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Civil liberties proponents quickly blasted the deal.
“The proposed FISA deal is not a compromise; it is a capitulation,” said Wisconsin Democratic Senator Russ Feingold, the only senator who voted against the Patriot Act in 2001. “The House and Senate should not be taking up this bill, which effectively guarantees immunity for telecom companies alleged to have participated in the President’s illegal program, and which fails to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans at home.”
Despite that desire for expanded spying powers, the president threatened to veto any bill that did not give amnesty to the telecoms that helped with program, which has been declared illegal by a secretive U.S. surveillance court.
Under the proposal, the intelligence community will be able to issue broad orders to U.S. ISPs, phone companies and online communications services like Hotmail and Skype to turn over all communications that are reasonably believed to involve a non-American who is outside the country. The spy agencies will not have to name their targets or get prior court approval for the surveillance.
To be fair, many Repubs approved as well. How much more damage can this President and his (Dem majority) Congress do to the U.S. Constitution before it’s time to leave? [The article has the bill in .pdf format.]
Marc Perkel, our sysadmin has an interesting take on this in his blog.
This just goes to show, if the Dems were really interested in civil liberties, justice, and the Constitution they could have done something to keep this from happening. However, now that they seem to feel that Barack is simply the President in waiting, with the election itself merely a formality, they’re already trying to shore up their power.
Different parties, same agenda. And as long as we, the people, continue to put up with this crap and keep them in office, nothing is going to change. We need a viable third party option now more than any time in our history.
I have a hard time squaring this circle; why exactly did we give the Dems this mandate? So that they could fritter away our freedoms with even more reckless abandon than their Republican predicessors? So that they could capitulate again and again to a failure of a president and his bloodthirsty, anti-American allies? Obama and Dodd’s capitulation is particularly galling.
At this point I am hoping that the congress is being forced to comply by some sort of threat on their lives or liberty, because otherwise this behavior is inexcusable. Even if that is the case, everyone who voted for this piece of trash has violted their oath of office.
If you are as offended by this as I am, contribute to the ActBlue fund to oppose everyone who did this, D and R.
http://www.actblue.com/page/fisa
The Swedish government did something similar earlier this week. Welcome to our democratic overlords.
Anyone else think that this is a greater invasion of privacy to us non-Americans?
#5, the Dems are in charge, so this doesn’t even come to a vote without their leadership’s say so.
It’s the President’s ALLEGED illegal program. Why do they always forget to put in the ALLEGED when they have nothing productive to do but bash the ALLEGED president. All the drama kings & queens keep babbling on about this ruining our country, our freedom, our constitution, and movie rating system, and none of it holds any bottled water, not one drop. Recycle.
#5, The bill could be voted on as soon as Friday in the House, given its backing by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer D. MD.
The Dems may have a slight numerical majority, but the Republicans are obviously still in charge. Keith Olbermann on MSNBC’s Countdown theorized that key Democratic party leaders were shown horrific classified terrorist info of some kind. This tactic has often worked before, and the current administration will never abandon such an old favorite.
How many days until the inauguration?
(Too many!)
Better headline:
“Republican Senators Unanimously* Vote to Expand Domestic Spying”
*With the exception of one sane party member, and with the aid of 108 Democratic traitors. Majority of Dems overridden by turncoat minority.
That wouldn’t be considered trolling would it? The headlines here just get worse and worse.
Every memember of both parties who voted for this bill should be tarred, feathered, and kicked out of the country with their citizenship revoked.
They have no more respect for the bill of rights than used toilet paper not that any of them seem to have ever read it.
>>To be fair, many Repubs approved as well.
Well, to be even fairer, the bill was sponsored by Dumbya’s puppeteers henchmen. The sliver-thin majority of Dems just didn’t have the backbone to stand up for American freedom.
>>How much more damage can this President
>>and his (Dem majority)
His “Dem majority” is, as I pointed out above, sliver thin.
Let’s not build this up into anything more than it really is, our fascist POTUS Repug puppeteers seeking to shred the Constitution and the Bill of Rights into CostCo toilet paper.
OK, so the Dems should be stronger. But wtf, they’re politicians.
Just wait until we have a Dem POTUS (Obama) and a Dem Congress. Maybe things can get back to the same quality as when Bill was president. In retrospect, man, that guy was good.
Not only was the headline quoted from the orginal article, it seems to fit. Welcome to your new Dem majority Congress. Did you vote? If so, how did your Sen. vote? Or, like those campaigning for Pres. who are absent, did s/he even vote at all?
