I'm thinking it's because he really DOES want telecom immunity and really DOESN'T agree with Dodd. It doesn't seem crazy to me at all, just wrong.

I think that William of Ockham was on to something...

Can't call you a peep for bad 'karmic' hair skunk smell spray.

Bad post are neocon Not sustainable. You cause my song to be for some strange reason Alvin's Christmas holliday season lullaby?

Alvin! Devabab! Divadad! Nameste.

Alvin the Chipmunk sings Season joys for boys and girls.

Alviv will say take a break for bowl of warm Chicken Soup. Lunch.

Sing it readers: The Beltway Boys, telecoms, and all the unserious or insincere. Chorus.

Lawbreker Girls don't find Rhythm with 'them' creeps...How could they?

Hay, if we go back to donkeys and wagon sleds, we can feed Horse, Mules, and Pink Shetland Pony at the city Parking Meters Straw!

People and beast got to take a Lunch Break. Grank irritable people need to Sing with Alvin the chipmunk that song he sings

about making chicken soup.

Sip, skip, and hoola hoop.

Have a Merry Chipmunk Day.

Happy Ground Hog Day, greysky!

The Sun shines and smiles up there.

It might be that Reid believes that granting immunity is the right thing to do.

Or it could be that it's the right thing to do for his election coffers.

For my part, I do not mind ascribing less than honorable motives to a man who does the same when it comes to Dodd.

Especially when that man is going against the Constitution and rule of law.

TOTORO - Eff.org has some great one- and two-page summaries of the issues on telecom immunity. For some reason, I can't find exactly where they are now, but I cited to one of them in today's post (regarding the claim that the telecoms broke multiple federal laws). You should be able to find it easily there.

OMALLEY8 -

Glenn and all - is there any resource that shows which Congress members and Senators have received donations from telecoms?

OpenSecrets.org has all of that information in easy to use format.

This is when I realized, during Tuesday's debate, that Chris Dodd was acting out of conscience, and on principle:

A year ago, when the Military Commissions Act came up for a vote, I felt very strongly about it. I spoke against it. I voted against it. The idea of walking away from habeas corpus, the idea of allowing torture, the idea of walking away from the Geneva Conventions--I regretted deeply then that I didn't do what I am prepared to do today, and that is to vigorously fight against that legislation.

I think most of us today recognize what a great mistake that was, to give away those rights. I think most of us recognize how it hurt our country. I am determined not to let that happen again. As long as it takes, I will stand here and insist that we need to strip immunity out of this bill.

[snip]

As tragic as the events of 9/11 were, if we begin to undo our own liberties and rights, we give them a success far beyond anything they could have ever imagined. I have been here today for the last 8 hours, and I will stay here for as long as it takes.

At the appropriate time, when we have exhausted the ability to talk about it generally, I will offer the language to strike it, and I hope my colleagues will join me in that effort. But I am determined not to let this go forward, because I think we have done that too often. I myself have been guilty of accepting far too much from this administration. Just one small thing is at issue today. But then I start to look back at all of the small things that have been done, so-called ``small things'' over the last 5 or 6 years--most recently, the destruction of interrogation tapes at the CIA. And the combined weight of these ``small things'' truly frightens me.

What was going on at the CIA? Why did that happen? Why Abu Ghraib? Why Guantanamo? Why get rid of habeas corpus? Why bring back waterboarding? Why do away with the Geneva Conventions? Why nominate someone to be the Attorney General who believes that Presidents have the right to violate Federal statutes here under the guise of protecting the Nation's security?

Why, after each one of those these things? Why the Military Commissions Act? In case after case after case, we see the slow erosion going on. And again, regardless of what your politics are, regardless of where you find yourself on the spectrum, when our basic rights are involved, we must stand up and say, ``Enough!'' - Senator Chris Dodd, 12/17/07

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2007_record&page=S15743&position=all

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2007_record&page=S15759&position=all

Those words speak volumes, and told me what I needed to know. A Senator finally stopped stifling his conscience to do the right thing, because he had to. Any Democratic colleague who heard that and doesn't understand it, has long since lost touch with his or her own conscience when it comes to public service - their own cynical assigning of hidden motivations to Dodd says far more about them than about him.

Harry Reid holds press conference after press conference where he accuses the president of being a stubborn, obstructionist, unreasonable, borderline tyrant.

But if anyone actually does anything about it, then they're being cynical and insincere.

Therefore...

Well, you can draw your own therefore from those premises.

Tuesday, January 4, 2004

WASHINGTON , DC – Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) today opened the new

Senate Democratic Communications Center in the U.S. Capitol.

Jim Manley – Staff Director: A seasoned and skilled media operative on

Capitol Hill, Manley will be the Staff Director of the new Senate Democratic

Communications Center (SDCC). Manley oversees the office, message

development and communications strategy for Reid and the Democratic caucus.

For the past 11 years, Manley has served as Press Secretary for Sen. Edward

Kennedy (D-MA) and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Prior to the HELP committee, Manley worked for former Senate Majority Leader

George Mitchell (D-ME).

Phil Singer – Communications Director: Singer will handle rapid response and

messaging for Reid and Senate Democrats. Singer has earned widespread praise

for his media savvy, tenacity and know-how, most recently as National

Spokesperson for Kerry-Edwards 2004. Before the Presidential campaign,

Singer spent four years as Communications Director for Sen. Charles Schumer

(D-NY).

Tessa Hafen – Press Secretary: Haffen will work alongside Manley and Singer

while also ensuring focus and priority for Nevada and regional media. Hafen,

a native Nevadan, has been essential to Team Reid since she joined six years

ago, most recently as Campaign Press Secretary on his overwhelmingly

successful re-election in Nevada.

Fabiola Rodriguez-Ciampoli – Director of Hispanic Media: Rodriguez joins the

SDCC to focus primarily on outreach to Hispanic media. Rodriguez-Ciampoli

previously headed an aggressive media effort to reach out to Hispanic voters

for the Kerry-Edwards campaign. Before that she was Director of Specialty

Media at the Democratic National Committee.

Ari Rabin-Havt – Director of Internet Communications: Rabin-Havt served as

Deputy Director of Internet Communications for John Kerry’s Presidential

race. Before that, he was Executive Dir of Click Back America a project of

the MoveOn.org Voter Fund. He has previously worked at Penn Schoen and

Berland and in Representative Ted Strickland's (OH-6) office