Senator Edward Kennedy skewered George W. Bush’s rhetoric on surveillance without a warrant, corporations, and the value of human life in a speech to the Senate on December 17, 2007:

Think about what we’ve been hearing from the White House in this debate. The President has said that American lives will be sacrificed if Congress does not change FISA. But he has also said that he will veto any FISA bill that does not grant retroactive immunity. No immunity, no new FISA bill. So if we take the President at his word, he is willing to let Americans die to protect the phone companies.

People need not die if the FISA Amendments Act is not passed; all the Bush administration needs to do to wiretap anybody is to supply a court with a warrant — that is, to have a good reason. But the Bush administration wants to spy on Americans when it doesn’t have a reason. And of course the Bush administration prioritizes corporate interests over human lives. After all, one corporation can do so much to prop up a Republican politician, but the contributions of one person are nearly insignificant.

If that chills you, it should chill you more that Americans returned George W. Bush to office long after it became clear he held such disregard for restraints on power and such disregard for the lives of everyday Americans.

(Source: Speech of Senator Edward Kennedy to the United States Senate, December 17 2007)