>>Not only was the headline quoted from
>>the orginal article,
Well, not quite. The headline was PARAPHRASED from the original article. Your head line was
“Dems Expand Domestic Spying”
with the clear implication that the expansion of domestic spying was their intitative.
The ACTUAL headline was
“Dems Agree to Expand Domestic Spying”
Which is closer to the truth; the Dems were pussywhipped into agreeing with Dumbya’s shredding of that “Goddamned Piece of Paper” (aka the Constitution).
But hey. Who ever claimed that dvorak dot org slash blog has accurate headline?
Must be the fucking Xhristians responsible, right?
Point taken KD. It’s still a troll, just not your troll.
It was still meant to mislead, to garner clickthoughs, to raise traffic. Not to inform..except peripherally. However, I note that they also failed to post the actual vote tally. I stand behind my headline. Also a troll, but with a lot more honesty.
Congress is a buch of balless fucks.
You would expect this shit from Dummy U.
I’m going to save you but first I will fuck you.
1. Well the headline is misleading. The Dem Leadership and the Repuglikan Cabal voted for this. The Dems gave a strong majority vote against it. Sure wish I could vote against Hoyer. Would it be worth moving?
2. In the Link, note in the right bar that Obama voted for this bill. Change you can believe in.
3. I note the “threat level” on all the stories is the same–low level. I thought meters were supposed to move?
This ‘sliver thin’ majority is the same size or larger than what Republicans have had the last twelve years.
What was Barack Obama’s position? Did he flip-flop again?
#20 – MikeN
#3 Li – Yeah, you can bet they were all threatened. With something like, welding their revolving door careers shut. IOW, not having any lucrative well pain jobs with big corporations or lobbying firms, after leaving Congress. And probably a shorter stay in office, to boot. Besides the DOJ probably has enough filth on all of them to blackmail a vote out of politicians, from time to time. You don’t think they’re going to let any squeeky-clean guys obtain high office?
Headline quoted, lifted, paraphrased, doesn’t matter to me. It got your attention, you read the article and at the very least we’re arguing about something worth arguing about, our wonderful Congress and this BS bill.
Mr. Mustard, you get the points. Especially for blaming the Christians for the whole deal, although I know that was sarcasm.
I admire your faith, but I have little admiration for the politicians involved and their “faith.”
#21, you didn’t answer my question. What was Barack Obama’s position on this bill? How did he vote?
Pedro how right you are:
“Given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as president, I will carefully monitor the program,” Obama said in a statement hours after the House approved the legislation 293-129.
And now Mustard on June 6,
”
And one thing I’ll guarantee you on, he will NEVER change his tune on the illegal wiretapping issue. Only a true douche bag would follow Dumbya’s befouled path to that latrine.
I was never going to vote for McCain anyway, but I lost a lot of respoect for him over the wiretapping flip-flop.
“
#27 – Lyin’ MikeN
“Under this compromise legislation, an important tool in the fight against terrorism will continue, but the President’s illegal program of warrantless surveillance will be over. It restores FISA and existing criminal wiretap statutes as the exclusive means to conduct surveillance – making it clear that the President cannot circumvent the law and disregard the civil liberties of the American people. It also firmly re-establishes basic judicial oversight over all domestic surveillance in the future.
# 10 Uncle Patso said, “How many days until the inauguration? (Too many!)”
Why “Too many”? As far as the Constitution goes, no matter who gets elected it looks like the Bill of Rights will continue to take a beating.
#11, Shin said, “Better headline:
“Republican Senators Unanimously* Vote to Expand Domestic Spying”
That’s fine, no disagreement here. But in a supposedly dem controlled congress, it still passed.
Seems most people like their “own” senators and reps, but all the others are evil jerks. How else did Ted Kennedy get to be where he is today?
>>But in a supposedly dem controlled
>>congress, it still passed.
A 51% to 49% majority isn’t enough to undo every toxic effect and anti-freedom bill that the Repugs can come up with.
>>How else did Ted Kennedy get to be where
>>he is today?
Ted Kennedy got to where he is today by supporting the people of Massachusetts, freedom, and the American way. And by voting “nay” on dog-shit legislation like this.
And here’s the vote tally in both the HoR and the Senate, so folk will know whom to vote out of office the next time around.
http://tinyurl.com/68ke5n
http://cryptome.org/hr6304-vote.htm
It’s closer to 54-46% majority, the most the Republicans ever had.
Well if there’s no flip-flop by Obama, then why the objections to this bill?