I heard that [and am I glad that you're keeping their feet to the fire]:

RevDeb February 4th, 2008 at 4:18 pm said:

I may be crazy but it seems to me that this is being engineered so that the candidates don't have to cast any votes on FISA. God forbid they should be seen as protecting the Constitution.

And then...

selise February 4th, 2008 at 4:21 pm replied in response to RevDeb @ 214:

yeah. potential for plans within plans… this is going to take some time to try to unravel, and i'm not sure i can. but i bet pow wow could tell us.

pow wow! where are you? we need you!

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/02/04/fisa-liveblog/#Respond

Right after I said to myself, "Exactly, RevDeb..." The same thought had just started to occur to me - including that Republicans may want such roll call votes from Obama and Clinton to run against in a general election campaign. But as you say, it will probably take some time to unravel this one more definitively, and we may not be able to break through the deception in the end. [Maybe this little debate tonight will at least stop all the hand-wringing and hoping for "leadership" on FISA from Clinton and Obama. They've been doing nothing but following on this subject from Day One.] The stimulus cloture vote today was 80 to 4, so a lot of Senators were missing, and would've missed any FISA votes that took place this evening [Reid plans a few (outcome-already-known-to-him) FISA votes tomorrow, at some point, from indications as the Senate adjourned just now].

So I think you guys already have this one pretty well covered over there at FDL in emptywheel's FISA liveblog. I'm still lurking and learning from some of your heavy-lifting fog-removal efforts, as I can.

Reid really did get going there, for a bit, didn't he? I didn't think he had it in him, even for the twenty minutes he gave us today (and then presumably only in defense of his party's cowering presidential candidates). This one's a quote:

"I cannot take any more lectures on the bipartisanship of the Intelligence Committee [FISA] bill." - Harry Reid, 2/4/08

Also the words "incredible," "dismayed," "amazing" and of course "shallow," among others, about Mitch McConnell's arrogant obstructionism. Pay close attention, Democrats: Jon Kyl telegraphed which remarks (including from Boxer) hit closest to the mark, because Kyl wrote them down and made an effort to rebut them (including the key argument that Bush is violating the Constitution by mass-collecting many of our domestic call detail records for link analysis and for future reference). Now if only the Democrats would respond, not just with words, but with action. But of course, they've still got Rockefeller blocking the exit on the Democratic side. [And a by the way to Russ Feingold: Americans don't just "deserve" privacy (as some sort of sop from those who represent us), we are guaranteed privacy against unreasonable searches, by our Constitution - it's not an option for Congress, it's an obligation for Members of Congress to honor the privacy rights protected by the Fourth Amendment...]

But beyond that, the clear understanding - heartfelt for once - from Reid that this president has virtually ignored Congress and written off the whole Legislative Branch of government, and about the democratic process that must be honored in the Senate, never mind the opinions of a few powerful committee chairs, impressed me. When did Reid learn the democracy religion, anyway? And why does he so rarely practice it? Kit Bond finally goaded Ben Cardin into a little bit of emotion as well, which brought out some excellent rebuttals from Cardin at last - 'terrorists don't have democracy, either' etc., etc. If unscripted real engagement and debate would take place at least occasionally on the Senate floor, I think the Democrats would surprise themselves at how well they'd do at it. Are new Democratic Party polls - in line with the topic of Glenn's post here - suddenly prompting a few Senators to dare to speak a little truth on the Senate floor?

Don't know. But can't the Democrats see how well this works, on multiple fronts?

I guess not, if Reid is anticipating lopsided vote counts on the ultra reasonable, absolutely necessary, Constitution-honoring FISA amendments which were under discussion today. Meanwhile Mr. Rockefeller calmly announces that he and others are anticipating that this FISA legislation will be "litigated in the courts for decades to come." [Stated on the floor at about 5:07 p.m. ET today.]

Jay Rockefeller's clearly fully on board with the unchecked domestic security surveillance state championed by Cheney - an unConstitutional abuse of Executive Branch power which is now being actively abetted by a son of the Corporate Gilded Age, who's preparing and apparently eager to stab his fiercely independent, liberty-loving West Virginia constituents in the back.