Senate and Bush Agree On Terms of Spying Bill

[williesgirl]

Source: Washington Post

Senate Democrats and Republicans reached agreement with the Bush administration yesterday on the terms of new legislation to control the federal government's domestic surveillance program, which includes a highly controversial grant of legal immunity to telecommunications companies that have assisted the program, according to congressional sources.

Disclosure of the deal followed a decision by House Democratic leaders to pull a competing version of the measure from the floor because they lacked the votes to prevail over Republican opponents and GOP parliamentary maneuvers.

The collapse marked the first time since Democrats took control of the chamber that a major bill was withdrawn from consideration before a scheduled vote. It was a victory for President Bush, whose aides lobbied heavily against the Democrats' bill, and an embarrassment for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who had pushed for the measure's passage.

snip

Such a demonstration, which the bill says could be made in secret, would wipe out a series of pending lawsuits alleging violations of privacy rights by telecommunications companies that provided telephone records, summaries of e-mail traffic and other information to the government after Sept. 11, 2001, without receiving court warrants. Bush had repeatedly threatened to veto any legislation that lacked this provision

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702438.html?hpid=topnews

---

This is the final straw. Pelosi and Reid MUST GO. I will vote against ALL INCUMBENTS, regardless of party, next November. We need a new third party to get our Constitution restored since the Dems have no more respect for it than the Repukes.

[lligrd]

1. So They Agreed We Will Be Screwed

What did he offer Congress, immunity from what they have already uncovered about them?

[lligrd]

2. And, I Don't Care What They Agree On

It is against the Constitution and thereby illegal. Anyone who votes for this should be held accountable.

[bullimiami]

3. every day i find another dissapointment in the democrats.

they need no bill. all they have to do is wait it out and the previous bill will sunset leaving the original fisa legislation in force.

what is wrong with democrats in washington?

[nosmokes]

4. There's Democrats in Washington? Coulda fooled me...n/t

[Lasher]

5. I just don't understand this.

And it's not just this one thing, it's a trend. For example, remember the remaining parts of the Senate Intelligence Committee's Phase II report? You know, the parts that Republicans were blocking, and we were going to release as soon as we got control of the Senate? Well guess what, you're not ever going to see the rest of Phase II.

[Occulus]

42. I'm pretty certain at this point they've been compromised somehow.

And not with money, that's far too mundane a reason. I think they're being blackmailed into going along to get along- resisting just enough to appear to unthinking people they're resisting. Threats to their families, maybe?

I'm wondering if the Dems have, collectively, taken the anthrax attacks for what they "were": a message and a warning.

There has to be a deeper reason for this; too many of them are behaving in exactly the same ways. Color me deeply suspicious that our representatives in Congress are "free" to act.

Even thinking this could be possible frankly scares the shit out of me.

[robinlynne]

34. the problem with the sunset is that it continues for 12 more months for every phone number

they are able to tap within the first 6 months, which would be everyone if they want. It won't end until january 2010. It is 6 months with an additional 12 months added in.
They were insane to pass this crap in August. insane!

[bullimiami]

69. none of us are accusing the dems in congress of having good sense.

[WilliamPitt]

6. PLEASE READ THIS

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2075261&mesg_id=2075261

[williesgirl]

7. I disagree w/you on this. Letting the telecoms off the hook means we'll never get what they know

from them. We have no leverage to offer deals to keep them out of the jail. They broke the law, ignored our Constitution and the Dems think that's okay? They shouldn't be allowed to play politics with our basic laws.

I do agree the article is biased against the Dems, but if they had acted like true Democrats, the Post wouldn't have had the material to make them look the fools they obviously are.

[WilliamPitt]

8. "...and the Dems think that's okay?"

I'm pretty sure they don't, but they had to make a shitty decision: accept that immunity or lose the whole package. The whole package is more important than the immunity.

...and nothing in there says the Dems can't go after the TelComs next January, hopefully with a larger majority in congress to do the work.

[rateyes]

19. This is not true:

"accept that immunity or lose the whole package." The fact is, the law over which they are fighting expires in a few months. NO LAW is better than this one. They could have played hardball for MONTHS on this, and won the whole shooting match.

Here's an inconvenient truth: The Democratic Leadership wants immunity for the telecoms. And, that includes Nancy Pelosi. It's very easy to "be against" something you are really "for" when you know that your public vote will not prevail in the first place.

[VP505]

23. I don't believe that

we have "accept that immunity or lose the whole package", its time to stop making excuses for poor leadership and accept that Pelosi and Reid are useless as leaders. A President that consistently polls below 30% shouldn't be allowed to bully anyone much less the Majority of Americans that think he is wrong with his illegal spying on them. The notion that they can or will change things at a later date is just that a notion (a vague idea) as Pelosi and Reid have NO record of being willing or able to do that.

