What kills me is that the GOP consistently gamed the conference committees — making sure that the bill supported by the GOP leadership emerged from the committee. Reid and Pelosi have an opportunity to do this — but Reid hasn’t shown any cujones so far, so why should be expect him to start now?

We’ll call it Phase 1 of the Kubler Ross model I guess. On one hand I want to puke on the other I want to start swinging a baseball bat in the capitol building.

If it is constant observation our government wants then We The People must give it to them. Cameras and recorders everywhere, especially inside the beltway. No more secrets of any sort for these hounds.

The Revolution. which i’m in favor of, but i hear they get bloody and violent and so we should probably try the other way first.

i wish the major and well read bloggers would drop the coverage of the horserace and focus on changing the shape of the house and senate for real. starting with the rotten fish heads at the top who seem to want to fuck “our” party at every turn.

Seriously, let’s avoid the intimations of violence, OK?

Hey, for a few minutes there, this country was so good that Yakov Smirnoff moved here. Nowadays, not so much (where will he move next?).

Thank you, Harry Reid, for helping break the spirit of American democracy!

… and told them I was disappointed. I sent $50 I didn’t have for “everything,” and that included a filibuster on the Senate floor.

See, right now things are so fucking partisan nothing can get done.

Please, can we stop getting stuff done that’s even worse than what the Republicans do?

Dodd: (202) 224-2823

I used to think, won’t it be wonderful to live in a country with a legitimate government again? Now I’m not so sure it will ever happen.

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

Is that I’m pretty sure I’m going to here after the primary elections tonight a victory speech promising me to unite Democrats and Republicans. As if that EVER goes well for Democrats.

Our Congressional caucus has a sick need to be bipartisan. They’re almost like a battered spouse at this point. Every time Republicans kick them, they run over apologize and ask if there is anything else they do to get their Republican colleagues to love them.

You’d think by now that pride alone would give them at least a little backbone. The Republicans totally punked them on this bill and they still eventually roll over. Pathetic.

The sad thing is that this dynamic won’t change if with a Democratic president. These same folks will run across the aisle to make friends with their Republican buddies, even if it undermines the new president.

They are THAT pathetic.

Ack!

I forgot that it’s not the 60’s any more. These vile creatures of modern lore are much more refined and subtle than their predecessors.

However…

If Harry and Nancy can’t even take a shit without a youtube source following them into the stall, how many days will it take them to digest the concept of 4th Amendment rights in a truly meaningful way?

Total Information Awareness includes our right to know the sounds Harry and Nancy make when they are taking a dump. Is it whiny little grunts or squelched sighs of relief? Singing? The People ought to know so that we can better understand their character. No more deceit from elected leaders. And no more ability to deny the consequences of no oversight with Domestic Spying.

For over 30 years I have been involved in Solution engineering from both business and technical perspective.. Joining AT&T in 1999, I witnessed the receipt of NSA RFP prior to 9/11..
Since that day our govenment has created no policy toward any enemy except to target all Americans and people everwhere locking down this country by removing Consitutional rights, freedom values and rule of Law established under the Magna Carta..
If this security virus continues to grow, millions will become un-employed or under-employed cast outs. Imagine not finding a job because your credit score is not high enough (after a recession), or your age makes you too old despite your job skills and experience.. Now add more factors like you were angry and sent email to family member, or friend saying how angry you felt at boss or company.. Or that someday some scientist announces people having eyes to close together or small hands, or some other DNA trait make you suspect. That govenment not only can listen, but edit your data files cutting and pasting your emails.. And to facilitate the process create goverment immunity be hiring outside foreign companies..
FISA without judicial process can not be allowed.. I urge everyone to call Sen. Dodd, Sen. Feingold’s office and ask them to hold hearings..
The future of Freedom and Democracy depends on it..

TPM:

Senate Gives Telecoms Immunity

The Senate vote on the Dodd-Feingold amendment to strip telecom immunity from the new FISA bill wasn’t even close: 31-67.

Among the Dems crossing the aisle: Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Evan Bayh (D-IA), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Tom Carper (D-DE), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), and Jim Webb (D-VA).

And, of course, Reid for greasing the skids, and Dodd for standing aside instead of taking the body.

Nice work all round. Maybe I should call Dodd up and ask for a refund? What Glenn said:

What was the outcome of all of that sturm und drang? What were the consequences for the President for having broken the law so deliberately and transparently? Absolutely nothing. To the contrary, the Senate is about to enact a bill which has two simple purposes: (1) to render retroactively legal the President’s illegal spying program by legalizing its crux: warrantless eavesdropping on Americans, and (2) to stifle forever the sole remaining avenue for finding out what the Government did and obtaining a judicial ruling as to its legality: namely, the lawsuits brought against the co-conspiring telecoms. In other words, the only steps taken by our political class upon exposure by the NYT of this profound lawbreaking is to endorse it all and then suppress any and all efforts to investigate it and subject it to the rule of law.

So not only is the Senate enacting a bill granting vast new warrantless eavesdropping powers to the President, they are unwilling even to declare that it is the law of the land and that he is required to abide by it.

Yep. They suck. And we all did everything that we are supposed to do. Via Sideshow, what Arthur Silber said:

Let’s keep the primary lesson simple: The most wealthy and powerful private interests align with government — and this partnership between the most powerful private interests and the state gets what it wants. You — the “ordinary” citizen — are of no importance whatsoever in these calculations, except insofar as your labor, and occasionally your life, are required so that the ruling elites are assured of getting what they want. You — your life, your work, your family, your friendships, your happiness — are entirely dispensable.

