My major concern is the destruction of the constitution by the Bush administration. Glenn has chronicled the complicity by the Democrats. Maybe what has happened is the whole political spectrum has shifted so far to the right that a new consensus has been reached.

One could blame the American people who are uninformed, and that blame would soon fall on the main stream media which is owned by a handfull of corporations which promote the status quo.

But for the Democrats to point out that the USA can no longer afford to be an empire with a military budget of $630B when the rest of the world spends a total of $500B (see an earlier post by Glenn on this) is to take a stand against the power structure.

Where is John Edwards now that we need someone with a national voice to fight against the power of the Bush administration and the financial - military - industrial complex?

from a list on daily kos

told them that i was disturbed about the destruction of the constitutuion - and the democrats are complicit

this is like a train wreck in slow motion

i told them that we may never get our democracy back

none of the people i talked with said anything except at the end they asked for my zip code

guess so they can file them in the counts of for and against

i was only "voting" not stating something important

guess that is what they do there in DC also

anonymonous posted about a proposed NYC ordinance that would require citizens to get a permit to purchase test equipment for themselves to test against nuclear radiation or bio threats.

they gave a link to the newspaper article. The link was wrong. Here is the name of the article, the reporter and the first sentence.

N.Y.P.D. looks to regulate environmental detectors

By Julie Shapiro

"A far-reaching bill before the City Council would make it illegal to possess a biological, chemical or radiological detector without a permit from the New York Police Department.

here is the correct link

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_244/nypd.html

in our new world, we can't trust citizens

Glenn is writing about the important political issue of the day, namely the destruction of our republic. The presidential race is changing the subject from the terrible things going on. We have always assumed there would be a course correction, maybe this time it will not happen. Maybe the republic is all over.

When the president is allowed to get away with criminal behavior, the game is over.

Why did Nancy Polosi take impeachment off the table? As far as I know, that is the last way to get the administration to speak and give up documents.

Last week I sent emails to senators to stand firm for the constitution starting by opposing telcom immunity.

The web based forms have pull down menu of topic areas. None of them had "constitution", or "rule of law" as a topic for comments. I suggested to them that they add this topic.

Once again the democrats are complicit in the Bush attack on the constitution. As Glenn points out, the lead should be taken by the presidential candidates. The three main democaratic candidates are attorneys so they should understand what is at stake.

John Edwards should continue to set the agenda of the primary debate by taking a stand on telcom immunity and subpoenas and force the other candidates to do their job in the Senate to block the Bush administration crimes.

You gave away the lead for a story that the main stream media should be waiting to jump on.

Lets see if one of these "hard working" "journalists", say John King, will get onto his blackberry and call his leads and settle this once and for all.

Or maybe Joe Klein could figure this out?

Who is the journalist who will solve the mystery of who smeared Mc Cain in South Carolina?

I am holding my breath in expectation.

I sent emails to several senators today telling them to block telcom immunity in order to save our democracy. Here is the response from Senator Sherrod Brown

Dear Don:

Thank you for expressing your views on legislation that would provide retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in the National Security Agency's (NSA) warrantless surveillance program.

In December of 2005 it was first reported that President Bush had authorized the NSA to monitor communication between U.S. citizens and terrorist suspects outside the United States without first obtaining a warrant. Some telecommunications companies participated in this program and provided the government with access to phone records. Serious questions arose about the legality of this program and its compliance with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA).Â

In August 2007, Congress passed revisions to FISA, which I opposed, expanding the authority of the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence to conduct surveillance of foreign targets. Under this legislation telecommunications companies that assist the government in the future implementation of this program were granted immunity from criminal and civil action.

This legislation expires in early February, and Congress is currently considering further revisions to FISA. President Bush has requested that any further modifications to FISA contain retroactive immunity for any telecommunications company that participated in the program since its inception. While developments in technology may require modest modifications to our intelligence laws, I will oppose efforts to provide retroactive immunity for illegal wiretapping as it is inconsistent with our democratic principles. All citizens must have legal recourse when their rights are infringed upon, and companies must bear the responsibility for breaking the law.Â

Thank you again for contacting me.

Sincerely,

Sherrod Brown