Barack Obama's not interested in telecom immunity, and releases this statement:
“I have consistently opposed this Administration's efforts to use debates about our national security to expand its own power, whether that was on the Iraq war, or on its power grab to curb our civil liberties through domestic surveillance programs. It is time to restore oversight and accountability in the FISA program, and this proposal -- with an unprecedented grant of retroactive immunity -- is not the place to start.”
That's great, Senator, I'm so happy. Now what do you intend to do about it? Who do you intend to support on this, Harry Reid or Chris Dodd?
It gets a bit tiresome when people like Rahm and Steny vote for personal cover on these things, then push the freshmen to vote with the Republicans by telling them they'll lose their seats if they don't -- and the Republicans take the day. Clean hands, as they say. This is a "safe vote" for Obama, Hillary and everyone else who put nothing on the line (and present no serious opposition) when these bills get ramrodded through. Like Joe Lieberman taking credit for voting "against" Alito after he voted for cloture, it's all for show.
What about you, Senator Clinton? Many members of your inner sanctum lobby heavily for the telecom industry. What will it be?
People are weary of everyone throwing up their hands and saying "what do you want, it takes sixty votes."
Chris Dodd just proved it didn't, and Harry Reid smacked him down for it.
I guess that's what happens when you challenge the Grand Excuse.
(brenden has a few words about Harry Reid and telecom money)
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Good evening Jane.
hi Jane!
I jest love me some love.
if Hillary wabts to one-up Obama, she needs to speak up for Dodd NOW.
Lord I am sick of the so called Democratic leadership and the two front runners.
the Grand Excuse!
Very dramatic in a pissed off romantic way.
And so true.
So far Hillary, you’re not ‘my girl’.
I’ve always said Dodd, Edwards, Obama, in that order.
Now it’s pretty much Dodd, Dodd, and Dodd.
They’re the Brave Sir Robin party…
The old maxim is true, excuses are like assholes, everyone has one.
OldCoastie @ 4
if Hillary wabts to one-up Obama, she needs to speak up for Dodd NOW.
and vice-versa.
Theoretically, at least, the race goes to the swift and strong…
Obama is a “do nothin.” He needs to actively oppose Bush, instead of trying to be “bipartisan.” So far, nothing he has done leads me to support him.
BTW–I gave Dodd $50 today. Just like training a puppy, we need to reward good behavior.
“All hat, no cattle”. Where’s the beef, Hillary?
VictorLaszlo @ 8
It’s been Gore, Dodd, Edwards for me for a few months now…
Obama had Lieberman for a mentor, what do you expect?
Word has it that Hillary is consulting with her twenty-two consultants as we speak.
jane - do you know who was responsible for blocking holt’s fisa bill and rushing the fucked up “restore act” through committee and (almost) to a vote? i know conyers and reyes did it - but it seemed like they weren’t calling the shots. pelosi’s office wouldn’t deny that it was her decision.
do you know more?
because what’s happening now in the senate sure seems like a replay of what just happened in the house.
selise @ 17
I do not selise, but if I hear I’ll let you know.
This cowardice leaves me speachless.
Just like training a puppy, we need to reward good behavior.
true - but what is the equivalent of the rolled-up newspaper used for punishing the ones pissing all over the good carpet?
It may be after hours so phone calls might not work until tomorrow morning.
But fax machines work until they run out of paper.
And Reid’s email accepts emails from all over due to his being Majority Leader so we can fill up his inbox.
Inverse FAIR act
As I have said a couple times over at my crappy little blog that only my cats read…
Chris Dodd actually understands what a leader is. So far I do not see any evidence that either of the two front-running Senators have anything other than Nancy Pelosi’s level of leadership skills .. or lack thereof.
Jane Hamsher @ 18
thanks jane.
that was some serious fuckery in the house…. but the kabuki must has been much better, as it seems to have happened more under the radar than what’s going down in the senate.
I still hope Gore comes in.
Bustednuckles @ 15
Really? Linky please.
And he (and Hillary) each want to be President why, exactly? Because what I’ve seen so far looks more like junior-high ‘politics’. Not worth my time or my money, either one. (I donated to Chris Dodd, though.)