More interesting reading.

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

I’m surprised that Ben Nelson isn’t on that list. Usually if there’s capitulation to be done, Ben leads the way.

I once read a comment stating that Diane Feinstein never met an authoritarian provision she didn’t like. Sounds about right.

It’s too bad the freshman - Webb and MCaskill - fell in with a bad crowd.

I’m not happy with Dodd, but he did better than most. Which is admittedly an incredibly low bar.

I’m extremely disappointed in Obama and Clinton for not trying to fight this harder. Although with Reid greasing the skids, maybe they knew a losing battle when they saw one.

I think Reid must be trying to see if he can get Congress’ approval rating into the single digits. What a huge disappointment he’s been, not that that’s all that surprising when you look at his record.

I dunno, cd. We’ve all known each other for a few years now, and I keep on seeing my most hyberbolic and cynically jaded fantasies materializing. I never really expected much from Dodd, since he’s as owned as Reid is.

Supporting the heroes does a little bit. It keeps the kabuki going, because the tyrants wince at the boos from the audience. Something about the Sword of Damocles makes them worried that string might break if the noise is too loud.

But there’s another party for the Faithful.

I just wonder what will happen in 2029 if they’re still too embroiled in their play in the Village to notice the curtain has a real chance to fall all on its own.

No Hell below us
Above us, only sky

Now that we have been objectively and verifiably sold out, I have a request.

I know you’re all listening, telcoms, NSA, CIA (there’s no place like home), and all your contracting friends, please keep our records in very good order. You hold a lot of the answers to the question that hangs in the air: How could legislators, elected and sworn under the Constitution and the laws of the United States, betray themselves and the country?

It’s possible that we’ll come to our senses one day and examine the question. In the meantime, please take very good care of the archives. We’ll be particularly interested in conversations and other transactions among legislators and staff, the executive branch, and the private sector.

i told you he’d sell us out. it doesn’t bring me joy, but some schadenfreude to point it out. i castigated the guy here, while working for his election on the ground in VA, all in the name of “more and better democrats” and this is how he repays me. next time: i’ll stick to just blogging up a storm about why he Sucks.

I’m starting to think that the main function of the US Congress is to excuse our representatives from responsibility for their actions.

Congresscritters hand the Corporations exactly what they want, while at the same time they can say “I voted for cloture,” (or some other arcane procedure), “I made a passionate speech supporting the 4th amendment but… things didn’t work out the way we wanted. Sorry, it’s a bummer, I know, but it’s not my fault.”

See: Process Dodge.

I am not surprised. My faith is in Hillary..to undue some of this damage if by some chance she gets nominated…but after she cast a vote to support Move-On (when Obama did not), we see the progressive blogosphere didn’t do a thing to support her or get her back when the old Clinton rules returned…so no point for her to stick her neck out again…I am so angry at what so called progressives have done to Hillary…my attitude is they deserve what they get…even though this affects all of us. But clearly, being right on the issues is really not so important to progressives after all..not when they have forsaken the issues for a cult of personality…how is it they are willing to forego Hillary’s universal health care for the not universal one Obama offers? Par for the course I say.
Let the progressives eat cake. Let them stew in their hypocrisy. When progressives demonstrate no consistency in terms of ideology themselves, they can hardly complain about lack of courage. Hillary has been there for progressive issues (especially health care)…more than Obama…but progressives united against her…let’s see how far their hypocrisy gets them…Progressives are cowards in the end…so they can hardly complain.

Bayh, Inouye, Johnson, Landrieu, McCaskill, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, Stabenow, Feinstein, Kohl, Pryor, Rockefeller, Salazar, Carper, Mikulski, Conrad, Webb, and Lincoln.

Every mother’s son and father’s daughter of these should be jobless come November!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We can admit that we’re killers … but we’re not going to kill today. That’s all it takes! Knowing that we’re not going to kill today! ~ Captain James T. Kirk, Stardate 3193.0

Webb is a wholly owned subsidiary of TimeWarner

…the Presidency, whatever the fuck that is now, is lost for at least a cycle unless McCain makes it in. Not impossible despite what the know-it-alls-Kos and Bowers would have you believe. We are now faced with the likelihood of a cult of personality based in the WH…oh, yeah, we just did that didn’t we….

Worked so well for the ReThugs that the Leibercrats can’t wait to fuck up for four years…

The real work needs to be done in changing who gets elected to Congress.

No more Reids

No more Pelosis

No more Hoyers, Emanuels and yes no more fukin’

Dodds and Feingolds.

Aside from Tester, Webb, I still like him, and a very few other the rest of them need to be shown the door.

We start in the House with Wynn and move right on in on ’The Rabbit’ who’s bullshit about fences isn’t going down to well with his Latino constituents.

To the keyboards and barricades if needed.

A New Congress is Needed, Needed Now!

One theory put forth by a well-informed observer.

Actually, if you look at the list of the traitors, it would include other characters with potential, all showing their national security cred. McCaskill, for example?

Nice to see the eloquent and transformative speech that Professor of Constitutional Law Barack Obama gave…. Oh, wait. He was just like the rest of ’em, wasn’t he? Oh well.

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

…of a substantial nature.

Given the Donna Edwards victory last night…..

Here is a candidate who will shake things up in ’Versailles.’

Remember early money speaks loudest.