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The So-Called Protect America Act:
Why Its Sweeping Amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Pose Not Only a Civil Liberties Threat, But a Greater Danger As Well
Congressional Democrats are getting a lot of well-earned heat from rank-and-file members of their party, not to mention editorial writers and bloggers, for their lack of spine in refusing to reject the Bush/Cheney Administration's sweeping amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Just before Congress departed for its August recess, the Administration jammed through in five days - from start to finish -- the dubiously titled Protect America Act (PAA) of 2007, over the protest of the Democratic leadership. The only thing good about the PAA is that it is temporary - with a six month expiration date (although surveillance programs authorized under it can operate for up to one year.)
On her Democracy NOW daily program, Amy Goodman's (streaming video) interviewed Salon.com's law blogger, Glenn Greenwald, and the president of the National Lawyers Guild, Marjorie Cohn, about the PAA. The interview nicely sets forth what happened and its broad implications. Simply stated, Bush threatened to make a political issue of any effort by Congressional Democrats to protect the civil liberties of American. Bush surely succeeded beyond his most fervent hope in his intimidation of sixteen Democratic members in the Senate and forty-one Democratic members in the House, earning these members a place on "the roll of shame" in the blogosphere.
A Threat Greater Than That to Civil Liberties: Executive Aggrandizement
The Washington Post, the New York Times, and politically-diverse organizations ranging from the John Birch Society and the Cato Institute to the American Civil Liberties Union all agree that the PAA is a serious mistake, and threat to the civil liberties of Americans. They point out that the law ignores the Fourth Amendment while, at the same time, hiding its actual operations in national security secrecy. Indeed, Congress was not even certain about the full extent of what it has authorized because President Bush and Vice-President Cheney refused to reveal it.
It is not likely that law-abiding Americans will even know that the U.S. Government's intelligence gathering operations are listening in on their calls to and from foreign countries, or similarly scanning emails. For this reason, it is not to be expected that many Americans will care about what the Democratic Congress has given a Republican president who has proven himself insensitive to anyone's privacy other than his own.
There is, however, a threat in this new law even greater than its robbing Americans of their communications privacy, which commentators and critics have virtually ignored. This law is another bold and blatant move by Bush to enhance the powers of the Executive branch at the expense of its constitutional co-equals.
Congress was willing to give Bush the amendments to FISA that would make this law effective under current technology. The 1978 law did not account for the fact that modern digital communications between people outside the United States often is routed through the United States, yet the FISA Court said surveillance of such routed communications required a warrant. Nevertheless, Bush rejected the legislation proposed by the Democrats because it also contained checks on the use of surveillance powers.
This, of course, is consistent with Bush and Cheney's general drive to weaken or eliminate all checks and balances constraining the Executive. This drive was evidenced by countless laws enacted by the Republican-controlled Congresses during the first six years of the Administration, and in countless signing statements added by the President interpreting away any constraints on the Executive. Thus, when even the GOP Congresses required presidential compliance and reporting, they were thwarted.
The most stunning aspect of the Democrats' capitulation is their abandoning of their institutional responsibility to hold the president accountable. The Protect America Act utterly fails to maintain any real check on the president's power to undertake electronic surveillance of literally millions of Americans. This is an invitation to abuse, especially for a president like the current incumbent.
Column continues below ↓
Fixing the Dangerously Deficient Albeit Quickly Sunsetting Protect America Act And Ignoring the White House's Requests For Even More Power
Though it is quite certain abuses of the surveillance powers under the Protect America Act will occur, they have not yet occurred. The failure to provide a check on such potential abuses, however, has already occurred. It represents the greatest failing of the Democratic Congress in acceding to the demands of Bush and Cheney. It is this failure that should be a paramount concern of the Congress when it next addresses this temporary law.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to the chairmen of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Intelligence Committee, requesting they develop legislation "addressing the many deficiencies" of the temporary law as soon as Congress returns from its recess.
Even though the White House got everything it demanded from Congress, it is requesting even more. When signing the Protect America Act, Bush said, "When Congress returns in September, the Intelligence Committees and leaders in both parties will need to complete work on the comprehensive reforms requested by Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, including the important issues of providing meaningful liability protection to those who are alleged to have assisted our Nation following the attacks of September 11, 2001."
