It is not too late for the Telecoms to get out of their illegal wiretapping predicament. They are really getting hit hard right now. One can only imagine the anxiety that has filled their board rooms over the past few weeks. Their internal and external legal staffs have been working at a frenzied pace to ensure that their executives’ posteriors are adequately covered. The CEOs, however, are probably feeling somewhat secure. They know that Mr. Shuba (Someone High Up in the Bush Administration) had personally guaranteed that the US government would stand behind them for performing their patriotic duty, and that (as promised) they would be held harmless if any legal issues arose. The fact that their actions would be completely illegal (and probably represent one of the greatest infringements on the Constitution by any organization in the history of this country) was thought to be immaterial at the time. They were on a mission authorized by Uncle Sam.

Now, however, the Telecoms need to be informed of some very important truths:

1. They think that they are part of the Administration’s “Team” on this issue. They aren’t.

2. They think that retroactive immunity will protect them from all future exposure in this area. It won’t.

3. They think that, regardless of what happens, the Administration will always come to their defense. They won’t.

At this point, the Administration is only concerned about protecting themselves. The Telecom immunity deal is simply a stalling tactic to get them through the last 11 months of their watch. After that, they know that their involvement will disappear down the memory-hole of public concern (Can you say “Iran Contra”?). Those outside their bubble, however, won’t be so lucky. The public is rightfully enraged about this issue. They’re looking for a culprit. Through the courts (if the immunity deal fails) and/or through whistleblowers (you know they’re out there), the public is determined to get to the bottom of this, and, at this point, it appears that the Telecoms are going to be left holding the bag.

Another important truth: The Administration has already initiated Plan B. (i.e. “Throw the Telecoms under the Bus”).

If you remember last week, Senator Kitt Bond stated that the surveillance issue involved only low level CIA and/or NSA employees (S320 Congressional Record - Senate, January 25, 2008). By now, they’ve dug up some emails to the Telecoms on this issue written by some unfortunate analyst(s) in one of these departments (Can you say “Private Lynndie England”?). They’ve also done a complete audit of billing related to these services and have found many examples of exorbitant, unauthorized gouging by the Telecoms. When the time is right, this information will be leaked through the usual channels by a concerned, unnamed source. Having cleansed all evidence pointing to Mr. Shuba, the Administration will join the outrage expressed by the media. The headlines will read “ Telecoms Conspired with CIA/NSA to Gain $Ms from Unlawful Surveillance Activity”.

As I mentioned earlier, it is not too late for the Telecoms to redeem themselves on this issue. They can join forces and issue a public “Mea Culpa” in regard to the Telecom Industry’s unintentional role in this program. They can identify the type of programs that were performed (without giving national-security line-item details), and they can identify the Administration official(s) who instructed them to perform these activities. A full-page ad in the Washington Post will do quite nicely. Pictured would be the Chief Executive Officers of the applicable Telecoms, in front of several waving American flags, along with the caption “The Telecommunication Industry Stands with the American People to Regain our Constitutional Rights”.

The only other option is to wait for the sound of that approaching bus. Your Choice.

...we need to have a massive civil disobedience movement.

Every time we talk to friends, e-mail friends, etc. we need to start and end the conversation by saying some random quasi-terrorist statement.

"Let's bomb X"

"We're going to assassinate X"

"We will destroy X"

"We will sieze X for ransom"

Let's just overload their damn system. Oh, and encrypt friggin' everything.

I'm so tired of this crap.

Once again, our rights are being taken away and no one in the MSM notices. All we get are analyses of the Clinton/Obama debate, endorsements of McCain, and an occasional note about the economy.

I have read all Glenn's essays on this FISA issue, and still cannot fathom how Reid and lots of other Senators just want to give away the right of the people for redress. What power do the telecoms have, other than financial, to convince supposedly educated and rational Senators that these telecoms are so picked on?

Our Senate in action. How disgusting.

Indeed, they are one of the regular hobgoblins of the right wing.

If they detest trial lawyers, they must detest trials. Sure there's a bunch of bullshit in there just like everywhere else. But what would they have replace trial lawyers presenting the cases of clients before the courts and juries?

Do our elected representatives (pause for laughter)fail to see that unfettered surveillance is far more dangerous to our nation than terrorism?

At the worst terrorists can kill us. We all die, it is inevitable.

But by granting such powers to our government we are sowing the seeds of destruction for our very way of life. The freedoms that hysterics claim are at the heart of terrorist hatred WILL NOT EXIST under the system these measures create.

And the unconstitutionality of these measures is neutralized by the nature of the judicial hacks approved to sit on the Supreme Court.

If the Democrats don't wise up and stand up for more than re-election the America I grew up in won't exist at all for my grandchildren.

Did anyone see Olbermann's "Special Comment" on this subject last night?

Transcript and video are here:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/01/31/countdown-special-comment-on-fisa-and-telecom-immunity/

PAA was extended by 15 days, so, as I understand it, it now expires on Feb. 16. Reid has set debate and voting for Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 4 and 5. With primaries in 22 states on Feb. 5, Reid has guaranteed that Senators Clinton and Obama will not be present to contribute to the debate or to vote. That means the UC starts with two Democratic votes subtracted. Come to think of it, it is disappointing that Obama and Clinton would consent to this. Why didn't they hold out for all of this to start on Feb. 6? That still leaves 10 days to get something done.

On the other hand, McCain also will be on the campaign trail and we can only hope that his lap dog Lieberman will be along, yapping at his heels. If that is the case, then both sides are down two votes and the losses cancel one another.

That brings up the question of whether the "strip Title II" Feingold/Dodd amendment will actually need 50 votes to pass or if it simply needs a majority of those present and voting. That could be a very important distinction. I'll try to do some digging on this.