Me too kiddo. lahoma
newspaperbrat @ 26
Sorry hon’, I don’t have one handy, I’ll see if I can find one though.
rob in toronto @ 23
He is one of the few that will talk to an issue rather around.
newspaperbrat @ 26
Sad but true
wild speculation here… take it for what it’s worth…
rewind… and say dodd was successful in blocking telco immunity. he looks like (and is) a hero. who does this make look bad? rockefeller could probably care less.
but clinton, obama and even biden might care… makes them look less leader-like.
or not. just throwing out hypotheses here…
Does anyone think that Pelosi or Reid do much without checking with the Clintons first?
Here is another one Newspaperbrat;
http://pieceofmind.wordpress.c.....d-the-dlc/
Excuse me, OT:
Claims of secret CIA jail for terror suspects on British island to be investigated
· Legal charity urges action on Diego Garcia claims
· Prisoners may have been held in ships off coast
Ian Cobain and Richard Norton-Taylor
Friday October 19, 2007
The Guardian
Allegations that the CIA held al-Qaida suspects for interrogation at a secret prison on sovereign British territory are to be investigated by MPs, the Guardian has learned. The all-party foreign affairs committee is to examine long-standing suspicions that the agency has operated one of its so-called “black site” prisons on Diego Garcia, the British overseas territory in the Indian Ocean that is home to a large US military base.
HuffPo.
selise @ 32
Not possible
selise @ 32
;)
Dodd will get a donation from me. This is the kind of action that shows strength.
rob in toronto @ 36
LOL!
ok. maybe in their own minds?
rob in toronto @ 23
Absolutely. Dodd is the only one trying to lead, but apparently no-one wants to follow.
rob in toronto @ 31
Much appreciated Rob! Damn.
Heh, Pach and I were just discussing this on the last thread…!!! *g*
Bustednuckles @ 34
Merci!
Why not just state the obvious as if we haven’t a billion times already. The bottom line was always, is now and will forever be money. Our government has been beyond corrupted by special interests. Boo Bloody Hoo the telecoms might lose some of their investors money because they illegally played along with spy central. You break the law of the land, you pay. Period!
There is something wrong with a system of choosing a leader that can have such a managerial crop rise to the top.
I have nothing against managers. Many of my best friends are managers. I have been a manager.
The Presidency of the United States of America has to be a position filled by someone who is not just a manager.
I spose this has been mentioned
Politicians don’t give up power willingly, ever.
So why does Harry believe he can block one senator’s valuable hold power without outraging his colleagues?
OT..Looks as if the WH adjusted Mukasey’s attitude last night.
WaPo
From opensecrets.org and the 2004 campaign cycle. These are the senate recipients of telecom money. Note how many democrats are in the top few.
Kerry, John (D)
$339,611
Daschle, Tom (D-SD)
$113,755
Wyden, Ron (D-OR)
$93,900
Clinton, Hillary (D-NY)
$82,400
Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK)
$73,062
Lincoln, Blanche (D-AR)
$53,658
Reid, Harry (D-NV)
$50,500
Dodd, Christopher J (D-CT)
$16,250
1,630 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND..
Citizen Hamsher and the Firepup Freedom Fighters:
Does anyone out there know the logistics of this thing? It’s my understandin’ that Dodd can’t “hold” the bill until it’s voted out of committee to the floor, so old One Horse Harry Reid may jest be feintin’ and shadow boxin’ before the bell rings. If Reid does carry the bill to the floor through Dodd’s hold, then the Democratic Party is split right down the middle and it ain’t the war in Iraq that’s does it. If Reid breaks Dodd’s hold, the losers are gunna be Mrs. Clinton and the existin’ leadership in BOTH houses…the fight will go ta the street then ‘cuz the progressives are gunna hafta stand up and get Dodd’s back or the jig is up and there will be blood in Colorado. Ya think Chicago in ‘68 was hot…wait for Denver!!
KEEP THE FAITH AND START LOADIN’ UP, THE GOOD GUYS ARE GUNNA NEED YA!!
hello???
Check out this piece of Legislation proposed by Ron Paul…
http://www.govtrack.us/congres.....=h110-3835
wordpress workin’?
watch how Obama votes to confirm Mukasey for AG - as Glenn Greenwald says, this is someone who openly admits that he thinks the president has the power of extra-judicial indefinite detention:
without a ripple from Obama and Clinton, which should make them beyond the pale, and unsupportable by anyone who cares about such things, callow rhetoric notwithstanding.
