What exactly has our Attorney General done to earn the responsibility congress just carved out of FISA?

And why is this question not asked repeatedly on teevee?

How many congresspeople actually read and understood the final bill before voting on it?

Any business person of any level of accomplishment would lose his job for embracing a contractor or department that so consistently refused to explain just what in the world they were doing with all the money they have consumed while all observable indications show reckless boobery.

Accountability Now.

Hiatt is... not someone I generally agree with. I fact, when I find myself agreeing with somebody of his caliber, I review my opinion to make sure it's internally consistent with my beliefs.

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. 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? What were the motivations of the people who voted for it? I'm not going to buy the "Bush strongarmed" crap without reasoning, if for no other reason than because that seems to be the story the New York Times is putting out, and I don't have any reason to trust them as unbiased sources on anything related to this administration. I need facts, not rants.

Maybe there is a whole backstory on the recent bill somewhere that I missed, but I follow news and political blogs pretty closely and never saw this coming, which makes me really wonder what in hades is going on.

and the Democratic party (particularly the DLC) needs to wake up and smell the proverbial party.

There is no way this particular "crack the whip" is not a humiliation to the Democractic Party and to all registered democrats ... over coffee in diners across America rethugs are metaphorically shoving liberal faces into breakfast plates.

(the particulars don't matter much, if at all...) Our collective outrage and moaning is just fuel to their "victory" ... Fasten those seatbelts ...

(I have wondered if Bush has explained to Maliki that "this is how it's done", yeah right, democracy in action.)

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.

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.

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.