Bush also wants legislative immunity for the American companies, and government officials (including himself), to protect them from criminal prosecution for violating the criminal provision of FISA. As readers will recall, before Congress caved and gave Bush power to conduct this surveillance, he - and telecommunication companies simply opted to do so illegally. Now, Bush will claim, with some justification, that because Congress has now made legal actions that were previously illegal, it should retroactively clear up this nasty problem facing all those who broke the law at his command.
If the Democrats fail to stand up to the bullying of this weak president, and ignore his demands for more unaccountability, they might as well start looking for another line of work. Not only are their fellow rank and file Democrats going to turn on them in 2008, but the overwhelming numbers of independents who assisted them in regaining power are going to desert them in droves.
At bottom, Democrats truly only need to add one fix to this dangerous law: meaningful accountability. They must do so, or face the consequences.
No one wants to deny the intelligence community all the tools it needs. But regardless of who sits in the Oval Office, no Congress should trust any president with unbridled powers of surveillance over Americans. It is not the way our system is supposed to work.
John W. Dean, a FindLaw columnist, is a former counsel to the president.
© 2007 FindLaw.com
39 Comments so far
Show AllEqually frightening are the technological implications of this bill as set out in an op ed in the Washington Post by Susan Landau (computer engineer Sun Microsystems) on August 9. In part she says: " . . . Most communications within the country are constitutionally protected -- U.S. "persons" talking to U.S. "persons." To avoid wiretapping every communication, NSA will need to build massive automatic surveillance capabilities into telephone switches. Here things get tricky: Once such infrastructure is in place, others could use it to intercept communications. . ." .
If anyone's interested in learning how the administration is using its new FISA powers, check it out:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/08/citing-four-day.html
"Hurry up and vote on this before you go on vacation"
You would think it was something requiring very little thought or discussion.
A program of this magnitude requires MICRO analysis and takes time to consider before casting a vote. It doesn't seem like it got any of that. I guess civil liberties aren't that big a priority anymore.
I am going to take advantage of this congressional recess by scheduling an appointment with my representative. I, as we all should, will demand immediate action to at least the partial fix mentioned above, the need for accountability.
My congresswoman voted the proper way on this bill and almost all others and deserves my thanks for her efforts. But there is always room for improvement!
Of course, while I'm there, I shall ask for the impeachment of those murdering bast....
Whatever happened to presumed innocence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffin_v._United_States)?
Treating all persons as criminals is, as was discussed elsewhere, a sort of preemptive justice. It is demeaning, hostile, and contrary to principles of modern democracy.
If one argues otherwise, then we need to even the stakes. Citizens must be allowed to spy on their officials to the same extent, and by the same means, to keep them on the up-and-up.
It makes me wonder if Bush just does some of these things to see if he can get away with them.
One of the biographies that I read on W said that in Texas, he did pretty much the same thing. He would ask for outrageous things, just to see if he could get them.
Then the legislature would reduce and modify what he wanted. He would then declare victory and move on to something else outrageous.
In Texas, the legislature pretty much runs things, the governor is mostly a figure head. But in this situation Bush has had the Republican Congress from 2003-2007 to rubber stamp everything.
I am not making excuses for the Democrats on this, but you pick your battles. People get outraged by one thing or another, but we are on the outside and they are on the inside. Consider that you might not see the whole picture clearly.
One of my senators, Feinstein, voted FOR this infringement on our Constitutional rights, and the other, Boxer, didn't bother to vote at all. What was THAT all about?! And this in an area of the country that is soundly against the b/c administration's policies on just about everything.
I especially got a kick out of DNI McConnell's letter to Feinstein, which she is waving at her constituents as proof that she did the right thing, in which he assures her that his spy agency "has no plans" to cast an improperly wide net. It's amazing to me that she fell for that obvious wordplay on his part, after participating in those Gonzales hearings, and listening to lie, after lie, after lie.
After the 2006 midterm election, I thought we could just sit back and watch them work for us. But it turns out I thought wrong. We're going to have to take them back to that playground and stand over them while they clean up the messes they left behind and apologize to the people they didn't keep their promises to.
Since Republicans are basically un-electable right now, w/o costly legal efforts to prevent accurate vote counts, and w/o getting rid of every single U.S. Attorney who refuses to capitulate to the same kind of political strong-arming that so many members of Congress couldn't resist, we can only imagine how this new executive authority to snoop on all Americans will be used during an extremely pivotal election year.
