Yesterday, Illinois' 14th Congressional District (formerly held by GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert) elected another anti-telecom immunity, anti-warrantless wiretapping voice to the US House of Representatives. Newly elected Representative Bill Foster, who will serve out the remainder of Hastert's term, has spoken out against immunity for lawbreaking telecoms:

The President and his allies in Congress are playing politics with national security, and that's wrong. Nobody is above the law and telecom companies who engaged in illegal surveillance should be held accountable, not given retroactive immunity. I flatly oppose giving these companies an out for cooperating with Alberto Gonzalez on short-circuiting the FISA courts and the rule of law.

The lesson here is unavoidably clear. There is not, and there never has been, any substantial constituency in America clamoring for telecom amnesty or warrantless eavesdropping powers. The only factions that want that are found in the White House, the General Counsel's office of AT&T and Verizon, and the keyboards of woefully out-of-touch Beltway establishment spokesmen such as Fred Hiatt, David Ignatius and Joe Klein. If/when the Democratic Congress vests in the President vast new warrantless eavesdropping powers and grants amnesty to lawbreaking telecoms, it won't be because doing so is politically necessary.

I sincerely hope that the rest of the Illinois Congressional delegation is paying attention: Standing up for the Constitution isn't merely the right thing to do - it will also help you get elected.

Maybe it's time for all of us to call our representatives and remind them of that? The Capitol Hill switchboard number is (202)224-3121.

Update: Julian Sands has an excellent post rebutting many of arguments made in support of granting telecom immunity.

Hat tip to Glenn Greenwald