anyone who has aided and abetted him in these illegal activities should be held accountable
the President is the perpetrator.
this President’s agenda of secrecy, deception, and blatant unlawfulness.”
+++
Dodd Stands Up for American Civil Liberties by Stopping Surveillance Bill
October 18, 2007
http://dodd.senate.gov/index.php?q=node/409
Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) announced today that he will stop the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reform legislation from being considered by the full Senate and from receiving a vote on the Senate floor. Dodd will place a hold on the bill, a tool available to Senators to stop legislation from moving forward.
By granting immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in the President’s terrorist surveillance program, even though such participation may have been illegal, the FISA reform bill sets a dangerous precedent by giving the President sweeping authorization to neglect the right to privacy that Americans are entitled to under the Constitution.
“The President has no right to secretly eavesdrop on the conversations and activities of law abiding American citizens and
anyone who has aided and abetted him in these illegal activities should be held accountable,” said Dodd.
“It is unconscionable that such a basic right has been violated, and that the President is the perpetrator.
I will do everything in my power to stop Congress from shielding this President’s agenda of secrecy, deception, and blatant unlawfulness.”
The Senate Intelligence Committee is considering the reform proposal in a markup session this afternoon. The legislation will then be referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee for its consideration before being reported to the Senate floor.
===October 19, 2007 4:26
Chris Dodd: The Netroots Show the Love
Senator Dodd's campaign communications director Hari Sevugan tells me that $150,000 in small contributions have poured into Dodd's campaign in the past 24 hours, since his announcement that he will put a hold on--and may even filibuster--a foreign intelligence surveillance bill approved yesterday by the Senate Intelligence Committee. Dodd objects to a provision that would grant immunity to the telecommunications companies that turned over their customers' phone and e-mail records to the government's warrantless surveillance program. The companies have been hit with 40 pending lawsuits charging them with privacy violation.
Dodd has raised more small-dollar contributions in the last 24 hours than he did in the previous month. Sevugan also says the number of visits to his website is up tenfold, as is the number of people registering their e-mail addresses there.
===Chris Dodd Leads Where Reid Fails
Taylor Marsh Fri Oct 19, 4:21 PM ET
by Taylor Marsh
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20071019/cm_huffpost/069159
There's really no other way to say it. Senator Harry Reid's reported well aimed shiv into Senator Chris Dodd's shoulder blades is illustrative of so many things and for me it foreshadows the beginning of a new battle. Dodd's hold on the telecom amnesty bill is a direct shot at Mr. Bush. It bothers Reid's delicate sensibilities that abhors a confrontation. No doubt Reid's minions will send out talking points to his people taking the wait and see approach, while taking no actions to say what needs to be said; that Harry Reid will respect Dodd's hold. If Reid caves and brings the bill up anyway, as is his tradition so as not to put the genial atmosphere of the Senate into confrontation mode, ignoring that Republcians do that all of the time keeping Reid on his heels regularly, Dodd has promised to filibuster.
Via Jane at Firedoglake:
Are you willing to go to the mat to restore the Constitution? Just last night, we heard there are plans to disregard Senator Dodd's intention to place a hold on a FISA bill that includes amnesty for telecommunications companies.
That would be a pretty extraordinary move, but Chris Dodd has pledged to stop this horrible bill any way he can.
So if the hold is not honored, he is prepared to go to the Senate floor and filibuster.
Rolling back the Bush Administration assault on the rule of law has been a major focus of Chris Dodd's work in the Senate -- and it's also a centerpiece in his campaign for President.
Dodd Goes to the Mat: Says He Will Filibuster FISA
Reid's tenure as majority leader has been nothing but an exercise in timidity, which is about a lot more than not having the votes to pass legislation. It's not about having a slim majority. It's about the leader of the Senate having the passion to wage public campaigns on issues that matter to us so that in lieu of passing legislation that stops Bush at least the public knows we've got a fighter in charge and that Democrats have the passion and sense of purpose to wage battles, even when they don't have a full majority to pass what the people want.
Glenn Greenwald got the typical response:
I emailed Reid's office to ask if they actually intended to override and ignore Dodd's "hold" and this is the patronizing (though crystal clear) dismissal I received back as a "response" from Reid's spokesman, Jim Manley: Reid will work with Dodd and other Senators to correct the deep flaws in the Protect America Act.
Clearly, Reid has nothing but contempt for Dodd's principled stand, which was generated by (and in response to) the actions of tens of thousands of Americans concerned about our constitutional liberties and the rule of law. Reid is dismissively brushing that all to the side -- as usual -- to ensure the safe and smooth passage of a Draconian bill jointly demanded by the Bush administration, the telecom industry, and their lobbyists.
Russ Feingold gets it:
As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee, I have been working and will continue to work every step of the way to try to fix the badly flawed FISA bill. I was pleased that in the Intelligence Committee markup yesterday Senator Wyden and I were able to make some improvements to the bill, including requiring FISA court orders for wiretapping U.S. citizens overseas and more meaningful oversight by Congress and the Inspector General of the new authorities. But we still have a long way to go before this bill adequately protects the privacy of law-abiding Americans. The bill still cedes far too much power to the executive branch, which has time and again shown it will only abuse it. And I am deeply disappointed that it included retroactive immunity for anyone alleged to have cooperated with the Administration's illegal warrantless wiretapping program. I hope the bill will be further improved in the Judiciary Committee before it reaches the full Senate. If the bill that ultimately reaches the Senate floor includes immunity and does not adequately protect the privacy of Americans, I will fight it vigorously with every tool at my disposal.