How sad, and frightening. The executive branch was looking for a way to bypass the legislative branch to get at the people to strong-arm them directly, and not just through their representatives, and now they've got that tool.
Welcome to the new totalitarian state. The Unopposed Stalag of Amerika.
I hope the public likes it because they have no one to blame but themselves for not being more aware.
Goodby US Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Hello to the world as envisioned by Goebbels.
"Congress was not even certain about the full extent of what it has authorized because President Bush and Vice-President Cheney refused to reveal it."
Bush and Cheney "refused" to reveal what they were voting on and they still cast a vote? And we're paying these people on Captiol Hill to represent us?
Is there any question that Congress is becoming increasingly irresponsible and therefore irrelevant?
If there are no checks & balances in this government, why the hell do we need these people?
"One of the biographies that I read on W said that in Texas, he did pretty much the same thing. He would ask for outrageous things, just to see if he could get them"
The late great Molly Ivins was giving fair warning on the Beast, then a mere Shrub.
Fearing to appear "weak" in the terms that the Coward-in-Chief and Vice-Coward phrase it, the Bendovercrats who voted in favor, sight-unseen, demonstrated just what abject cowards they are. We knew the Republicans are, down to the last man and woman.
"I am not making excuses for the Democrats on this, but you pick your battles. People get outraged by one thing or another, but we are on the outside and they are on the inside. Consider that you might not see the whole picture clearly"
This was the same excuse that was offered when 10 million people tried to stop the invasion of Iraq -- they were on the inside and we didn't have a clear picture.
Those who are inside have the distorted picture; those on the outside have the accurate vision.
Bush and Cheney would feel hindered when we find out they have been secretly tapping all phone calls and e-mails of all Democrats. Wouldn't that be nice, a Mother of all Watergates? And what is to reassurance that the same liars that gave us an invasion followed by a quagmire would be ethically above political cheating?
My wish would be that Cheney's phone and e-mail, plus Rove's phone and e-mail be tapped with all information turned over the Congressional Committee interviewing Gonzales. Instead of agonizing through more Gonzales dying on the hotseat, it would be bada-bing-bada-boom and perp frog walking Dick and Carl out of the Whitehouse.
zhongman, I'll take a stab at your question. Judicial oversight will hinder these surveillance programs, by making it possible for any persons or agencies that break these FISA regulations from being held accountable.
What I don't think a lot of us grasp yet, is that the new FISA law is not ours, it's the executive branch's. It's for the executive branch to use to prevent people from dissenting and opposing administration policies, because to do so threatens our national security. The 1978 FISA law was for the people to use to prevent the government from overstepping our civil liberties. Back then, it was mistakenly assumed that some of the surveillance activities conducted by then-President Nixon threatened our national security. Now that we live in a post-9/11 world, we realize we were wrong about that.
Remember that the 1978 FISA law was drafted by the people and by Congress. This new FISA law was drafted by Bush and Cheney. Important distinction. Our representatives no longer draft laws, because Bush simply overrides them with executive signing statements. Now, Bush and Cheney perform this function for them.
Alberto Gonzales would be eligible for jail time w/o this new FISA law. Now, he's not. The people are now hindered from pursuing any efforts to make sure he remains within the law, while he's data-mining the American people. Got that?
Be sure to write your representative and thank him/her for providing you with this "protection."
Zhongman,
Could somebody address just how Judicial oversight will hinder these surveillance programs?
DAMN GOOD QUESTION!
Remember that GWB said, out loud and in public, about 5 minutes after the Supreme Court handed him the presidency in 2000, that "This would all be a heckuva lot easier if it were a dictatorship, as long as I'm the dictator."
We all assumed he was joking. Guess who's getting the last laugh.
I'd sell my soul for $160,000 a year and super retirement benefits. Well, not really.
Secession = freedom.
