WaPost blasts Dems on Wiretap Vote

[LiberalEsto]

Funny how the Post doesn't directly criticize the Misadministration -- instead it criticizes the Democrats for knuckling under to the CheneyBush cabal. Another case of the pot calling the kettle black, because the Post has been kowtowing to the Misadministration from Day One.

"Warrantless Surrender
Congress is stampeded into another compromise of Americans' rights.

Monday, August 6, 2007; Page A16

THE DEMOCRATIC-led Congress, more concerned with protecting its political backside than with safeguarding the privacy of American citizens, left town early yesterday after caving in to administration demands that it allow warrantless surveillance of the phone calls and e-mails of American citizens, with scant judicial supervision and no reporting to Congress about how many communications are being intercepted. To call this legislation ill-considered is to give it too much credit: It was scarcely considered at all. Instead, it was strong-armed through both chambers by an administration that seized the opportunity to write its warrantless wiretapping program into law -- or, more precisely, to write it out from under any real legal restrictions."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/05/AR2007080501050.html?nav=rss_opinions

[Old and In the Way]

1. "Heads we win, tails you lose"

Funny how they don't attack the Party who is responsible for the unconstitutional wire tapping in the 1st place.

[Maribelle]

2. The FISA vote of four Democratic members of the Senate Intelligence Committee strongly indicates ...

they know something the editorial board of the now-corrupt WP does not know.

The vote of Senator Webb, his statements on the vote, and the three other senators on the committee with him, are strong indications that existing conditions replicate the conditions that led Senator Bob Graham to vote no to giving Bush military authority against Iraq. Senator Graham warned us then that we should instead focus on going against the real terrorists.

This is stated clearly in The Richmond Democrat:

Here are the realities:

1. Despite the amount of false propaganda spread by the Republican Party, our nation does in fact have dangerous enemies. The terrorist threat is very real, though it is also very different from the way the Republicans, and in particular the administration of George W. Bush, have described it.

2. FISA has needed an overhaul for many years now. Be thankful that it will be Democrats that will rewrite this bill instead of the Republicans. If Republicans rewrote this bill most Americans would end up being implanted with microchips to monitor their private thoughts.

3. FISA is broken and the George W. Bush broke it. Because Bush and his cronies pushed the exisiting law too far, they ended up losing a court case and severely damaged our ability to obtain intelligence. This was the result of sloppiness and a total disregard for the rule of law on the part of the Republicans.

4. It will take time to rewrite FISA, and in the meantime we needed some kind of temporary legislation to buy time for Congress to work on a new version of FISA. The bills Jim Webb voted for provide for this temporary bridge.

5. We may need another temporary extension of FISA, lasting until the end of the Bush administration. When this law is rewritten it needs to be rewritten by Democratic-dominated Congress and signed off on by a Democratic President. Any rewrite of this law under the current administration would bear the unholy fingerprints of Bush, Cheney and Gonzales--and in consequence would be deeply flawed from its outset.

http://richmonddemocrat.blogspot.com/2007/08/webbs-fisa-vote-was-necessary-and.html

[acmavm]

3. Oh Oh Oh, the WP is bashing the dems for their vote! So, are

the self-proclaimed arbiters of DU gonna write them a letter and rag them out for citicizing the dems?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

[Maribelle]

4. What's your problem, sugar?

Your not-so-quiet sniffling seems to indicate you didn't like the true facts I posted, yes? Sorry I made you cry.

Yesterday I supported two measures to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. These measures were considered against the backdrop of heightened concerns from our nation's intelligence community abut the threat of international terrorism. The ramifications of the two amendments before us last night were not political. Instead they related to the urgent demands of national security. I chose to heed those warnings. We now have six months to work in earnest to bring full accountability to the process.

This distinction and the threats to national security were stated clearly by Admiral McConnell as well as four of the eight Democratic members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. These members, Senators Feinstein, Mikulski, Bayh, and Bill Nelson, have extensive experience on intelligence matters and are respected champions of civil rights and liberties. They chose to give significant weight and deference to the intelligence community on FISA reform, and so did I.

There is near uniform, bipartisan agreement on the need to reform FISA to reflect modern telecommunications and information technology. We must do so in a way that safeguards basic civil and constitutional rights. But we must also remember that the terrorist threat to the nation is extremely serious. I remain fully committed to bringing accountability to this process, and to protecting the privacy rights of all Americans.

Senator Jim Web

[plantwomyn]

5. Senators Feinstein, Mikulski, Bayh, and Bill Nelson,

Should have been busy all this time righting a fucking bill then. Their vote allows Bushco to violate the 4th Amendment! Read the Act yourself. Compare it to the Amendment. I think Bushco loves the idea that it sunsets. It takes a long time for the Supreme Court to rule on everything except giving the election to Bush. Honestly read this shit and tell me this is the best they could do.
If it is we are doomed.:argh:

[Maribelle]

6. Feinstein's bill was defeated. Are you paying attention? (n/t)

[acmavm]

9. Apparently I forgot to make is plain that I was being sarcastic.

Not at the OP, but at all the critics here who piss and moan when anyone says anything the don't approve of about the dems.

[BridgeTheGap]

7. You either buy into the war on terrorism or you don't

I don't buy into it.
There is a segment of our society who wants perpetual war and whose children will most likely not fight in said war.
The fall of the iron curtain required a new enemy to keep us frightened and Islamic fundamentalism is it. Are they really a threat? Sure they are. But not the kind of threat that can't be dealt with through existing laws and technology.
If we were not so hooked into petroleum as a primary form of enegry and if our government was not increasingly run by oligarchic/monopolistic interests, would Islamic fundamentalism even be an issue for us? Probably not.
Giving a deranged President even more power to abuse the Constitution and us in the process, is not a responsible decision.

[LiberalEsto]

8. You are absolutely right

"Giving a deranged President even more power to abuse the Constitution and us in the process, is not a responsible decision."


What were these Democrats THINKING?