In the virtual shadow of Co-dependence Day, (the day after independence day) the Democrats of the Senate, having picked up sufficient pre-emptive bail money from the telecoms, are prepared to permanently establish a two-tiered justice system in America by granting the telecom companies retro-active amnesty for their flagrant criminal acts.
The money the Senators received is only a portion of the huge Government contracts the telecoms received for breaking the law. The Democrats, at the direction of Steny Hoyer, are doing this because in August the final provisions of the Orwellian named Protect America Act will lapse. August is when the Republican Convention occurs, and they are afraid that it will be used as a bludgeon to beat the Democratic nominee senseless with. To prevent that, the Democrats have capitulated on FISA and gave Mr. 29% everything he wanted.
Happy Co-Dependence Day!
Senator Obama folded on this issue like a cheap suit, and issued a statement on his website that has a group of eleventy skillion progressives opposed to his cave. The Senator offers his reasons for his waffle, which are wrong. Not in opinion or ideology, but factually wrong.
The Senator begins by addressing the immunity clause for the bill and claims he will "work" in an "effort" to strip the amendment from the legislation. He does not say he will oppose the bill unless the immunity clause is removed, so when that does not happen, which it will not, he will vote for a bill that grants immunity for criminals.
His second point is the "exclusivity" clause of the FISA legislation. Alberto Gonzales (aka Bertie Walnuts) and the Office Of Legal Counsel claimed that congress awarded unlimited power to the Executive branch when it authorized the war in Iraq. But three judges, out of, well, three judges, have already ruled that FISA, as it stand now, is the exclusive legal means for wiretaps for the Executive branch. One cannot receive what one already has, so this point is virtually meaningless.
His third point just flat out cracked me up:
The Inspectors General report also provides a real mechanism for accountability and should not be discounted.The IG is part of the Executive branch. Loyal Bushies investigating loyal Bushies? Are you serious? They will probably all get medals.
FISA is a bad bill. It allows dragnets and if warrants are denied they can continue to wiretap through the appeals process, and if the warrant is ultimately denied they can still use all the collected recordings in court, no poisonous tree here.
I have been annoyed at several good progressive bloggers and leftwing radio hosts that wring their hands and head for the fainting sofa when anyone says anything negative about the Democratic nominee. We should all just STFU and support our candidate, after all, the only other option is four more years of Dubya McSame.
There is a group of blind loyalists who cling with total fealty to Dear Leader. Anyone who gainsays a single utterance of Commander Guy suffers from "derangement syndrome" or must be unpatriotic and yearns to give aide and comfort to the enemy.
That group is called Republicans.
I am not a Republican.
I am a citizen, not a subject. When an official of my party steps out of bounds, they are going to damn well hear about it. Unquestioning loyalty to a public official is not a good thing for a Democracy.
All my ire, and indeed the collective ire on the left, is not reserved for Senator Obama, in fact I doff my hat to him for posting his response. He will get my vote, but no money, or phone banking or any other activism whatsoever from me. The money I was going to give to Senator Obama will now go to the Blue America PAC vs Retroactive Immunity.
We are targeting Bush-dog democrats and power-hungry bail money whores like Steny Hoyer. I would rather give my money to well deserving progressive candidates and it is unfortunate that this has to be, but it is the only language the politicians understand.
I invite everyone who are tired of the fatcats in Washington gaming the system to help us push back as hard as we can.
UPDATE:
Read Our Blue America FISA ad here. Call your Senator.
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