.. the real enemy on the other side of the aisle who is trying to play you for a sucker.

[caligirl]

I post this in the hopes we can keep this foremost in our planning and thinking for the 2008 campaign.


Karl Rove is Tricking You Again
by drational http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/8/9/63824/53794
Thu Aug 09, 2007 at 05:25:23 AM PDT

The FISA update was specifically pushed before the Congressional Summer Recess to generate exactly the reaction it has:

1. Remove Pressure from the Administration on purely domestic spying.

2. Fracture the Democratic Party, to create an issue of "more importance" to the progressives previously focusing their anger on the Administration.

If you have any doubts about why the Administration chose this time to ramrod FISA update through Congress, you should think hard and read below.

Furthermore, if you have bought into the current Democratic left-center schism, you are being manipulated by shrewd political players. You are a part of a media/issue framing exercise specifically designed to distract attention away from Administration illegality.

* drational's diary :: ::
*

Since the 5/15/07 Testimony of James Comey before the SJC, the administration has felt heat in a way that it has never felt before:

The Comey Testimony revealed that the Administration was involved in something so illegal that Comey and at least 8 other high-ranking Administration officials were prepared to resign had the activity continued. This activity was a part of the NSA-driven surveillance Program, a part of the program that has not been acknowledged. For many reasons, I and others believe this activity involved wiretapping US Citizens without warrant, when those citizens are communicating purely on domestic soil.

The Administration is desperate to avoid exposure of the reason for Comey's resignation. In every hearing and public statement on Warrantless Wiretapping since the December 16, 2005 Risen and Lichtblau article, they have word-danced around the issue of domestic wiretapping, and pushed the selectively declassified portion of the NSA-driven Surveillance Program, the Terrorist Surveillance Program, TSP. They do this to hide the illegality.

By late July, the blogosphere was getting closer to this truth. Glen Greenwald, TPMMuckraker, and I and others here at DKos have been consistently pushing the importance of the Comey Testimony, and the illegality under the surface.

Finally, on August 1, 2007, the MSM Caught up with the Blogosphere. Dan Eggen at WaPo published an article dissecting the NSA-Program and noted that purely domestic wiretapping may have been a part of the overall NSA Program.

Then last week, after months of slow and steady negotiation on FISA update, the Administration needed it passed immediately. Importantly the FISA update does not make purely domestic spying legal- the FISA update, along with the selectively declassified "TSP", involves warrantless wiretapping of US Citizens only when they are communicating with foreigners. Thus, the update almost certainly does not legalize the illegality Comey et al were prepared to resign over.

The Administration was in a win-win situation

1. The Administration knew that despite the waning support on Iraq, a program sold as being "necessary to defeat Al Qaeda terrorists" could still garner support from enough "Blue Dogs" to get passed.

2. If it was not passed, the Administration would have the entire recess and beyond to label Dems as "Pro-terrorist". Anti-war is one thing, but "pro-terror" is another. Regardless of the Progressive Base's Civil Liberties pressure, Many Dems are afraid of this label.

3. If it was passed, the schism in the Democratic Party would become the news.

4. Regardless whether it passed, the framing around the FISA update is purely domestic-foreign surveillance activity, not domestic-domestic. All debates on the issue are stuck with this framing.

5. Anything that detracts attention from the Comey Testimony and the issue of domestic-domestic warrantless wiretap, allows the administration off the hook.

.
.

So what happened?

1. FISA Update was passed with Blue Dog support.

2. Crisis erupted in the progressive blogosphere- Progressive vs. Moderate Democrat is the theme.

3. MSM is playing right into the distraction frame.

Kos to debate Ford on MTP this Sunday
Right wing pundits fanning the flames:

While defending DNI Mike McConnell Robert Novak Opinion Piece in todays WaPo highlights the schism:

With the activist Democratic base bitterly opposed to eavesdropping but the party's leadership wary of challenging President Bush on protecting the country from terrorism....

The Big Scheme
If you doubt this outcome was planned and executed from the White House Political Arm (Rove), then you have been in a coma for the past 8 years. The predictable schism has been opened and will be exploited with precision, skill, and proficiency. Not only does the intra-party conflict detract from the Warrantless Wiretap and DOJ Scandals, but it is designed to upgrade intra-party hostility for the rest of the primary season. Republicans want "Terror" as a central issue in 2008. Not scandals, Not Iraq, Not Health Care, Not Education, Not the Economy. Not anything but the issue on which they feel they have an advantage.
They are setting up an intra-party fracas on "Fighting Terrorism" to generate talking points that Democrats are so disorganized that they cannot come to a cohesive middle in balancing Civil Liberties with "fighting terrorism". Of course the Republican answer is simply to eliminate Civil Liberties, but they, along with Fox News, will push, push, push focus onto terrorism in the coming year and a half. Civil Liberties are an abstraction for middle America, whereas terrorism is visceral.

