Discuss
Posted by Thomas Nephew on August 7th, 2007
I mean it. Please discuss. I’m pretty blue about this, so I may say things I’d regret later on — say in September/October 2008. But maybe that’s the problem. Meanwhile: Military Commissions Act; Iraq supplemental; now this. In or out: Dems cave — White House applauds. Like I say, please discuss, in whatever tone you like.
Some pertinent links:
- “Protect America Act of 2007” (.PDF file) — submitted and passed in 4 days
- Helpful FISA Posts — Marty Lederman (“Balkinization”)
- House roll call: 227-183 (41 Democrats voted “Aye”)
- Senate roll call: 60-28 (15 Democrats voted “Aye”)
- The Party of Fear, the Party Without A Spine, and the National Surveillance State — Jack Balkin (“Balkinization”)
- There is something fundamentally wrong here– Kagro X (“Daily Kos”)
- Stop Me if You Think That You’ve Heard This One Before — IOZ (“Who is IOZ?”)
- Yearly KOS, the Anti-War Movement, and the Cooptation of the Netroots — Big Tent Democrat (“TalkLeft”)
- My Two Cents: FISA Myths Continue After New Senate Bill Passes — KathyInBlacksburg (“Raising Kaine”)
- Statements by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) on their “Aye” votes. Feinstein:
“I spoke with Admiral Mike McConnell, the Director of National Intelligence, at length this evening. He believes the United States is vulnerable, and that we need to move quickly to change the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The intelligence community is deeply concerned that chatter among suspected terrorist networks is up. I am concerned as well. We are living in a period of heightened vulnerability, and must give the intelligence community the tools they need to protect America.
This legislation is a temporary fix. It is not permanent and it expires in six months. It immediately addresses critical gaps in our intelligence-collection efforts – while preserving a role for FISA court review.
I voted for both bills because one needed 60 votes to pass. It is vital that we act now. We cannot leave the nation unprotected in this post-9/11 period.”
- Urine stain removal tips
- Statement by Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) on his “Aye” vote
- Nell Lancaster’s rebuttals (1, 2) at “Raising Kaine”
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NOTE: image by Jason Zanon ( “Democracy in Action”). Via Jonathan Schwarz (“A Tiny Revolution”)
UPDATE, 8/7: Lots of very worthwhile discussion! See also posts by discussants about this, including ones by eRobin, altHippo , and the Talking Dog on their blogs, as well as one from last week by Nell Lancaster (nice title — “Profiles in learned helplessness”). See also recent posts by commenter Mick Arran suggesting it’s not cowardice or miscalculation — (some) Democrats want those authoritarian powers for themselves, and are willing to buck contrary election results (where Dems prevailed “despite” voting for civil liberties) to get them. The hypothesis can’t be dismissed out of hand — please re-review the diagram above. Arran’s latter post reanalyzes facts and arguments presented in a couple of posts by Glenn Greenwald — Democrats’ responsibility for Bush Radicalism, and Attention Democrats: GOP fear mongering does not work. Unless you’re in Congress, that is. Elsewhere, fellow Marylander Stephanie Dray is disappointed with Senator Mikulski — “she didn’t have to vote this way.”
Category: Post. Tags: democratic party, fisa, fisa amendment act, selected, surveillance.
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June 27th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
[...] must be some kind of way out of here; seems like we’ve been here before. Meanwhile, Nell reminds me to go down fighting — there at least needs to be an amendment [...]
June 27th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
For some reason, comments to this post were attached to a different one in the transition to the new site. They’re currently at “worth reading: last best hope edition“. I may not have the WordPress/Php Fu to correct that.