I heard someone say last night in the past 35 years all congress has done was moving up Daylight savings time three weeks. And I’m afraid it going to be tough to discredit that. In the last 6 months after contributing and campaigning exclusively for Democrats it’s been one disappointment after another as the Dems do Bushco’s bidding. My Senators Feinstein and Boxer are AWOL most of the time unless it’s to suck the public teat and line their or their friends pockets. Democracy is becoming like justice you only get what you can pay for.

"The MoveOn ad was terrible." What does that concluding sentence have to do with not only the paragraph, but the entire post?

The more I watch what the Democrat majority in Congress is doing and not doing I conclude that, with very few exceptions, they basically agree with everything that BushCo is doing because it meshes with their view of power and influence.

I don't think the lack of action on Iraq policy can be explained completely by fear of being branded as "weak on terror" and/or "not supporting the troops".

Granted, there is a Presidential season approaching, but the lack of focus on the huge issues and time-after-time backing away from taking positions that people on the sidelines can stand up and cheer about says to me that they either agree, or they don't care enough to do anything about it.

The last time I called my 'liberal Democrat' Senator to express strong concern about the likelihood of an attack on Iran, the initial response was, "The Senator hasn't made a statement on this". When I asked what the Senator was planning to *do* about this question, the response (paraphrased) was, "Thank you for calling".

Count me as one of those who would like to bring back all the freedom and democracy that has been exported to other countries recently.

Oh wait...

I thought corporations were people.

Why are corporations our equal again?

Acting responsibly should be guided by the market just like prices and profit.

Let the invisible hand lock them up.

Is the passage of this legislation likely before Mukasey’s confirmation hearings?

"The MoveOn ad was terrible." What does that concluding sentence have to do with not only the paragraph, but the entire post?

I think Glenn is being ironic here. The point being that with all of the actual policy issues that need to be addressed in some reasonable way, the senate has chosen to focus a significant portion of its energies on an absurdly trivial ad in order to castigate a citizen's advocacy group.

What he's saying (obviously Glenn can speak for himself) is that this pack of worthless sycophants aren't able to mobilize to stop the rule of law from being shredded, but they sure can mobilize to say how shocked, SHOCKED they are about the MoveOn ad.

The context of the last sentence isn't this specific post, but what Glenn's been writing about for weeks and months, namely the bipartisan inability to have some fucking vertebrae.

huh?

"The MoveOn ad was terrible." What does that concluding sentence have to do with not only the paragraph, but the entire post? -- rustam

It was trenchant sarcasm. What the MoveOn ad was was stupid -- it gave these mendacious Beltway creatures an opportunity for obfuscatory grandstanding that provided cover for activities like those Glenn explores in this post.
The appropriate target for "betrayus" puns was, is, and always will be the administration. If they'd placed an ad referring to "Gen. Petraeus, spokesman for CinC George 'Betrayus'....." they would have gotten the same mileage out of it without providing the usual suspects opportunities for positive reverse spin. Rightist propagandists would have initiated the same loud smear campaigns -- but they wouldn't have had the same traction with the media.
I've got to assume that reflexive anti-military bias is still so normative and accepted among the activist left that they can't see to keep from tripping over their dicks on this issue.

I'll just say, without being the least bit wordy about it, that I couldn't disagree more with your take on the moveon ad, and your take on how it played, and your take on the left - or what you think is "the left. Every thing you wrote in that post is basically up is downism.

That last sentence made local cows go moo-on or moo moo's.com/nsa.snoops.dot.creeps....this is it for the day for me.

'too much news makes one real goofy'...I scat fast, and immediately.

"protect us"...from sniffing dogs? I think the NO immunity thing- Do try. Respectfully? I insist lawbreakers are tried. Then arrange fair trials. An awful lot of money could be saved by simply telling each other what we think on blogs like this.

Take the law suit money and buy hard jawbreaker candy to mail to all "enemies."

Sue lawbreakers.

I've got to assume that reflexive anti-military bias is still so normative and accepted among the activist left that they can't see to keep from tripping over their dicks on this issue.

-- Holly McLachlan

Petraeus came to D.C. to spin as a politician, just like Powell did at the U.N. in 2003. They were trading on people's respect for the military while spinning lies for Bush. You are right that this is partly (mostly) Bush's fault, but both Powell and Petraeus allowed themselves to be used. It is a clue that someone has no evidence when they trade on their reputation.

Anyway, the American people are way ahead of the D.C. pearl clutch crew as a majority expected Petraeus to spin for Bush.

Sickening...

Bananas or something? OK maybe not, but the idea that the worst aspects of the worst countries in the history of mankind are being seriously debated as places the US wishes to be, boggles the mind.

Even if AT&T and Verizon are national heroes, the fact remains, that the lawsuits currently in place are the only effective avenues left for invesigating just how far Bushco has taken us on the road to a police state. To make them disappear will be to erase history as effectively as anything Orwell imagined on his most cynical days.