Some FISA Vote Politics

Can you guess why we included this graphic on this post?

45 Republicans looked at the stinky FISA bill on Thursday and could not pull themselves to vote YES. That means that had Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn held their caucus together, it could have been defeated. Instead, it passed 256-164. How the hell did that happen? Well, start with Pelosi, Hoyer and Clyburn; they all voted for it. In fact 65 Democrats did-- basically the Republican wing of the Democratic Party, pretty much all the Blue Dogs and all the New Dems and their fellow travelers. 119 Democrats voted NO and 65 voted with the GOP. All the garbage Dems were over on the other side of the aisle as fast as they could get there-- Jim Himes (CT), head of the New Dems with his whole horrid caucus and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), head of the Blue Dogs with her whole horrid caucus.

All the regular Democratic bad guys you'd expect to support Paul Ryan on this... supported Paul Ryan on this. Here are just two dozen of the traitors:

• Debbie Wasserman Schultz (New Dem-FL)
• Kyrsten Sinema (Blue Dog-AZ)
• Jim Himes (New Dems- CT)
• Dan Lipinski (Blue Dog-IL)
• Adam Schiff (New Dem-CA)
• Charlie Crist (Blue Dog-FL)
• John Delaney (New Dem-MD)
• Tom O'Halleran (Blue Dog-AZ)
• Ami Bera (New Dem-CA)
• David Scott (Blue Dog-GA)
• Scott Peters (New Dem-CA)
• Cheri Bustos (Blue Dog-IL)
• Sean Patrick Maloney (New Dem-NY)
• Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ)
• Terri Sewell (New Dem-AL)
• Brad Schneider (Blue Dog-IL)
• Ann Kuster (New Dem-NH)
• Jim Cooper (Blue Dog-TN)
• Kathleen Rice (New Dem-NY)
• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
• Pete Aguilar (New Dem-CA)
• Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)
• Gregory Meeks (New Dem-NY)
• Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA)

The vote is considered a victory for the Trumpanzee Regime so... thanks Pelosi and Hoyer and Clyburn... and the whole Republican wing of the Democratic Party. Remember, if a candidate is being backed by the DCCC, that's probably the wing of the party they're from. I asked a few of the progressive candidates running against Members of Congress who voted for the Trump Regime's FISA bill. Tim Canova was the first guy I went to. He told me that "Wasserman Schultz showed that once again she talks a big game in her exhortations against President Trump, but when push comes to shove, she falls right in line with some of the worst parts of his agenda. Recall when Trump fired missiles into Syria, killing several Syrians, Wasserman Schultz was quick to endorse his unauthorized use of force. She did not demand Congressional oversight and authorization. Now she has voted against the USA Rights amendment, a bipartisan effort to only somewhat rein in the National Security Agency’s electronic surveillance program. On the one hand, Wasserman Schultz loves to call Donald Trump a mad man. And then she votes to extend the NSA’s program of spying on U.S. citizens. One need not even share Wasserman Schultz’s professed view of Trump’s mental state to conclude the NSA should not have such unbridled powers to spy on American citizens without a warrant, no matter who’s in the White House. Like much of what Wasserman Schultz does or doesn’t do, the most likely explanation is that she’s simply repaying the giant defense and technology contractors that feast off the NSA establishment and continue to contribute to her campaigns, political actions committee, and SuperPACs."

The Blue America-endorsed candidate in west Houston, Jason Westin, wasn't happy that his congressman wasn't one of the several dozen Republicans willing to stand up against Trump's authoritarian nature. "John Culberson," he told us, "just voted again with Mr. Trump (or at least the version of Mr. Trump after his advisors explained to him what FISA is and that he supports it). The FISA court has zero oversight, has already shown that it has issued questionable warrants like the telephone metadata program, and operates outside of US Justice system where no one but the judge and the government know what is being examined. We live in a dangerous world, and we need strong surveillance to protect America from those who would do us harm, but the secrecy of FISA sounds like something from an authoritarian state, not a nation that believes in the rule of law."

Paul Clements in southwest Michigan had a similar reaction when Fred Upton was also too cowardly to stand up to Trump. "Good government depends on transparency and accountability. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendments (FISA) Act is the opposite of this. How much do you trust government officials who can read your email messages without getting a warrant not to use this power for their own purposes? How much do you trust appointees not to use it to support the political ends of whoever appointed them, or whoever can fire them? A time when the President encourages the FBI to go after his political opponents, when the government identifies people as threats based on their religion or nationality, and when new technologies create threats to privacy that no one fully understands ... is a bad time to relax transparency and accountability. The FISA Act allows the government to collect American citizens' email and other communications with foreigners, without a warrant, from companies like Google and AT&T. It is a step towards tyranny. My opponent, Congressman Fred Upton, voted for it. I would vote against."

Earlier this week, we introduced DWT readers to J.D. Scholten, the progressive Democrat running for the northwest Iowa seat occupied by neo-fascist bigot Steve King. Today J.D., commenting on the vote, told me that "This is an expansion of FISA and not the reform that was intended. This attacks our 4th amendment rights by allowing warrantless searching of Americans' communication."


UPDATE: Why Is Rodney Davis Such A Tool For Trump?

David Gill is the progressive opponent in central Illinois to Trump/Ryan puppet Rodney Davis. This morning Doctor Gill told us that "Davis, has demonstrated the complete lack of concern he has for the rights and well-being of all the people who live here in IL-13. With his support of the extension of FISA, he makes clear that his oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution is absolutely worthless. Mr. Davis supports allowing the government to continue to monitor our international phone calls and emails without a warrant, a gross violation of our Fourth Amendment privacy rights. This program should have been overhauled long ago to comply with our Constitution, or scrapped altogether if necessary; instead, career politicians like Rodney Davis continue to support it. Mr. Davis demonstrates that the most dire threat to our democracy is not from terrorists from other countries, but from 'leaders' like himself who tear it apart from the inside."