Could somebody address just how Judicial oversight will hinder these surveillance programs?
the constitution doesn't say you can let the gov't do all this crap as long as someone else in the gov't knows/approves what's going on. there is always (supposed to be) presumption of innocence & probable cause. and to the degree you buy into this "war on terror" utter nonsense, you'll soon be jettisoning your liberties to have Big Brother George protect you.
the sad thing is this has been going on in smaller ways for a long time. you have no presumptive right not to be surveilled anytime you step into public any more. you are already searched (and thus presumed guilty) w/"stop & frisk" policies in major cities, and drunk driving dragnets, every time you step into a gov't building, airport, etc. both dems & reps have been assaulting access to the court system for decades, and there are so many problems w/the "justice" system it's mind boggling.
this FISA stuff would be sad if it were unprecedented, but it's not. not by a long, long ways.
"I especially got a kick out of DNI McConnell's letter to Feinstein, which she is waving at her constituents as proof that she did the right thing, in which he assures her that his spy agency "has no plans" to cast an improperly wide net. It's amazing to me that she fell for that obvious wordplay on his part, after participating in those Gonzales hearings, and listening to lie, after lie, after lie."
Feinstein didn't "fall" for it, in the sense that she's stupid--rather, she's simply an utterly gutless coward who's waving the letter as cover for her spineless behavior. And, btw, the net is already "improperly wide".
When it comes to government spying on the American people, the temp will go permanent. However, when it comes to jobs in America, most will NOT go permanent !
This is exactly the way Hitler did it with the assistance of IBM. The players are the same only the acronynms have changed.
We've got glove! That velvet glove over an iron fist. Whatever gaps there are in the data mining database should be taken care of in six months. The hard cold metal beneath that glove... chills while it's velvet surface at first merely caresses. Who watches the watchers when the watchers are secret? Not you or I! Just how do we have representation and democracy when a group (a 'secret society' as it were) operating in secrecy, does what it does and we have no knowledge of what that is, who is doing it or when it is being done? I mean who are these people who have such powers over us? We are unequal citizens to them. If only they will know, only they will allow new people to participate in it. After a time, the 'right of secrecy' will be confined to ...who? A permanently secret group of individuals? Yeah ... I still feel free ...sort of...well...I remember what it was like anyway. Don't you?
Democrats = Bush-enabler.
Check out which Dems have voted with the Repugs.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00309
What do the American people need to get to "Fight or Flight", a 24/7 band of terrorists in the White House? No chicken in any pot? No potable water?
The only reason why the Torture and Terminate Habeas Corpus Act gets called the Military Commissions Act is because Democrats allow it to happen. The Reward Predator Credit Card Company Act became the Bankruptcy Act. The Trample on Civil Liberties Act became the Patriot Act. Oh, the Dems will say that happened because the Republicans were in the majority, although I never saw a concerted drive by Dems, even liberal ones, to rename the Acts so that they accurately described their contents.
However this one, the Protect America Act, was done while the Dems were in the majority of both Houses. Same for the Oppose the Troops by Funding Their Deaths and Maimings Without Restrictions Act which was called the Support and Fund the Troops Act, or something like that. The Dems don't even make the simple fight to rename the Act when they control the legislation. That has to be intentional.
There is simply no legitimate excuse for such despicable legislation to be given the PR of lofty sounding names without resistance from the Dems -- unless they are not really resisting.
Dennis Kucinich, of course--and AS ALWAYS-- voted for "WE THE PEOPLE". Please note that and all the OTHER issues he's voted on FOR US and U.S.
And who pray tell is gonna replace the democrats when "they are out of a job" in 08? That's the whole problem - there ain't nobody in this two-party system. Independents deserting them in droves. Ok. So what? Where they gonna go? To Independent Candidates. Oh - that will make a dent. Not. If the Dems capitulate (oh wait - they already have) this proves that dangerous authoritarianism is already upon us. Voters don't have much power to spank, unfortunately, when one party is hell bent on destroying the constitution and the other party has been coopted.
It's time for the guillotine or burning at the stake to reappear! These measures, long forgotten, if applied to people like Bush and Cheney and selected folk in Congress and the Senate, would help politicians to remember why they were elected by the people.
It wasn't to fund a gigantic ego-trip or to get fabulously rich or to advance the cause of Big Business, no, it wasn't!
It was 'to serve the people'!
http://seeking-utopia.blogspot.com
"If the Democrats fail to stand up to the bullying of this weak president, and ignore his demands for more unaccountability, they might as well start looking for another line of work. Not only are their fellow rank and file Democrats going to turn on them in 2008, but the overwhelming numbers of independents who assisted them in regaining power are going to desert them in droves."
