A DAY OF INFAMY IN THE SENATE-- WHY WE NEED BETTER DEMOCRATS, NOT MORE DEMOCRATS

The Senate has started voting on amendments to the FISA bill. Halfway down the list was the #3907, the Dodd Feingold Amendment that would strike retroactive immunity for Bush's criminal telecomm cronies. Early this morning Glenn Greenwald was very pessimistic:

The Senate today-- led by Jay Rockefeller, enabled by Harry Reid, and with the active support of at least 12 (and probably more) Democrats, in conjunction with an as-always lockstep GOP caucus-- will vote to legalize warrantless spying on the telephone calls and emails of Americans, and will also provide full retroactive amnesty to lawbreaking telecoms, thus forever putting an end to any efforts to investigate and obtain a judicial ruling regarding the Bush administration's years-long illegal spying programs aimed at Americans. The long, hard efforts by AT&T, Verizon and their all-star, bipartisan cast of lobbyists to grease the wheels of the Senate-- led by former Bush 41 Attorney General William Barr and former Clinton Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick-- are about to pay huge dividends, as such noble efforts invariably do with our political establishment.

...Chris Dodd went to the Senate floor last night and gave another eloquent and impassioned speech, warning of the consequences for our country from telecom amnesty. He specifically focused on the permanently and comprehensively suppressive effect it will have on efforts to investigate what the Bush administration did in illegally spying on Americans.

You want to get an idea how the kind of blatant and deliberate governmental/corporate lawbreaking  (definition of fascist) was just protected by a gaggle of unresponsive and unaccountable senators, most of them heavily bribed, watch the clip of Dodd from last night:



Here's the list of the evil-doers:

Every single Republican (including Lieberman), of course. There isn't a single one who stood up for the rule of law-- but they never do. They have lizard brains. Today's list of Democratic traitors:

Evan Bayh (IN)
Daniel Inouye (HI)
Tim Johnson (SD)
Mary Landrieu (LA)
Claire McCaskill (MO)
Ben Nelson (NE)
Bill Nelson (FL)
Debbie Stabenow (MI)
DiFi (CA)
Herb Kohl (WI)
Mark Pryor (AR)
Jay Rockefeller (WV)
Ken Salazar (CO)
Tom Carper (DE)
Barbara Mikulski (MD)
Kent Conrad (ND)
Jim Webb (VA)
Blanche Lincoln (AR)

Hillary didn't bother to show up; even McCain dragged his rotting, decrepit carcass into the Senate today for this one. Obama voted for principle and with the American people.


UPDATE: THE BATTLE TO PRESERVE THE RULE OF LAW MOVES TO THE HOUSE... OY

What stands between us and warrantees spying and dictatorial powers for a chief executive run wild? Our representatives. Every Democrat should contact his or her congressman and tell them flat out that they will never vote for them if they support retroactive immunity and warrantless wiretaps on American citizens. Democrats in the Senate failed us. Rahm Emanuel will be pushing for reactionary House members to do the same. This is what the ACLU has urged it's membership to say to their representatives:

1. Vote NO on any spying bill with telecom immunity. Lawsuits must be allowed to proceed or we’ll never know the truth about what laws were broken and how many Americans rights were violated.

2. Vote NO on any spying that allows the government to spy on Americans without getting a warrant. America doesn’t need a bill that needlessly expands the President’s ability to spy on innocent Americans without a warrant.

3. Don’t let the Senate or President Bush steamroll the House of Representatives. Any bill to regulate spying on Americans must respect the Constitution and must not let phone companies off the hook for warrantless spying.

You can also sign the FDL petition aimed at the House-- but calling your representative first is far more effective. Dodd is still unbowed by the fascism and vows to keep fighting.


UPDATE: I'M SURE HILLARY WAS BUSY WITH SOMETHING IMPORTANT WHILE THE SENATE WAS BURNING THE CONSTITUTION TODAY...

If this is any indication of what we can expect from an Obama presidency vs a Hillary presidency, there is NO CONTEST. I'm sure Hillary was out pandering to all kinds of corporate special interests instead of voting; she needs the money since ordinary grassroots Democrats are donating way more to Obama. Here's what Barack had to say after he stood with the people:

"I am proud to stand with Senator Dodd, Senator Feingold and a grassroots movement of Americans who are refusing to let President Bush put protections for special interests ahead of our security and our liberty. There is no reason why telephone companies should be given blanket immunity to cover violations of the rights of the American people – we must reaffirm that no one in this country is above the law.

We can give our intelligence and law enforcement community the powers they need to track down and take out terrorists without undermining our commitment to the rule of law, or our basic rights and liberties. That is why I am proud to cosponsor several amendments that protect our privacy while making sure we have the power to track down and take out terrorists.

This Administration continues to use a politics of fear to advance a political agenda. It is time for this politics of fear to end. We are trying to protect the American people, not special interests like the telecommunications industry. We are trying to ensure that we don't sacrifice our liberty in pursuit of security, and it is past time for the Administration to join us in that effort."

And Obama is far from alone in this perspective. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers says there is no justification for the Senate's amnesty provision. Conyers is correct and every single Republican senator plus Lieberman and 19 renegade Democrats are dead wrong. Remember when Susan Collins (ME), John Sununu (NH), Lamar Alexander (TN), and Norm Coleman (MN) make the preposterous claim to be moderates and defenders of basic American values in November that they voted to make sure the criminal Bush cronies would never even be investigated. And, to be fair, you may be receiving a solicitation in your mail box from the DSCC begging for money to help save the seats of reactionary Democrats Mary Landrieu, Mark Pryor, and Tim Johnson. Just say no. They don't need your money; let the telecom executives they just gave immunity to pay for their campaigns.