Great post, Jane! I expect this kind of thing from Clinton, she usually votes with the Republicans anyway, but I’m disappointed in Obama. In fact, I was writing an email to them earlier this evening saying how I wish he would come right out and say what he believes instead of padding his speeches with Washington double-speak, he didn’t do that back in Illinois. But I didn’t send it, I’ve tried that before, they don’t listen over at Obama Central, they just send more emails asking for money.
jayt @ 53
What’s going on???
The good news is, maybe the Dodd maneuver will take the Republicans by surprise, and they’ll make a mistake. After all, the Republicans have no practice in what to do when a Democrat starts fighting back.
Exactly as Jane says: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/18/175712/83
Harry “the trog” Ried stabs fellow democrat Chris Dodd in the back to appease BushCo and the the telcos. For whom do the Democratic leaders work — visibly it is not for rank-and-file democrats, nor is it for the American electorate. Whom do they serve?
Professor Foland @ 57
Right, they’re likely to mistake him for a rethug. Imagine the confusion.
CTuttle @ 56
wordpress went wonky - and Beckett’s pitchin’ well at the Jake.
Norske must’ve blown it up.
I’m watching Mukasey hearing on CSPAN….again…that f’er Specter called Valerie Plame, Valerie Flame. Twice in a row. Loud and clear. I find that despicable!!
RawStory has the video of Pete Stark. It is so refreshing to hear a Congress Kritter fight for people. Too many Democratic Congressweasels are fighting for Bush. We will see some “swift boating” against Pete Stark.
jayt @ 60
Still a nail biter, I’ve gnawed five of ‘em already…!!! *g*
sporkovat @ 54
I didn’t watch the hearing but I read that any warmth between the dems and Mukasey cooled over his waterboarding remarks (or lack thereof). Is this true? Any chance he’ll be denied the appointment?
Professor Foland @ 57
I think they’ll be very confused.
Is Specter the source of Valerie “Flame”????
This is the second hearing that he has referred to her by that name.
LS @ 62
Just tuned in. Thanks.
They got to Mukasey between yesterday and today.
sporkovat @ 54
Hear! Hear! Damn straight! What they’re telling me is that Mukasey is a more intelligent and better connected fascist than Gonzales. Bully for him. Intelligence and connections are not virtues I seek in fascists.
This hearing should have stopped the moment he said that “We don’t torture …” That proved that he had fully signed on to the BushCo hypocricy. That hearing should have stopped then and there, the moment that he praised the cut of the emperor’s new chothes.
AP - While military action against Iran is a last resort, the U.S. has the resources to attack if needed despite the strains of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the top U.S. military officer said Thursday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....t_pe/gates
No copyright held for the Mitt heading: No Hat No Cattle.
If you think, and you feel, and you’re an American, you are going to be an unhappy person. I am an unhappy person. Getting kicked in the plexus doesn’t create the habit that allows you to like it. I am eating bitter herbs tonight. Why, why why?
solai @ 65
see link @ 48
The rendition hearing is on CSPAN 2
Nadler’s giving his opening statement.
Knut Wicksell @ 73
Because the sweet ones are illegal.
We were discussing yesterday that Mukasey’s testimony was full of evasions. I think Senators picked up on this and came back today with slightly more pointed questions which showed that yes, Mukasey refused to be specific about anything. It soured the atmosphere but not enough to cause anyone to change their vote. That would have taken principles and they don’t have any.
Hugh @ 77
His demeanor was very different today. He’s been “talked” to.
Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow we will (someone will) be calm enough to parse this all out. Reid and Pelosi are basically on our side. I believe that. That doesn’t mean I acquiesce in Reid’s statement; but it leaves room for suspension of disbelief. What’s the logic here? Are they being blackmailed? Possible, but I doubt Reid would submit to it. He’s got balls. Is there some political calculation that the Dems lose more by opposing than by playing rope-a-dope? I think that’s what he’s got in mind. This plays to the Hoyer/Lieberman/Feinstein sell-out constituency, but doesn’t mean the logic is false. What else? Cowardice? Possible, but they read the polls like us.