[Auntie Bush]

70. You and others complaining about Pelosi and Reid are falling directly

into Bush's trap. He even said the other day in his news conference that by obstructing Congress/Pelosi et al he is PROVING he is not irrelevant by shutting down the Dem's progress is congress. The bastard isn't being patriotic...he's proving he's still relevant. He doesn't care about poor children's health insurance or wasting lives in Iraq. He just wants he and his oil buddies to get rich, his legacy and proving he's not a God damn lame duck.

When people complain that Pelosi isn't doing enough...they are proving bush* IS SUCCESSFUL AND IS STILL Relevant.

There is NO one in office that can do anything bush* doesn't want...BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THE VOTES! Why waste valuable time trying to do the IMPOSSIBLE? Stop complaining and criticizing our own. What about this fact don't you Pelosi haters get? Stop giving bush* the credit he doesn't deserve! Pass something that we can pass with Republican support and show bush* congress IS relevant and he isn't. The health care bill is a good start...and is embarrassing to Rethugs...now let's keep it up. So in other words...voting out incumbents will do nothing but fraction Dems and lose our seniority. What good will that do? Pelosi isn't God, you know.

Let's all have patiences and work like hell to get enough seats to stop that bastard in his insignificant tracts and get a veto/filibuster proof congress...not spend precious time and money getting rid of and bad mouthing those who are already there. Sorry I stepped on so many toes...but that's my own personal rant and theory.

[tom_paine]

33. Oh,Will, that is so touchingly naive.

Awwwwwwww...

You think Empress Hillary and massive Dem majorities (if that will even be permitted) will make any substantial moves to restore the Constitution and the Rule of Law?

I have my severe doubts, especially now that Nancy P. has confirmed what they think of the Filthy Little Nobodies they rule...that we are lowlife scum who deserve arrest for vagrancy for bothering Their Magnificences. I am guesing Hillary feels the same way too, but is waaaaay to savvy to mention it in public.

I recognize that is speculation, but it is based on seven years of deep observations, during which time my prognotications have shown to be at least 80% of the time correct.

In 2001 I said the deficit when Bushler left would be $10,000,000,000. Now it's quite clear that prophesy was wholly true. (we still had a surplus when I first said this...look it up)

In 2002 I predicted that after the invasion, torture would return to Iraq. I will admit I got one detail wrong, but it was from being too cautious in what I knew was coming (in truth, I was still blinded by my own prejudice of being former military) but I never guessed that torture would become established policy and shamelessly, openly performed by AMERICAN SOLDIERS. I guessed it would be Iraqis torturing each other under our direction, but again, I don't consider that "getting it wrong" when I actually got everything right but didn't go far enough in how evil I thought America and Americans could be under the mesemrizing rule of a Hitler, a Stalin, or a Bush.

There are so many more, and most of them predicted months and YEARS before they actually happened.

(these predictions and more, including the 20% I've gotten wrong, are achived on DU if you disbelieve me)

My point is: Empress Hillary might fix the ecomony a little and she will likely fix some environmental stuff (but not too much, can't offend her BIG contributors, CAN offend those Filthy Little Nobodies who deserve to be arrested for vagrancy), but I would place a lot of money on the fact that she will do nothing of significance to slow or stop Bushevism's Long March. At best, she will hold their place for them, and when Jeb or George P. Bush or whoever ascends the throne, they will start right back up, having preserved most or all of their gains in Crushing the American Experiment in Self-Governance.

My point also is: I see you have returned to making pathetic excuses for people who think you should be picked up and thrown in jail for vagrancy (although, as a journalist, you might seem a little bit like an actual human being to them, insetad of some vile bum who should be swept off the streets).

I'll say it again: Ignoring multiple serial felonies, high crimes and treason to game for electoral victory in 2008 is this height of absurdity. It is the height, the absolute hieght, of failing in one's duty to country, and selfish in the extreme (not you, the Democratic Leadership).

I'll say it again: Can you say that you believe the Republics would serially surrender if they were in the identical position as the Democrats, even if there were NO actual crime to prosecute?

Oh yeah that's right. We have our answer to that one. The Clinton Impeachment.

[acmavm]

11. Read it. You're wrong. There's NOTHING good about this. This is just

another loss for the people of this country. We have no elected democratic majority. We just sent some people to Washington and we pay them to support the bush** admininstration and the subversion of our country.

Glad you can sleep better at night. I don't. I worry about my kids and grandkids and all the rights that they will never experience in their lifetimes. The right to privacy, free speech, habeas corpus, the right to feel secure in their person and their property, and more.

While you're sleeping soundly, the rest of us are lying awake crying about what future generations are never going to experience.

[leftchick]

12. I agree 100%

I reached my tipping point about two years ago. The rest has been outrage overload like this. I am not voting for a single one of these fucking fascist enablers. they really do believe we are stupid.

[Lochloosa]

14. I did. And I agree

[endarkenment]

25. You were wrong then and you remain wrong now.

Please, once again, refer to the ACLU's excellent analysis of why the blanket warrant provisions of this bill are an abomination.