Absolutely true!
I am a lifelong conservative/libertarian and I voted straight-ticket Democrat in 2006 for the first (and only) time in my life. It was not a vote for higher taxes, national health care, or minimum wage laws. It was a vote for Bush-Cheney to be held accountable and to be STOPPED from further damaging this nation.
As soon as I heard Pelosi say "Impeachment is off the table" I knew the fix was in. Conyers confirmed it with his cowardly arrest of Cindy Sheehan.
I can't decide which prevailing party deserves to go down in flames more. They are both made up of scum. I will certainly never vote Democrat again.
It's time for Congress to impeach itself.
.
All societies are hierarchies, that's the SYSTEM we've followed since our beginning. We accept it unquestioningly, but is it the best system we could devise? Actually, the system we inherited had worked tolerably well, far from perfect, but it was workable. We will probably always be ruled by hierarchies, but we still have a chance to choose what kind of hierarchy that rules us.
The hierarchy we have in power now would like to rule forever, and they don't care what it takes to achieve that goal. This hierarchy has killed and will continue to kill many more people before they are stopped.
Voting for Democrats or Republicans changes nothing because the SYSTEM is intentionally corrupt. Capitalism, by it's very nature is corrupt but enough of us have profited from it, that we don't want to change it. We just live day by day hoping the SYSTEM doesn't crash and burn before we die.
"Capitalism has eaten and voided democracy."
No worries though, if we just keep doing what we've been doing, maybe our human sacrifices will appease the money gods.
Let's do what the Mayans did. Whenever they had drought or famine they attacked another tribe to capture human sacrifices, which they sacrificed to appease their gods. The idea spread and pretty soon there was a human sacrifice race to prosper. And it worked. As more people died, their problems disappeared, and more and more Mayans abandoned their civilization and melted into the jungle.
Hey, with W moving to make his rule pre Magna Carta of 1215, we really have something truly Orwellian with neo cons and their enablers talking about this "Protect America Act." They must be talking about protecting America from being herself, mainly a democracy as the founding fathers intended. That puts us in a real Kafkaeske nightmare of W and his gang having virtually absolute power, such power which we know as Lord Acton, that great Englishman said, "corrupts absolutely."
We owe "thanks" also to the spineless Democrats who went along with this giant, and absolutely wrongheaded power grab which takes this country back roughly to where the ruler in England had no limits on the power that despot exercised.
Brown,
I wish I could say how much I support Dennis Kucinich -- you've said it, for me.
Is it possible to have a weekend without this rotten government doing something wrong?
John Dean has it exactly right. This is a power grab by Bush as well as an effort to trash the fourth amendment.
Is it also a power grab by Congress? Why did they say Bush could ignore the fourth amendment? They know better. Are the politicians who voted for Bush to trash the fourth amendment trying to usurp judicial power too? Are they saying that one of their laws can override the Bill of Rights?
The Government can spy on anyone as long as it gets a warrant from an article 3 judge. It's that easy or that hard if the government has something to hide from the judge. What does Bush have to hide? I don't know. I do know he is hiding something that he doesn't want a judge to know, or as John Dean also suggested - Bush is trying to aggrandize executive power. That sounds like a high crime to me. The Constitution doesn't authorize presidents to aggrandize executive power since that would overthrow the separation of powers and the check and balance system.
A FICA judge told Bush he had to get a warrant to spy on people. Bush has something to hide or he is making another power grab, or both. So he disobeyed the judge and got Congress to pass The Spy on America Act (a.k.a. the Protect America Act of 2007).
The solution is for Congress to repeal The Protect America Act Of 2007 the next time it meets. Don't amend it repeal it. That will leave the ruling of the FISA judge in place and Bush will have to get warrants to spy on US citizens, as the fourth amendment requires.
If Harry Reid or Nancy Polosi brings legislation to the floor that would immunize Bush, his minions and the phone companies for their crimes, the Democrats should elect new leaders who have some respect for the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Congress can repeal the protect America act of 2007 by voice vote. Of course, the votes should be recorded.
