A news alert from The New York Times came in two minutes ago announcing the U.S. Senate had just approved expansion of the federal government’s spying powers.

The alert, in full, reads:
[1] From www.nytimes.com:

By a vote of 68 to 29, the Senate gave final approval to a bill that expands the government’s spying powers and gives legal protection to phone companies that cooperated in President Bush’s warrantless eavesdropping program.

That announcement sort of caught me off-guard, though, because I’ve never trusted the swine who fill the seat on Capitol Hill, expected just this sort of vote.

In response to this vote to allow the federal government, through its Department of Homeland Security, with oversight of the FBI, the CIA, the [2] NSA, and many others, including, possibly, the successor agency to the supposedly “former” Office of Total Information Awareness (TIA), which would have had a massive data collection program to pick up tidbits of information on everyone’s habits in the U.S. to “monitor” for activities similar to those of terrorists. If the U.S. government knows the “habits” of terrorists, then it has a profile. If it doesn’t, then TIA, as many argued, would have been a fishing expedition and nothing more. Then again, under the Bush-Cheney White House, when is the last time they announced the creation of anything, then did not bring it to fruition? Since TIA does not exist under that name, just what is the name of the new agency?

Since the fine swine sitting in Washington have felt the need to protect the telephone companies, all of which violated federal law — at least as existed at the time of the crime — and since those crooked cronies in D.C. feel an expansion of domestic spying is warranted, it’s time to kick all of them out of Washington.

There are a number of sitting U.S. Senators seeking to be elected as president, including Sen. John McCain, Sen. Hillary Clinton, and Sen. Barack Obama, it’s time to make sure these cronies do not get elected. Today’s vote is overshadowing — by far — anything they say about laxing the domestic spying activites.

If you want change, well, it’s time to find someone who can bring about change, but it must be positive change. George Bush promised to all for change, and well, he has wrought much change upon the U.S. and the world, sadly enough. He’s led a coalition that’s narrowing down to one member into Iraq, knowingly, under false pretenses, among other issues, some of which are actionable by Congress under the provisions of the Articles of Impeachment. Then again, Congress would never impeach its favorite son.

Change will come in this nation as a result of a massive revolt. That revolt must take place in the polling booth. To bring change, though, anyone holding elected office in Washington, D.C. right now must be disqualified, if not officially, then by the voters, from being considered for office of President of the United States.