If you want a summary of what new bill does go over to the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/washington/06nsa.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Glenn is right to criticize the Dem's on this, they should know better. I've given hope on expecting any Repubs to stand up for my rights (other than the 2nd amendment, the ONLY part of the Constitution they pay more than lip service to defend), but I had held out some hope for checks and balances with the elections of 2006.

I was wrong.

The only way to make Democratic politicians look good is to compare them to Republican politicians. Seen on their own, they are short-sighted, cowardly, and stupid.

We are soooooo screwed.

According to Jack Balkin, Bush still isn’t satisfied. He wants Congress to come back in September and add to the “We trust Alberto Gonzalez completely” FISA reform bill an additional new fix:

The “if the President does it, it’s not illegal” clause giving the administration legal immunity for previously breaking the law.

I’m sure the Democrats will be well prepared to fight this by rolling over, playing dead, and asking Bush if there’s anything else he needs to fight the terrorists.

Oversight is a bitch.

http://balkin.blogspot.com/2007/08/bush-to-democratic-congress-your.html

Weird. I just got rid of mine two-months ago, mainly for economic reasons. But the peace and quiet has been wonderful. No more sales calls ... surveys and opinion polls ... wrong numbers ... and my favorite, the early morning and late night calls about someone's computer not working right. "The internet won't run ... my Microsoft isn't working ..." All those illiterate questions and comments from friends and family who won't take the time to learn even the absolute minimum about the damn computer.

Ahhhhhhh ...

-- KB4Hire

I'd give up my land line if I didn't need it in case of emergencies. I can order a pizza over the net and that's about as much "emergency" as I like. Some people can't imagine surviving without them. I think it is part of the rapid pace of life these days. We are a very impatient culture. One election cycle and people are already stamping their feet and threatening to leave the Democratic party. Glenn does have a point. The ones who are weak enablers have to suffer consequences for that behavior. I just don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Politics isn't fast food. The GOP and the right have been working toward this for over 40 years. I'm getting on in years and I have no illusions about seeing any of this come to fruition in 30 or 40 years. I do it anyway because it is the right thing to do. I could just as easily take the short term view and not give a damn because I'll be dead soon. As it is I may see you at the next Green party meet-up.

I don't understand this. All I've seen in the last few days is attack after attack on the Democrats for passing this legislation.

I know - what would possibly possess anyone to criticize Democrats for empowering George Bush to spy on the telephone conversations of Americans with no warrants and virtually no oversight? I mean, gosh, why is everyone so mad at the Democrats? It's just a little warrantless spying and legalization of long-criminal activities. What's everyone so sore about?

From you, I expect a more serious analysis of what this legislation is about. Is it identical to the previous act? If not, what changes are there?

If you read any of the last three posts I've writte on this topic, including this morning's, you will find the answers to those questions in there.

But you're not interested in that. Based on your commentary of the last several days, your interest is in Democrats as an end to themselves. Don't criticize them. Make excuses for them. Accept that they are inherently good no matter what they do.

The capitulation and cowardice of the Democrats eerily resemle that of Israel's Labor party. Always fearing they would be labled as "soft on terror" and "Arab Lovers" by the Likud and other right wing parties, they have abandoned their principles and capitulated to the righ wing so o, that are constantly brought up a example of a party without principles, backbone and convictions. As a result, Labor has been abandoned by its core constituency, yet, after all the capitulation to the right wing and steadily shrinking in size, it's still persistently labeled as "lefty", "soft on terror" and "a bunch of Arab lovers". Are the Democrats ever going to learn that capitulation to Bush/Cheney and lack of principles will not save them from being blamed by the right for the next terror attack and that their cowardice and lack of a backbone is driving their core away and not attracting new voters?

Jack Balkin over at Balkinazation makes the argument that we are entering an era of powerful governmental surveillance of citizens, and that the only question left is whether there will even be minimal safeguards put in place, or whether there will be unfettered power for the executive to conduct surveillance without any oversight whatsoever. He describes this latest vote as an indication that it will be the latter outcome.

This is depressing, to say the least. I am reminded of Naomi Wolff's series in the Guardian several months ago. She made the argument that there is every indication that this country is on a slow slide toward some type of totalitarianism. (She uses the F-word, fascism). Even though her argument was powerful, I still found myself disagreeing with her hopeless outlook.

In the face of recent depressing events, I still allow myself to hope that ordinary citizens can awaken and mobilize, that somehow all of us together can make a difference. History contains examples of groups of people, armed with nothing more than courage and conviction being able to prevail against seemingly insurmountable odds. (The American revolution is only one such example. The democracy movements in eastern Europe just two decades ago are another example, as is India's success in throwing off colonial rule using nonviolence and grassroots resistance.)

These and so many other examples give me hope. The pushback has begun and will take time to gather strength and make itself felt.