SUPPORT OUR LEADER
Our faith in Bush's leadership and Devine guidance has been reinforced by his decisive action to protect us from such crucial issues as gay marriage and flag burning. Our legislators may now pursue these paramount issues; rather waste their efforts on lessor items such as the war & homeland security, which he has so aptly demonstrated can be best pursued by his team without congressional or outside interference.
By eluding the distractions of history and science, and with guidance from his financial and theocratic supporters, Bush has been able to perceive the evils of stem cell research & international family planning; and the dangers from environmental reforms, conservation, and global warming and other conspiracies developed by the international scientific community.
He has even displayed the courage to expose Senator Max Cleland, a triple amputee Vietnam veteran, as unpatriotic for sponsoring the dangerous inquiry into 9/11, as well as others who have challenged his policies
We must not forget the five enlightened supreme court justices who courageously bypassed our constitution to prevent the Florida Supreme Court from implementing a dangerous legitimate election, hence handing Bush the presidency. Had they not protected us from an Al Gore presidency, we would have been subjected to the dangerous environmental reforms from which the Bush team has saved us.
More Orwellian linguistic games:
"no child left (behind) act"
"clear skies act"
"help america vote act"
"protect our forests act"
"patriot act"
"military commisions act"
"protect america act"
...and "War is Peace."
Bush trashed the Constitution the day he usurped the office of President in 2000! He has been steadily eroding our form of government since he has been in office. Why anyone is surprised by this move is amazing. I'm not! The man never has been fit to serve as President. But, his supporters have chosen him over the country they claim to love, support and defend. They have chosen to overlook his lack of leadership, qualifications for the job and ignorance. In favor to blindly supporting him. And aren't bright enough to see the correlation between Bush and Adolf Hitler. It isn't any wonder we are in such a mess. It isn't going to improve until the man is gotten out of office!
It's time to end W's tyranny big time!
Congress acts like they have had their bodies taken over by aliens from outer space. But I think they are so scared of Bush/Cheney that they are about to pee in their pants. Lets not forget the anthrax attacks on the three members of Congress who expressed their displeasure with voting on the Patriot Act before getting to read it. Needless to say, after the anthrax was sent to their offices, the vote proceeded. The anthrax was traced by its DNA to an Army lab in the US. Congress has been very cooperative since. The message although silent, was clearly heard by each member of both houses.
So, does anyone think that the current administration has been working so diligently to obtain absolute power just to give it up in a year when there is a new election ? I don't believe there will be an upcoming Presidential election in 2008. How about you? I do think there will be a dictator and martial law.
What is most unimaginable, is seeing this administration work so hard to obtain absolute power and not use it.
Now I don't think our military will be involved. They will be in Iraq. But it is possible that Bush will ask Putin or the UN to send foreign troops to help with martial law in the guise of protecting us while our forces are busy in Iraq. You see, it is well known that foreign troops won't have any problems dragging mom and dad out of the farm house and shooting them in the pasture.
Halliburton prisons are being built in the US which can hold many thousands of prisoners. Do you actually believe these prisons are being built to be left empty ?
First, there will be a false flag attack. Then we will be told that US Marshalls in the dark of night have whisked away each member of Congress for their safety. At least that is what we will be told on the news. But they will actually be sent to the new Halliburton gulags. The rest of us will not be so lucky.
The FBI has a list of 388,000 people that are "persons of interest" regarding terrorism. Now do you actually believe there are that many terrorist in the US ? This is not the TSA no fly list.
The real question to all Americans is, are you dusting off your old musket? Are you sharpening the pick fork that hangs in the barn ? Is the wife packing you some grub? Are you packing extra socks and an extra pair of shoes for the long march?
I think I see the Minutemen gathering. I think its going to be a long cold winter and we need plenty of boats to cross the Patomac.
I'm just waiting for this one:
From: George, By Grace of God and Declaration of the Nation's Judges King
To: American Subjects
Re: Declaration of Independence
Please be advised that this "statement of principles" is in severe violation of the ROYALTY act (Respect Of Your Almighty Loyalty To Your sovereign), and all violations of this act must be severely dealt with. Criticism of your ruler is unpatriotic, disloyal and seditious. In a unilateral world, there is no room for free speech. All printers, broadsheet publishers and copyhouses that distribute this liberalist propaganda shall be shut down and their owners and employees imprisoned without trial. Unity defines the empire; dissent shall be quashed.
In God's holy name, be it so.