Letters to the Editor
bystander
Published Letters: 1348
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pow wow and Glenn
[Read the article: The WSJ editorial page lies about our surveillance laws]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]pow wow, I just can't thank you enough for shouldering these updates. My appreciation - if adequately expressed - would likely only embarrass you. (No comment is needed from you, Cocktailhag!) Thanks for all you've done in these threads.
Glenn, I have no idea how any sentient Senator listening to Feingold could fail to understand. There was an initial argument that when the PAA was first presented to the Senate, many had not had the time they needed to fully understand what they were signing into law. I can find it in my gut (if not my heart) to excuse them for acting under pressure, on a subject for which they were not well versed, but to which they felt compelled to respond. I have no such sympathy for them now. It could NOT be made any clearer.
If nothing else, this stall (if that is all it amounts to) has made it plain to me, that it is now plain to the Senate. Those who hand Bush his demands at threat of temper tantrum are clearly acting outside the oath they took for office. It will be my pleasure to actively support anyone who wants to challenge Ken Salazar. I have a long memory for betrayal.
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Gordon
[Read the article: The WSJ editorial page lies about our surveillance laws]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When looking for FISA background, don't forget karsic's wiki.
http://fisa.wikispot.org/Telecom_Immunity_Arguments
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one last link
[Read the article: The WSJ editorial page lies about our surveillance laws]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sorry that should have been karrsic! Two r's.
In addition, Matt Hamlin has a blog post up...
FISA Process, Unanimous Consent, & Dodd’s Filibuster
February 11th, 2008
I’m going to do two things in this post. First, I will explain the likely legislative process on FISA in the Senate and House. Second, I will discuss Chris Dodd’s course of actions regarding a filibuster and where that stands now.
Tomorrow looks to be the big day for FISA votes in the Senate. Senator Dodd’s amendment to strip retroactive immunity from the underlying SSCI bill will be given a vote - it will need 51 votes to pass. Other amendments pertaining to retroactive immunity will also be given votes - Whitehouse’s substitution amendment and Feinstein’s “good faith” amendment. The bad news is that these amendments are all likely to fail, though Feinstein’s might have the best chances of passing, even with a 60 vote threshold. (continues)
http://holdfastblog.com/2008/02/11/dodd-and-fisa-filibuster/
Or, click at sig
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Anonymust
[Read the article: The WSJ editorial page lies about our surveillance laws]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yeah, really. Maybe a frozen teething ring is what he really wants and is just too inarticulate to make that need understood. The image of 100 senators scrambling to figure out what it would take to cool his Cat 5, grocery aisle meltdown is kind of funny... in a perverse way.
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Dodd
[Read the article: Amnesty Day for Bush and lawbreaking telecoms]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Who knows what lurks in the hearts of men? I can't second guess Dodd's decision, so I won't try. Cboldt has convinced me that the circumstances were/are such that Dodd had very few options. The forces of the Senate were arrayed against his success. I would note in Dodd's defense a couple of things:
1. He did take up the issue when no one else with the size megaphone he had would do so.
2. He did manage to wrestle the issue to the ground once.
3. He was insulted/chided for taking up the issue by his colleagues as a campaign stunt. Crooks and Liars did report that he was expected to drop the issue once his presidential campaign ended, and iirc there were rumblings of vague threats by his caucus.
4. He stood and delivered an oratory to an empty senate chamber that will go into the congressional record, which his colleagues were either too jaded, too ashamed, or too lazy to hear.
5. In the absence of a miracle, this odious legislation will pass, clearly indicating that Dodd, Feingold, and 'us' are insufficient in the face of a unitary executive bent on having its own way, and a complicit congress determined to deliver it.
6. While it's nice to have someone to pin our disappointment on, I am unwilling to reinforce what surely Dodd's colleagues are telling him. That the voters are a fickle and disloyal bunch whose support is fleeting.
And, curse10 makes a fair point, we elected these folks. No, I'm not talking about the 2000 election; I'm talking about every election that has occurred since 2000. Salazar is mine, and I'll wear him like an albatross until his next term. We will not correct our situation even over the next five elections. Sorry, Mona, 2006 was obviously not enough. There are no magic pills, and no magic elections. There is only much hard work ahead.
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Sweet Jeebus!
[Read the article: Amnesty Day for Bush and lawbreaking telecoms]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Salazar voted aye on 3979 Feingold/Webb. He voted with Obama?
Someone look, quick! Has the sky fallen?
Dodd/Feingold on immunity up now. This is gonna be painful.
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Ondelette
[Read the article: Amnesty Day for Bush and lawbreaking telecoms]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't know. Shortly after this issue of warrantless wiretapping, and Qwest's refusal to participate, became known we bundled our cell, land line, and DSL though Qwest. I spoke at length with the technicians who installed the DSL and 'reconfigured' our phone lines. I wanted to know, from their point of view, whether Qwest really had held firm. They said, to the best of their knowledge, Qwest's refusal was the real deal. But, Qwest doesn't have the same reach as AT&T and others. I also wonder about the extent to which Qwest's transmissions travel over shared lines to which the NSA (via AT&T) could have access. I suspect that if people wanted to punish At&T and Verizon via the marketplace, they could to the extent they had access to alternatives. But, I'm not sure they would be any more secure. Someone a lot more knowledgeable than me would have to answer my tinfoil hat worry about those transmission routes that are shared among carriers.
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Ondelette
[Read the article: Amnesty Day for Bush and lawbreaking telecoms]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You are so far over my head with De-CSS, I haven't a clue. I barely understand PGP. Where's Arne when we need him? UT-thread to Arne. Come in Arne.
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Anonymust
[Read the article: Amnesty Day for Bush and lawbreaking telecoms]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]CREDO Mobile -
http://www.credomobile.com/?entrycode=400250