Make no mistake, I believe the failure of House and Senate Democrats to stand up for Civil Liberties is a major issue. But I beg you not to let this issue consume you or the conflict to enlarge to overwhelm party unity. The Democratic Party cannot afford the luxury of a Pogrom, or fall prey AGAIN to Republican Framing. We escaped it in 2006, and must continue to do so.

Lets get beyond this schism quickly, and back to the business of exposing Republican Malfeasance and unifying the party platform to win in 2008. Encouragingly, despite the Summer Recess, Patrick Leahy is still working and still focused on the Prosecutor Purge Scandal and Warrantless Wiretapping issues raised by the Comey testimony:

title=

Leahy Persists. HJC and SJC investigation persists. The call for a Special Prosecutor to investigate Gonzales is still on the table. Keep the focus. Keep the faith. And keep fighting the real enemy on the other side of the aisle who is trying to play you for a sucker.

[Donnachaidh]

1. I wish I could recommend this twice

Keep the focus and the HEAT on folks. They WANT us to act like fractious sheep. DON'T do it!

[caligirl]

2. I am glad I was careful of phrasing in my letter to DIFI, I felt we never

really know the whole story. Clearly, we didn't. July 25, 2007 in an Eric Alterman blog piece at Media Matters, a former DOJ attorney named Thomas M Tamm may have posted a comment about the USA purge being due to the WH wanting to influence the prosecution of select cases.(Lewis, Wade, Kontogiannis, and Cunningham come to mind)His house was raided on the vary day of this FISA vote and he is charged with leaking this illegal domestic spy program referenced above. That was the focus of my letter.

[welshTerrier2]

3. sorry. total bullshit.

if we are being sold "party unity" as a justification for Constitutional violations, then it is our job, as patriots, to see to it that there is no party unity.

the Democratic leadership handled this miserably. The Blue Dogs should have been forced to toe the line or understand the consequences if they did not. I think the Party allowed them to take the hit for the party's own complicity in this heinous legislation.

i am NOT open to political arguments that violate the sanctity of the Constitution. Feel free to call me a "purist." I'm funny that way.

[robinlynne]

9. you said it so much better than I did.

[welshTerrier2]

10. not at all ...

the point you made about setting precedents was critically important. the courts could overturn this on Constitutional arguments but what are the chances of that?

the Democrats seem to believe they can reclaim their virginity on the second date ...

[wryter2000]

4. Clever Rove

He knew he could get enough Democrats to go along. If he couldn't, then FISA wouldn't have passed and the Democratic party wouldn't splinter.

:sarcasm:

While I agree with the general premise that we need to focus on our anger on the right people -- After all, ALL of the R's went along with this -- that doesn't absolve those Dems who did the wrong thing.

[caligirl]

5. they bought the stuff Mitch McConnell sold them, too bad he turned

out to be selling for Bush. They should have known better. But i still hate Rove and Bush more than my dem party and my anger is at them for the blood lust politics they hit our party with every day.

[wryter2000]

11. I am with you on that!

The Dems may go along to get along way too often, but they'd never pull this stuff on their own.

[AndyA]

6. Is it any wonder Bush's numbers are going up while Congress' numbers drop?

The Democrats in Congress are actually helping Bush's numbers. They are giving him what he wants, which acts like a stamp of endorsement from the opposition. Hey, if the opposition is doing what the guy wants, he can't be all that bad, right? :shrug:

Pleased to give this the 5th Recommendation.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

7. Harry Reid is no smart enough or tough enough to deal with these puke bastards, he needs to resign.

[robinlynne]

8. I admire your posts, but I disagree STRONGLY here. The anger about FISA

is anger at the administration. for a very short answer: Leahy still working on the warrantless wiretapping is now absolutely pointless. It has just been legalized. No judge in the world will prosecute once we have legalized that particular crime. In a recent election fraud (actually a possible election fraud case) case in the san diego special election, 2006, the judge declared it "moot" because since time went by and the republican had already taken his seat, and only a few months were left till the next election, it was no longer worth havig a trial, or even counting the votes, which is what the trial was for, a recount. actually for a first count, because the vote counting was dubious. So what judge is going to prosecute for illegal wiretapping now? In a bi-partisan effort, illegal wiretapping is now legal.
This is not something to take lightly.
As for unity, we democrats had the numbers for that vote, had there been dem unity.

Let's call on the right wing dems for some unity with the principles of our party!
Don't call on the left to unify behind consorting with fascism, please!