a judge that it has probable cause of involvement with a foreign country or terror group before it eavesdrops on a communication.

Although the Patriot Act was rushed into law just weeks after 9/11, a congressional investigation into the attacks did not find that FISA's limits on government surveillance contributed to the government's failure to prevent the attacks. Instead, the investigation pointed to fundamental organizational breakdowns in the intelligence community and the government's failure to make effective use of the surveillance powers already at its disposal. Despite overwhelming evidence that FISA did not need to be expanded, Congress moved to broaden the reach of the law and weakened its protection of Americans' freedom and privacy.

Even as the White House lobbied to expand the scope of FISA, we now know that President Bush disregarded the rule of law when he authorized the National Security Agency to spy on ordinary Americans' phone calls and e-mails without the warrant FISA requires.

Shockingly, Congress voted to temporarily condone this abuse of power in August 2007 with legislation sanctioning this illegal operation. This legislation is only temporary and will expire in February.

Myths and Facts about US Government Surveillance of Americans (2/18/2008)

MYTH: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) has not kept up with the technology revolution we have experienced over the past 30 years.

FACT: There is absolutely no new technology that evades the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Besides, the FISA has been updated more than 50 times since being enacted in the '70s; it was updated as recently as last year.

MYTH: Retroactive immunity for telecoms is essential because the intelligence community requires the willing cooperation of the private sector in order to conduct surveillance operations.

FACT: Lawful surveillance under FISA is accomplished through court orders that compel the cooperation of telecommunications companies. Telecommunications companies that comply with lawful orders or Attorney General certifications under FISA are protected against liability arising from that cooperation. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell has testified that the telecom companies that cooperated with the NSA's post-9/11 surveillance programs received certifications, which would mean they already have immunity - unless of course those certifications are clearly illegal. Telecom immunity would only protect companies that illegally assisted the government. Private sector companies should not be encouraged to cooperate with illegal government requests.

MYTH: Telecoms will not cooperate with future intelligence efforts if they don't receive immunity.

FACT: FISA orders and Protect America Act (PAA) directives are compulsory. Telecoms must comply with lawful orders. Telecoms only had discretion when they decided to cooperate with illegal government requests. They should be held responsible for breaking the law. No one should be above the law.

MYTH: When the PAA expires vital foreign intelligence surveillance programs will cease, and the government will not be able to conduct surveillance against new threats.

FACT: Any surveillance programs authorized under the PAA are in effect for an entire year, regardless of whether the PAA itself expires. The emergence of "new" targets for surveillance will not be a problem because the PAA authorized entire programs of surveillance, which are not limited to individual targets. If the government wants to wiretap individuals that for some reason do not fit under an authorized PAA program they can either apply for an order from the FISA Court or conduct the surveillance outside the United States.

MYTH: FISA is not an effective tool for protecting the national security.

FACT: During the Cold War FISA protected America from the threat of a nuclear-armed Soviet Union. FISA is a robust and nimble tool that gives the government significant powers to wiretap suspected terrorists while protecting the rights of innocent Americans by requiring judicial oversight. In an emergency, FISA allows the government to start the surveillance before requesting court permission. While McConnell falsely credited the PAA, it was surveillance conducted under FISA that helped the German government interdict a terrorist plot in Germany last year.

MYTH: Congress knows all it needs to know about the government's warrantless surveillance programs.

FACT: Administration officials have repeatedly hinted about "other" intelligence programs. The NSA warrantless surveillance program may only be the tip of the iceberg. Congress needs to know about all illegal government surveillance programs before it considers giving the government more surveillance powers. Only a few Members of Congress have seen the documents relating to the terrorist surveillance program and Congress should not legislate in the dark.

• CTNewsJunkie does it's usual great reporting on the who's who behind the Defense Of Democracies that includes a certain junior senator from Connecticut.

• ConnecticutBob whipped up this video response.



In response to the ad, Congressman Murphy released this statement.

This weekend, a Republican special interest group, Defense Of Democracies, peppered Connecticut airwaves with a completely false TV ad criticizing my opposition to Bush's unconstitutional warrantless wiretapping program.

Here in the 5th district, we've seen this type of fear mongering before. The ad running against me now is eerily reminiscent of an ad that Nancy Johnson ran in 2006, infamously suggesting that I would not allow the U.S. government to intercept "a terrorist communication" from Pakistan to the United States.



[...]

I believe that we won in 2006 because in the face of these ads, we refused to bend in our support for basic civil liberties and privacy rights. I support a strong terrorist surveillance law, but I refuse to sacrifice our nation's hard fought civil liberties in the name of George Bush's illegal wiretapping scheme.

But I can't fight this battle alone. These new ads show that Bush's supporters will go to any lengths to remove from office those of us who dare to oppose his growing imperial Presidency.

With disgusting ads like this from the party of fear, Murphy should win by a landslide.

UPDATEFallout from the ad continues as Democratic advisers distance themselves from the group (for the exception of Joe LIEberman).

As we reported Monday, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies launched a national ad campaign lambasting House Democrats for not passing the Senate surveillance bill, which comes complete with retroactive immunity for the telecoms.

As of Friday, the group, which claims to be non-partisan, boasted a number of Democrats on their board of advisors. Those were: Donna Brazile, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Rep. Elliot Engel (D-NY), Rep. Jim Marshall, and former Georgia governor Zell Miller. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), listed as a Democrat on the site, is one of five "distinguished advisors."

Since the group launched the ads, Brazile, Schumer, Engel and Marshall have all resigned from the group. Zell Miller, well, he spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention. Our call and email to Sen. Lieberman's spokesman were unreturned.

In her statement, Brazile said that no one from the group had consulted her about its activities "in years." And that the once "bi-partisan organization" had, "due to the influence of their funders... morphed into a radical right wing organization that is doing the dirty work for the Bush Administration and Congressional Republicans."