Yellowdogtexan
02-15-2008, 06:16 PM
I am really proud of Speaker Pelosi and the House Democrats for standing up to bush and his goons even though they played their patented fear card and yelled about terra and terrarist. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/14/AR2008021403940.html?hpid=moreheadlinesThe House of Representatives defied the White House yesterday by refusing to make an expiring surveillance law permanent, prompting a harsh exchange between Republicans and Democrats as they prepared for an extended, election-year battle over national security.
The episode was a rare uprising by Democrats against the White House on a terrorism issue, and it inspired caterwauling on both sides about the dire ramifications of the standoff. The house republicans responded to this by being assholes and disrupting the memorial service for Tom Lantos and by staging an impotent walkout from House chambers while a contempt citation was approved against two bushies.
Evidently the refusal of the House leaders to back down really pissed off the bushies. White House officials and their allies were angry that the Democrats did not "blink," as one outside adviser said. The decision to defy the White House came in the form of a weeklong adjournment of the House yesterday afternoon. /QUOTE]Today the bushies have admitted that the extension of the FISA act was not needed and the real issue was immunity for the telecoms. http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/02/15/poe/index.html[QUOTE]In a surprisingly decent interview with Mike McConnell on NPR, the interviewer provoked McConnell into giving the lie to the President's shrill fear-mongering (h/t Julian Sanchez, via email):
BUSH: Failure to act would harm our ability to monitor new terrorist activities, and could re-open dangerous gaps in our intelligence.
NPR: Mr. McConnell, the Bush administration says that if the Protect America Act isn't made permanent, it will tie your hands, intelligence hands, especially when it comes to new threats. But isn't it true that any surveillance underway does not expire, even if this law isn't renewed by tomorrow?
MCCONNELL: Well, Renee it's a very complex issue. It's true that some of the authorities would carry over to the period they were established for one year. That would put us into the August, September time-frame. However, that's not the real issue. The issue is liability protection for the private sector.
The very idea that expiration of the PAA would leave us with "intelligence gaps" is absurd on its face, since we simply revert to the more-than-adequate FISA framework. But even if it were true, those gaps could easily be closed if the administration simply accepted a bill without telecom amnesty.
The issue is not "intelligence gaps." Rather, as McConnell candidly admits, the "real issue" is "liability protection for the private sector." To take them at their word, George Bush and Mike McConnell are putting the nation at risk in order to ensure that AT&T and Verizon do not have to be held accountable in a court of law for having broken the law. Think about how twisted and corrupt that calculus is. I am so glad that the Democrats stood up the bushies and did not give into the fear mongering and use of the terra card.
The episode was a rare uprising by Democrats against the White House on a terrorism issue, and it inspired caterwauling on both sides about the dire ramifications of the standoff. The house republicans responded to this by being assholes and disrupting the memorial service for Tom Lantos and by staging an impotent walkout from House chambers while a contempt citation was approved against two bushies.
Evidently the refusal of the House leaders to back down really pissed off the bushies. White House officials and their allies were angry that the Democrats did not "blink," as one outside adviser said. The decision to defy the White House came in the form of a weeklong adjournment of the House yesterday afternoon. /QUOTE]Today the bushies have admitted that the extension of the FISA act was not needed and the real issue was immunity for the telecoms. http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/02/15/poe/index.html[QUOTE]In a surprisingly decent interview with Mike McConnell on NPR, the interviewer provoked McConnell into giving the lie to the President's shrill fear-mongering (h/t Julian Sanchez, via email):
BUSH: Failure to act would harm our ability to monitor new terrorist activities, and could re-open dangerous gaps in our intelligence.
NPR: Mr. McConnell, the Bush administration says that if the Protect America Act isn't made permanent, it will tie your hands, intelligence hands, especially when it comes to new threats. But isn't it true that any surveillance underway does not expire, even if this law isn't renewed by tomorrow?
MCCONNELL: Well, Renee it's a very complex issue. It's true that some of the authorities would carry over to the period they were established for one year. That would put us into the August, September time-frame. However, that's not the real issue. The issue is liability protection for the private sector.
The very idea that expiration of the PAA would leave us with "intelligence gaps" is absurd on its face, since we simply revert to the more-than-adequate FISA framework. But even if it were true, those gaps could easily be closed if the administration simply accepted a bill without telecom amnesty.
The issue is not "intelligence gaps." Rather, as McConnell candidly admits, the "real issue" is "liability protection for the private sector." To take them at their word, George Bush and Mike McConnell are putting the nation at risk in order to ensure that AT&T and Verizon do not have to be held accountable in a court of law for having broken the law. Think about how twisted and corrupt that calculus is. I am so glad that the Democrats stood up the bushies and did not give into the fear mongering and use of the terra card.