and its soo sad. hoyer doesnt realize that they're all laughing at him. the entire politico article is built to emphasize his cravenness and his dishonesty. politico would be very aware that for weeks his office denied working on a deal. "The Maryland Democrat shepherded a set of FISA amendments through the House last week, Hoyer called the FISA legislation a “significant victory” for the Democratic Party,Hoyer said that House Democrats succeeded ,Hoyer was clearly the driving force in the months of arduous discussions over the FISA rewrite,Hoyer said he discussed the issue several times with Bush himself,According to several Democratic insiders, Hoyer was able to keep the talks going,Hoyer and staff worked closely with his friend Blunt , Hoyer said. “The American people, they want us to get this done. That’s the whole thing to me.”The Maryland Democrat said a “lot of members came up to me and said, ‘We’re glad you got this doneThroughout the negotiations, Hoyer met frequently with people who would never support the bill. wow. i guess he deserves all the credit, and everything that goes with it.

You're offering your services as chaperone? Or do you just want a piece of the action?

Seriously, you may find these occasional tiffs annoying, but they do serve a purpose, as long they aren't carried on for pages and pages, which is something I have no intention of doing.

Besides which, I need hardly point out to you that your expression of disapproval is perfectly in character with the very exchanges you are criticizing. Or do I?

It's a meta thing.

Italy, Spain & Germany got thru this stage of development rougly 50 years ago--it took a World War and the Marshall Plan.

Russia/USSR got thru it, mostly, about 10 years ago. It took a cold war, and some crazy horrific excursion into Afghanistan.

I guess we need to go thru our own fascist experience now, sort of test the water. The troubling thing is there is no big cop to keep us in line. Unless sanity prevails, and quickly, I see no way out of this moral crisis except war, and a big one. The USA vs. the World. Without oil, with collapsing finaces, with no functioning press, with oil-driven debt and ugly multi-national corporations at the helm we are a ship of fools headed for disaster.

Recently on NPR I heard a story about a bill to renew US support for international AIDS prevention, and how it was being kept from a vote by a "hold" that Sen. Tom Coburn of OK (if I remember correctly) had placed on the bill.

Which begs a whole series of questions:

What is a "hold"?

How does one right-wing Republican senator, acting on his own, get this superhuman power to stop legislation that a majority of senators support?

How can Democratic senators get some of the magic force of the "hold" for themselves?

Is it being in the majority that makes Democrats weak, sort of like electoral kryptonite?

And if so, shouldn't we be working to defeat Democrats and elect Republicans to the Senate so we can get some of the Republicans' mysterious power?

If the Republicans and their criminal associates want to void the Bill of Rights as well as the entirety of the Constitution, they should say that out loud. They should be willing to make the argument that the Constitution doesn't serve the interests of capitalism anymore and should be expunged in favor of a despotic of government.

Since I’m going to be fighting against tyranny even if a Democrat is elected in November, I want to hear the enemies of liberty state right out loud that they do not want nor do they require the protections "guaranteed" under the Bill of Rights. They should openly and honestly wage a campaign to utterly destroy the idea of American nationhood and state clearly that their version of exceptionalism protects anyone rich enough or well connected enough to do without the rule of law, and then they should put that idea on the ballot and see what happens.

Most Americans have no idea what the Founders battled when they faced up to the British Empire and won their liberty. Ben Franklin recognized that the nation would be imperiled by the ignorance and cupidity of its citizenry and that unless we maintained vigilance against tyranny we would be swallowed up by it.

And here we are, swallowed up by tyranny and its accompanying indifference, intolerance and ignorance.

Sen. Obama has already promised more than his corporate masters will allow and even if he is elected, he will say something to the effect that we need to move forward, forget about the lawlessness of the last 8 years and that pesky rule of law that inhibits profit making, so we better all shut and go quietly into the abyss.

We might as well bomb Iran and welcome the apocalypse, because the rule of law will not matter.

Why Mr. Hoyer? Why sell out your part and country? Why sell out the Constitution of the United States that you are sworn to uphold? Why?

People willing to sell their body and soul are usually found in another profession

Mind you, if take out the 'Y', "Hoyer" becomes one of them ...

I write my little note about how the 4th amendment may have been sold for pork, I take a shower, and Glenn has already posted an update with an article stating the asking price.

Good to know that price for the rule of law and 4th amendment protections is $95Billion

Good to know they are at least reasonably high priced whores....

Thanks for the linky Chris Sinnard.

@GG, re: the fundamental implications of the Bill...

Damn! It's even more depressing (I mean that in a "good" way) listening to you verbalize the ramifications than it is reading your posts.

Big donors off the hook, and grateful to boot. No discovery, or embarrassment, for colluding Dems. Get to flip the bird to the DFH's. And, the village idiots, er, DC press corps and pundits will tell them how savvy they were for rolling over again.

Wins all around.