It’s a riddle. And it is excruciating. Someone ought to stand up for rule of law, and explain to the people what it means. It is who we are.
CTuttle @ 52
Cool!
I agree with the topic of this post. Obama, for instance, says how he was always against the war but he has not led the fight against it in the Senate. Where was Hillary on SCHIP? Their positions as candidates do not translate into actions in the Senate. That was what was so refreshing about Dodd today. He not only had a position but he acted on it.
His demeanor was very different today. He’s been “talked” to.
fwiw - he was asked whether that was in fact the case, and swore that nobody’d “spoken” to him - he had a quiet dinner with the family last night he said…
T- @ 61
707!
mui @ 66
So are the hillary bots on dKos!
LS @ 78
He may have been but if you go back and look at what he actually said yesterday it really is no different from what he said today. All that Mukasey comes out against torture and the unilateral executive was just so much hot air put out by the media, who, no surprise, dutifully reported their talking points.
I have to agree with the comments about the poor showing of Clinton and Obama in all this. Sadly they are showing themselves to be nothing more than politicians. That being said I would still vote for either of them than any republican.
My fervent wish is for Gore to finally declare. Although I would not blame him in the least if he did not. He would be attacked relentlessly. And who in their right mind would want that? But still, he seems to be the only one who has any kind of integrity. And besides, he won in 2000 so it’s only fair.
And I think Gore would do the right things to fix (or at least start to fix) the devestation the Bushco will leave.
jayt @ 82
I don’t believe it. If they had a little talk with him, I’m sure it was with a little threat that he won’t be “protected”, if he deviates from the narrative. He is clearly taking a completely different direction. It is like watching a completely different person. He’s nervous, and he’s defending the Admin, and the questioners see it.
Hugh @ 81
Exactly!
Hugh @ 85
I watched him yesterday, and he’s behaving differently.
Hugh @ 81
Right on!
[Yeah, I’m having comment system problems too. Try, try again …]
You’d think a bunch of people all coming under pressure at the same time to do objectionable things would realize their common problem one day and decide “To hell with this, let’s call them out.”
Maybe not many of them object.
OT: On Scarecrow’s post this morning the question came up whether it was a new thing for Brush to claim that Iran’s “knowledge” of nuclear weapons technology was practically an act of war. Here, accompanied by a priceless photo, is one earlier statement of something similar, from 2006. The bellicosity is less overt perhaps, but clearly the ideas or memories of physics classes wandering through the minds of sundry Iranians are available to be used against them.
(sticking head out from behind curtain) maybe he wasn’t ‘talked’ to - maybe a little message was left for him, like - oh, i don’t know… a horse head in his bed
There were at least three times during the Bush administration I did not get excited. When Rumsfeld left, and the same with Rove and Gonzales. I just figured it wouldn’t make much diffference.
Mukasey was awful yesterday and downright Gonzalean today.
Suzanne @ 92
707!!!
OMFG: http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....7101801840
Is there any bar lower on the face of the earth than to give congress better responses than did Alberto Gonzales?
What the fuck is wrong with our Democratic senators. Why aren’t they yelling in this fascist’s face?
Just testing here to see if the comments are operational again.
Hey, everyone.
LS @ 89
I keep thinking of Frank Rich’s column about ‘Good Germans’. If they approve this nomination, knowing his views on torture, then they are accomplices.
Eureka Springs @ 94
Yes, he reminded me of Gonzo. I’m like…where was that guy I saw yesterday. I’ll bet he wishes he could
disappearwithdraw…Basically the main thing I care about now is if we can make it during the next fourteen months without a nuclear war.
Then of course there are Dodd and Edwards. Bit I keep coming back to Gore. How I wish we could have eight years of Gore leadership. Let the MSM and all the incredibly stupid pundits yammer for eight years. At least things would get done and we would begin to get back on the right track.
TRex @ 97
re!
TRex @ 97
*knocking on wood* they appear to be working - slow but working
Oklahoma kiddo @ 100
Ain’t that the truth.
wigwam @ 96
See, he even reminded Leahy of Gonzo today.
Words, photo ops, words, empty promises…
So much for the revolution.
twk, I particularly enjoyed these sections…
SEC. 5. INTELLIGENCE GATHERING.
No Federal agency shall gather foreign intelligence in contravention of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). The President’s constitutional