Unforgivable

That’s the word that springs to mind when I think about AT&T’s trigger-happy willingness to hand American’s civil liberties over to the Federal Government.

In a nutshell: In 2003, an Executive order mandated AT&T open up its lines to allow National Security Agency goons to listen in on the general public’s phone calls. American citizens. With no warrant.

AT&;T grabs a bottle of personal lubricant, hands it to the Fed, smiles wide and says, “be gentle, sweetheart.”

A few years later, Mark Klein, a tech at AT&T, blows his proverbial whistle, the Electronic Frontier Foundation organizes a class action lawsuit on behalf of the people violated and hilarity ensues.

As I write this, Congress is squabbling over how best to reward AT&T for its “service.” What’s likely going to happen—what may have already happened by the time you read this—is that AT&T is going to get an unadulterated hall pass. A Get Out Of Jail Free Card, a trip past Go and $200.

And it’s completely unconscionable. We’ve been sold out, folks.

First by the President, Good ol’ King George himself, who rustled himself up a posse and set ’em on a trail to head off all of our phone conversations at the pass. Then, by AT&T, who ignores a perfect opportunity to protect its paying customers by forcing the King to get some old-fashioned warrants.

And now, we’re being sold out by our elected officials, who are going to protect AT&T for violating the law.

Now, I know it might seem a little unfair to string up AT&T. King George said that the companies adhering to his call were acting in “good faith.” Obviously “Good Faith” for the president equals sticking it to the people. Indeed, this excerpt from a Time.com article on Feb. 29 sums it up perfectly:

Says White House spokesperson (Dana) Perino: A wide bipartisan group of Senators and a majority of the House, if given a chance, believe that the companies acted in good faith. Only trial lawyers and their allies in the House, who have received millions of dollars in contributions from class-action lawyers, argue differently, and that’s because they’re putting greed ahead of fairness and national security.

Blame it on lawyers, Perino says. They’re just trying to get rich at the expense of “National Security” and “fairness.”

Fairness? King George and his royal entourage wouldn’t know the meaning of the word if it was taped to Osama Bin Laden’s corpse and mailed it to ’em.

It’s plain and simple. AT&T needs to be held 100 percent accountable for its trespass, if only to remind all the rest of Corporate America that it must obey the Constitution of the United States.

Even if the Executive branch refuses to.

Hopefully, it’s not too late to contact your representatives and voice your concern. If it is, then it’s still not too late to send a message with your dollar.

Drop AT&T like a bad habit.