Don't panic. Congress just passed a bill that "concedes unprecedented authority" to the AG

[ProSense]

Statement from Senate Intelligence committee chairman Jay Rockefeller:

We all agreed Congress needed to take immediate action in order to help keep the country safe, and the Senate did that tonight.

My opposition to the final bill was based on the fact that it did not include the privacy protections and safeguards American citizens deserve and expect.

We had the opportunity to pass a more careful bill that would have given the DNI the authority he requested, while also protecting the rights of U.S. citizens.

Instead, this bill undermines the FISA Court and concedes unprecedented authority to the Attorney General.

It does contain the six-month sunset that we insisted upon, and that gives us an immediate opportunity and responsibility to come back and strike the right balance.

Posted here

[Bluebear]

1. And this AG is impeccable. I trust him completely.

...

[Rex]

3. Trust who? The guy that can't recall anything?

Reagan? Shit, I can't recall now...trust me I'll try.

[Bluebear]

6. *Please* tell me the sarcasm thingy was implied in my post :)

:toast:

[Richard Steele]

16. No. I had absolutely no idea you were being sarcastic.

[Rex]

40. Well it is you, so I kinda know

:D The rest here might not be so bright. :P

[MiniMe]

2. But in 6 months, *co may have collected all the data on the dem candidates

that they need for November.

[bigtree]

5. from foreign communications from outside of the U.S.?

How?

[ProSense]

8. No from the domestic spying he's been doing,

and is free to continue doing with no protection for American privacy and Gonzales as the overseer. Except now it has been made legal, temporarily, by Congress.

[MiniMe]

12. Exactly ProSense

[OzarkDem]

22. Read the "Anonymous" posts

They use subcontractors who do the spying from foreign countries and circulate the information back to the Bush administration.

[guruoo]

32. They had the money to move it offshore after

the 2000 election.

[regnaD kciN]

11. It's more like the saying about how to cook a frog...

Put the frog in boiling water, and it'll hop out. Put it in cold water and raise the temperature a few degrees at a time, it'll stay there until cooked.*

Democrats (or at least 32% of them) vote for a temporary bill giving Bush everything he wants. You think they're going to back off on that in six months? The next time this thing comes up, congresscritters will already have been conditioned to give in on this issue, so permanent renewal will be virtually automatic. The best we can hope for is the White House not adding anything worse to the final bill -- although, if they did so, it would likely pass as well. :-(

*Actually, I understand this isn't really true about frogs, but the point remains the same.

[april]

27. 6 months my ass! Just wait until they vote on the bill for funding the war..

in Sept it will just be more of the same Bull S**t..I am so done

[BlooInBloo]

4. Worthless fucks.

[SusanaMontana41]

7. What the fuck did we vote for in November?

Appeasement for the dictatortot?

I am so sick of spineless Democrats. Aaaargh!

[Beelzebud]

29. We voted for the Democratic wing of the Corporate Fascists party apparently.

[Individualist]

34. We voted for change. Instead, we got a one party - republican - government.

[NuttyFluffers]

23. also known as 'bad lays'

or dissatisfying conjugal relations

:silly:

[BlooInBloo]

28. Valueless partners in coitus? lol!

[Deja Q]

9. I wonder what the Dem-ran congress knows.

If there is anything to know.

I don't know.

[OzarkDem]

19. Good question

Sometimes the simple answer is the right one - they were afraid of having to run on this vote in 2008. But the easy solution would have been to bottle it up in committee.

[Golden Raisin]

10. The "six-month sunset" means just about

as much as the fabled "re-assessment" of the "Surge" in September. We've been snookered & deceived again.

[salin]

13. the House and Senate need to keep coming up with different

bills that require a conference bill which needs a poison pill in it to prevent the full congress from voting for passage.

[ProSense]

14. Russian roulette legislating

Wouldn't it be great if they just didn't pass a bill allowing an activity people, in and out of Congress (even some Repubs), have been railing against as illegal?


Remember all the maneuvers and tactics they kept selling us before they killed habeas corpus?

[salin]

18. yes it would and the term you use seems apt

per russian roulette legislating.

Or if they passed the bill - it was one with safegaurds (judicial review) in it - and let the president veto it.

[radfringe]

15. and did you really expect anything different?

but heaven forbid that even the hint of impeachment should be brought up...

it's pretty obvious that many people just haven't had enough

[Robbien]

17. Tell me again why we are holding investigations?

This bill just legalized just about everything evil Cheney/Bush has been doing.

I expect the House will go along with this mess. It also has so many Blue Dogs who are willing to join with their GOPer buddies and give unlimited power to Cheney/Bush.

[WinkyDink]

20. We are NOT in need of "immediate action to help keep the country safe," and JR knows this.

[Solly Mack]

21. Lucky us. The Torture Czar gets more authority

Goodness, how safe Americans must feel now. How divinely wrapped in a cocoon of protection America must be now.

Take heart, America....you're not smothering to death....you're becoming something else

(won't be a butterfly though)

[Octafish]

24. ''Keep your powder dry.''

"Suckers."

[kiteinthewind]

36. That pic makes me want to vomit. nt

[Kip Humphrey]

25. Have you noticed? While citizen demands remain bottled up in Congress, the Global Fascist agenda

rolls ever forward:

Gonzales is untrustworthy and "possibly" criminal --> Give Gonzales control of domestic spying!

Meanwhile,

We're still in Iraq
We're still being spied on
Torture is still happening
Guantanamo and "secret renditions" are still operational
Jobs are still being outsourced oversees
Immigration is still lowering our standard of living
Our borders are still wide open
Cargo is still largely not inspected
Our voting systems are still in the hands of our overlords
Our elections are still wide open to being manipulated and stolen
Our education system is still failing
Our infrastructure is still collapsing
Our veterans are still being shorted
Universal healthcare is still a pipe dream
Tax breaks are still targeting billionaires
Major media is still corporately inspired and controlled
The North American Free Trade initiative is still barreling forward
The environment is still eroding toward irreversible crisis
China is still poisoning us
Propaganda still thrives
Oil is still king

The writing on the wall is still the writing on the wall.

[ProSense]

26. You should give this its own thread. n/t

[Cass]

31. I wish I could recommend a single post because you make an excellent point.

I concur with the poster above that you should post this as its own thread.

[Lifelong Protester]

37. So sadly I must agree

Your post has said it all. Well put, much to my great sadness.

[Cass]

30. Legislation that undermines the FISA court is unacceptable.

Why can't this Administration follow the damn laws? Their continual refusal to follow laws is ridiculous. Additionally, there are unresolved serious questions about this AG's credibility and truthfulness, so why would anyone in their right mind vote to give him "unprecedented authority"? The 6 month sunset provision doesn't give me much optimism either...its going to be extremely difficult to move the goalpost in 6 months and by then, damage will likely have been done.

I don't expect much from the Congressional republicans because they have proven time and time again that they value their party over the good of this nation, but the 16 dems who voted for this need to fully explain their votes.

[Hubert Flottz]

33. K&R...

You mean the same AG that couldn't remember where he shit last just a week ago when he sat lying and smirking in that senate hearing? The same AG that wanted to torture unarmed POWs? The one who has helped Bush cover up all his and Cheney's crimes? That Lying AG? Who would be stupid enough to trust that lying, arrogant, POS?

[femrap]

35. I am really starting to hate the Dems....

Start with Gonzo and IMPEACH....then move up to cheney and bush together.

We are the new USSR.

[Gloria]

38. Just starting now???

:sarcasm:

[femrap]

39. OK....I guess it started

back with Johnny Bob Taliban and I-lie-too.