Glenn:

You solution - have Congress present a bill that extends the PAA and exempts foreign-to-foreign call wiretaps from warrants - sounds like a good idea.

Why don't we all e-mail our congressmen, and, citing the above NYT article, demand that such a bill be immediately introduced.

And let the NYT know we're doing it.

And let the NYT know WHY we're doing it.

Good thing the counterrevolution is over and the liberals have already won, or I might really be worried.

Of course there are going to be people who will lie and distort the facts in the interest of people and organizations with power. However, the NYT does not have to give them the credibility of appearing on their paper.

Although the Times may hide behind this being an "opinion" piece (I haven't checked this) it still has an obligation to uphold its own credibility by mandating that all opinions be rooted in facts. That it has chosen to ignore this responsibility damages its credibility even further.

Perhaps it's time to change it's nickname from "The Gray Lady" to "The Painted Lady" since it is so eager to whore themselves out to power.

I am willing to bet that most of the people that post in the comment section of GG's blog are more informed than most of our elected representatives.

Are they secretly in favor? Are they getting bullied but tryingt their hardest? What is their motive? What is their plan?

Ever think that maybe our elected representatives are just ignorant Kool Aid drinkers that buy into the establishment fearmongering that most of America buys into? Whatever their motive, be it their fear of being perceived as divisive or it is all part of some malevolent scheme, it is all predicated on the fact that a lot of them are ignorant feckless morons who buy into and/or promote status quo propaganda.

Are these the same telecoms that removed illegal wiretaps when the bills were unpaid? THEY are what stands between us and chaos. Oh, lordy.

Nancy Pelosi's gonadal atrophy was well advanced before she became speaker, no? A technical point, I admit, but truth in media and all that.... As for her male counterparts, well...maybe it ain't the state of anyone's gonads that we've got to worry about. The wise folks, GC! included, tell us that the soul can atrophy if it isn't exercised regularly. If you ask me, that's the real problem here.

And "appeasing" paranoid Zionists. What a toady. Poor guy, capitulating in the face of powerful lobbies and exposing yourself as a fraud must be a huge strain on the man, what with his bullshit "change" meme and all.

Do I have your permission to send your "Where is Obama" post to the campaign website? I think we need to be putting the pressure on now through every available means. Your post was succinct and very on point. A great template.

You are exactly right. Ig legislators now give nearly everything the president demanded in the way of unchecked spying powers on Americans and telecom immunity voters will wonder why they wasted all this time and money by denying it in the first place. Dems in congress will be viewed as worthless and complicit in the corruption that envelopes the WH. Especially now that it has been proven that this administration lied us into a war/occupation and stupidly demands now that we just trust them with unchecked spying power that they won't abuse this power. They've abused every power they have assumed so far. There is absolutely no excuse to give in to this "compromise" except that they have been bribed to do so or spinelessly wish to avoid conflict.

Just look at what Rockefeller has done. Revealed Bush/Cheney lied us into war and then says trust them not to spy on Americans...or "Here are liars you can trust".

A version of this piece was on the NYT site yesterday (but dated June 10), under the header "Impasse on Spying Could Lead to Tighter Rules". I tried to reacquire it to see if any changes were made during the interim (aside from the headline), but it's no longer available, of course. The two look the same.

What is so disappointing about this piece (and Lichtblau) is that the article actually manages to intensify the misinformation. It takes misleading information from the GOP, equally misleading crap from the Dems, adds a pinch of insubstantial, uninformative quotation from ACLU, notes vaguely that some sort of deal is near--condenses all the above, and seals the lid.

Anyone who had to rely on this piece in order to understand anything about the FISA debate would have gained absolutely nothing--in fact, they would have lost understanding of the issue, due to the incorrect information Lichblau simply dumps in there.

It's long been maintained that the longer one watches FOX, the dumber--the less informed--one becomes. But I didn't realize that this observation now applies to the New York Times as well.

Really depressing.

The conservative-Democrat cunumdrum is a tough one, but one that is an inevitable result of the 50 state stratagy.

Not that this is a bad thing. In the long run.

Getting people in once-red districts used to voting for Democrats is a big part of the battle, I think. In the coming elections (And especially between cycles) I would hope that Dean is examining these districts, to find suitable democratic primary challengers.

Sorry I got a few of you riled up about my previous post. This one is not snark, though, so have at it.

Also, a request: Can somone out there tell me, or lead me to a site that will explain how to do things like italics, bold, etc..? thanks.

"it will not be because they were ocrerced or pressured into doing so, but rather, because they too favor warrantless eavesdropping and telecom amnesty"

I think this goes to the heart of the debate over the last years. Blowing with the wind is harder to explain than the idea that they are capitulating in order to remain viable--for us their consituency!!! From the beginning, the center of gravity of the Democratic party has been pro-war and pro-fisa and pro-patriot act, pro-Israel as they claim that they must remain politically at the center to champion Democratic (big D) values. Which are by this time, almost idistinguishable from those of the Republic party. Democrats have insulted our intelligence long enough.