Bush & Co. know no shame, and no effort to appeal to reason, no invocation of the rule of law before them, results in the slightest acknowledgement or the least deviation from a path toward utter dictatorship.

The FISA amendments were and are one thing, all bad. Think they'll take a breather now? Take a look at what Mukasey argued before a congressional commmittee this morning:

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/09/durbin-mukasey/

I know, I know, Pelosi took impeachment "off the table." She should be impeached or at least opposed for that political maneuver, blah blah blah (oh, and I agree with that). And we all recognize that "everyone" understands that it's "too late" to impeach Bush et al, blah blah blah.

But COME ON. What exactly does it take? I say it again, Congress has a wide open calendar in August. Who the hell really wants to sit in a football stadium anyway? Hold hearings on Kucinich's resolutions!

Is the universal recognition of the Democrats' cowardice registering not one iota? Meet it, counter it, take affirmative steps to commence impeachment proceedings!

I'm watching the live feed of Bu$h's speech as he prepares to sign the FISA traitor Act.

Of course he pats Chief elected traitor Steny Hoyer on the back and pounds the 9/11 drum and pounds the 9/11 drum and pounds the 9/11 drum.

He dares to say this law will protect the liberties of our citizens.

Are we really this stupid as a citizenry?

Please go and pledge for GG's Money bomb and while you're there Digg the Accountability Now PAC page.

We were on the front page of Digg for about an hour. If we can get back up there, the Money Bomb will be picked up even more and go Viral.

www.accountabilitynowPAC.com

Is anyone else as sick as I am of those tiresome know-it-alls telling the "liberals" that we have to be politically practical when we are betrayed by the political crowd we worked our butts off to elect, as in this Congress two years ago? P. M. Carpenter and all the rest think they are so sophisticated and superior. Move to the center and get elected --since when. Do some triangulation--so smart--only in DC. We must understand that it is being done for your own good "children" We grassroots liberals must learn to be like the DC Dolts. Congress bowed yesterday to the Bushies, so we must be understanding and bow to Congress today. My backbone doesn't bend that way--it is not made of a wet noodle.

If everyone(nearly) is going to vote with Bush please tell me what is the difference in the parties? Why campaign and contribute to them. Face it--if the Dems had even made any effort to stand up to Bush we would not be where we are today in this country. We have had only one political party in this country for the last eight years. When are we going to face facts and dump them over the side?

The next egotistical DC Dolt that hands out a figuretive pat on the head to this proud liberal is going to get a kick in the balls from me--at least figuretively.

A subpoena simulataneously with the FISA signing.

A free for all.

“It's important to recognize that yesterday's defeat is not the end of anything. It should only fuel more resolute and resourceful battles in defense of these core political values.”

Glenn Greenwald

Sometimes the loss of a battle has the opposite effect on the war. It points out weaknesses and strengths for future battles. It motivates the troops to fight harder and longer.

Our leader from the start told us that we had little chance to win this battle. His sights are on a long, tough war. Let’s follow our fearless and tireless leader and stop using the verbs quit, hopeless and not. We gained a lot in this battle. Her needs all of our energy for future battles.

The exposure and attention this battle gave us is of inestimable value. What we have learned and the new forces we have mobilized will serve us very well in the future.

Negativity and hopelessness only feed the enemy. You owe our leader and our cause your energy and focus on how we proceed not recede.

I think its interesting you mentioned motives in one of your post respones today. I assume that I share an overwhelming curiosity about Obama's rationale in this final FISA legislative chapter with a lot of people here. And of course, you are right, in politics, actions matter more than motives, since the motive will likely be the same for all--what will most aid in keeping my job. Feingold was on Olberman with Rachel Maddow last night (she does such a better job than Olberman, its a shame she's only subbing)and he opined that he believed having a democrat in office in January would mean a reversal of the current FISA legislation. He didn't sanction Obama's actions by any means, but it did seem like he meant to feed into the idea that Obama is just being politically smart, and then will do the right thing once in office.

I'm not inclined to believe this. But do you believe there is any chance in holy hell that this is the case? Why did he capitualte in the first place when here was no public support for this legislation. War Room today opines that money from the telecoms would not have been a motivating factor, since Obama has cash enough to emboss his own children in gold.

Lots of questions. Anybody?

It seems reasonable to take Holly McLachlan's question as written — as being about who to target for replacement as opposed to other forms of consciousness-raising. In that respect motivation is quite salient.

I tried to answer it as written -- about who was best to target for defeat. In my view, that's a function of two factors -- (1) who is vulnerable/can be defeated and (2) who deserves defeat based on their votes/actions.

I don't think motives play into the equation -- at least not principally -- because (a) I don't think motives can be reliably discerned and (b) a bad vote and bad behavior is exactly the same whether motivated by fear, belief, or craven self-interest. Do you feel better about the people who voted for the FISA bill due to political fear rather than belief?

My view is that they're all equally affected by one common threat -- the threat of being removed from office. They can all have their behavior changed using that threat, more or less equally, regardless of what motivates them in some underlying sense (for instance, even those devoted to the Surveillance State due to political conviction are afraid of losing their seat).