Reid must honor and support Dodd's hold on FISA.
But it's not just about this one action from Reid. Democrats have got to quit supporting Democrats who haven't got the spine or the temperament for a fight. We need Democrats who understand that even when you don't have the votes to get the job done, making a public case with passion and purpose is just as important.
===
[A Washington Post article saying Dodd is "blocking a bill that doesn't exist yet" is receiving scathing remarks for the Post's clear disregard for the right to privacy and the Post's inability to oppose the administration's blatant, illegal attempts to willfully abuse power.
Below are some of the viewer comments. All the comments are at the end of the article:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/10/18/post_137.html?hpid=news-col-blog
===
A few of the comments on the Post's article:
The fact that you obviously think it was a pointless move just goes to show how out of touch you are with the mood of the country. People want someone to stand up and do what's right, not what's politically expedient. Dodd did that today.
Gee Ms. Murray, it seems you have a negative opinion regarding Senator Dodd's decision. Where's your objectivity? I did not read any where in your article the position that the proposed FISA law would effectively trash the 4th amendment of the Constitution. I hope you will take some time to read the 4th amendment and the next time you write an article you will consider writing about the need to balance our security needs of our country with the need to protect our civil liberties. Without civil liberties and without our Constitution our country has no meaning.
Ms. Murray, your scorn for the Senator is easy to see. You don't get it, do you? You think these people who talk about "constitutional rights" and "rule of law" are simpletons, and Dodd is desperately pandering to these fools in the vain hope that somehow it will get him some traction on the road to the White House.
You may not believe it, Sheilagh, but
a) there are other reasons to do things besides the search for fame and fortune and power
b) the Consitution is worth defending
It might be easier for Dodd to "avoid[] the furious glares of colleagues who don't share the same concerns" (such as the rule of law and the Constitution) when Dodd remembers the thousands of people who've sent him mail and who have made contributions to his campaign in gratitude for his courage.
Whatever motivated Dodd, and I don't doubt his commitment to the Constitution, the hold was the best news I heard all day.
The liberal media is SO much a myth.
anyone looking for more information about why it's important to have government and corporations obey the laws should look at the reviews of Senator Dodd's new book, "Letters from Nuremberg: My father's narrative of a quest for justice."
Hmmm...
Someone standing up for the rule of law and the Constitution is subject to scorn by a major media outlet.
Color me surspised.....
Posted by: PhD9 | October 19, 2007 10:28 AM
I'm posting this now and grabbing an image of this entire page. I'm afraid that someone might say something uncivil and the thread will be disappeared with lots of "those terrible bloggers!"
It's 4:05 PDT here on the West Coast.
When people come back in time and see who was making snarky comments in the Media the day that Sen. Dodd stood up for the rule of law and the Constitution, we will all know what role --Shailagh Murray-- of the "liberal media" made.
And if people in the media at the Washington Post start crying about getting "beat up by the bloggers on the left" these comments should be compared to the kind of comments they get from the Right when they beat up the journalists. (When the bloggers on the right want to get you they come to your house and investigate your family life as well as make mean comments, so please, no pearl clutching over non-equal actions.)
We really want you to do your job, Ms. Murray in a way that focuses on the truth and not high-school "Maureen Dowd" analysis of what will happen to Dodd when he goes on the Senate floor.
Please, do a better job in the future.
Look. I don't expect you to value the constitution. You're only the "political" reporter. And I don't expect you to understand why anyone might object to Congress granting immunity to huge corporations for flat-out breaking the law without so much as requiring any of them to describe which crimes they have committed. We do that for criminals ALL the time, right?
But, as political reporter, I would expect you to note that there is a huge constitutency within the Democratic party looking for a candidate with courage, and if Dodd in fact can demonstrate himself to be that person, it'll do him a whole lot more good than another week on the hustings.
Actually, I think you've done everyone a favor. Your swipe is so blatant, so screamingly obvious to persuade anyone paying the slightest attention you are a third rate hack and first rate propagandist for the worst administration ever.
Well done Ms. Murray.
Some people do care when media carriers betray their trust to customers, violating their right to privacy. Dodd stood up for their right to privacy and he's been standing firm against the United States as perpetrators of torture. Some of us want to get back to what we thought our country stood for - in as big a hurry as we can.
The Congress, simply put, should not grant immunity from our judicial system to the telecoms. I am thrilled that Senator Dodd is standing up for our Constitution and the rule of law. Specifically, the Framers inserted the 4th Amendment, which is supposed to protect us from unreasonable and unlawful searches and seizures.
Ms. Murray should realize that our Constitution, to which all governmental officials take an oath to preserve, protect and defend, is a non-negotiable issue. Her juvenile unprofessional attacks on Senator Dodd are wrong and she should apologize forthwith.
"Civil libertarians" is not the right word for people who have read the Constitution and want us to follow it.
Oh look, a senator is trying to defend
the "Constitution".
Have you got a SINGLE comment applauding
this "Heathers" post?
Labels:
--
Subscribe to emails from :
- Better World News: http://at7l.us/mailman/listinfo/bwn_at7l.us
- Learning News - children learning, how mind works: http://at7l.us/mailman/listinfo/learn_at7l.us
- Health
- Good Morning World - Robert & Barbara Muller's daily idea-dream for a better world: http://www.goodmorningworld.org/emaillist/#subscribe
or send a request a subscription to any of the three lists here.
View these blogs:
- Better World News
- Learning News
- Health News
- Good Morning World
No comments:
Post a Comment