Independence Day

While the FISA bill has passed the House, Feingold et al have at least succeeded in postponing a vote until after the Independence Day recess in the senate. This is the bill that would grant immunity to telecom companies who aided the government in violating your fifth amendment rights, by allowing them to eavesdrop on anyone without a warrant. Fitting that the senate will have the whole ID holiday to think about this, no?

And here's something else they can think about as well. While I don't agree completely with the Supreme Court's recent gun control ruling, I do enjoy this tidbit:

It says that the right to bear arms is partly "premised on the private use of arms for activities such as hunting and self-defense, the latter being understood as resistance to either private lawlessness or the depredations of a tyrannical government (or a threat from abroad)."

Happy Independence day.