"While the RESTORE Act is better than the Protect America Act, the
RESTORE Act falls below a standard justifying Member support in several
key areas as discussed in detail below. First, the RESTORE Act legitimizes
mass warrants that are not directed at specific individuals in violation of the
Fourth Amendment to the constitution. Second, the RESTORE Act
explicitly permits the issuance of warrants without requiring the government
to describe with particularity the facility that is to be searched, in violation of
the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. Third, while the RESTORE Act
does provide some role for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
(“FISC”) to review surveillance by the National Security Agency (“NSA”),
the Act fails to provide sufficient legal standards for the FISC to judge the
appropriateness, suitability, legality and constitutionality of the procedures
the NSA will use to undertake that surveillance and how it will handle the
communications acquired. Fourth, the RESTORE Act fails to require
specific procedures to ensure that the privacy of innocent Americans’ emails
and phone calls is protected by not demanding the sequestration and/or
destruction of inadvertently acquired communications of U.S. persons.
Fifth, the RESTORE Act creates a potentially enormous loophole that could
be exploited to allow the government to gather virtually all communications– including those of U.S. citizens – without obtaining any warrant whatsoever.

http://www.aclu.org/images/nsaspying/asset_upload_file27_32204.pdf


And here:

The ACLU is also likely to oppose the Senate bill, which is reportedly worse on civil liberties issues. The Senate bill is likely to capitulate even more to Administration requests for broad new authority to spy on Americans.

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/32207prs20071017.html

You have grasped onto the flecks of straw in this turd and held them up as evidence of this not being a complete pile of shit.

[truebrit71]

68. Sorry Will but I have to disagree with you on this one mate...

...The SIMPLEST way to end the WHOLE shooting match was to have gone after the Telecoms for violating our right to privacy.

If the Telecoms were still liable they would have had to tell Smirk to go pound sand because they couldn't afford to lose the tons of lawsuits they would face, ergo, wire-tapping ends....

This is simply another cave by the Dems...

And there is NO way on God's green earth that HRC would go back and make them liable again...

I love it though, we may have broken a law, but through our lobbying we have been able to go back in time and retroactively unmake the law....

Brilliant....Part 1984, part Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy....

[ixion]

9. There is no opposition party in the US... it's one solid gang of thugs who

only pretend to be opposing. Apparently, both parties agree that we no longer have a Bill of Rights or Constitution. :grr:

[tom_paine]

36. Sadly, because I didn't want to believe it, the evidence is mounting

that this is true TRUE TRUE (maybe a few exceptions...Kucinich, Feingold, a few others perhaps)

[lovuian]

64. this is the NWO folks we are watching it for ourselves

our government is failing the constitution
and our Bill of rights are being destroyed as we speak

These leaders are not leaders they are following the NWO and this is the destruction of America as we know it

The good news is America's anger is getting stronger and stronger and when the recession via the depression comes with WWIII

The Anger will get overwhelming

I wish I could be more positive
but I do believe they will FAIL
I believe the people will rise up when their anger motivates them too

Its coming its what revolutions are all about

[SlingBlade]

10. Or in plan english

The Democratic leadership caved into Bush yet again.
At what point exactly do we cease worrying about the freeptards have all but handed us the last
two elections which we have managed to screw up , And now this one which only a blind jack ass could lose which is still on the ropes..
And a what point to we really get down to business and clean our own house of these Liberman liberals
and replace them with somebody like us, A normal run of the mill DUer has more spine than the entire democratic Congress,
What the hell does Bush have on these guys and gals ?

[zeemike]

13. It is the classic game of good cop bad cop

And we are being played with it.
All of it is just a show but in the end bush gets what he wants.

[woodsprite]

15. Does that mean that they can go after the telecom companies

for everything they did BEFORE Sept. 11th? Since the article said:

"...would wipe out a series of pending lawsuits alleging violations of privacy rights by telecommunications companies that provided telephone records, summaries of e-mail traffic and other information to the government after Sept. 11, 2001, without receiving court warrants."

[williesgirl]

17. Hope they don't realize this little detail, but I'm sure they'll take care of their buddies once

it's noticed. They make me sick.

[Danger Mouse]

16. Wonderful. Yet more capitulation.

:cry:

[harpboy_ak]

18. Bleeping spineless leadersheep

WHERE ARE THE REAL DEMOCRATS? We need another Wellstone NOW!!!

How long are they going to let this unconstitutional petty dictator bully them?

It's time for a New Party. TIME TO THROW ALL OF THEM OUT!!!

[tom_paine]

37. If another Wellstone showed up now, the Bushies would likely murder him before

he grew in prominence. Aftter all, they tipped their hand to at least one-hundred thousand people (still a small minority) as to what they were and what they were capable of when the (most likely) assassinated Paul Wellstone. Pat Tillman, too, for that matter, murdered by three tight shots to the head, his journal and armor burned.

Oh no, the Bushies have gone too far now to allow another Wellstone, who they would have to murder and risk exposing themselves (dangerous, even though the Imperial Subjects of Amerika are weak, apathetic, and slavish in nature).

The "New Wellstone" would be character assassinated or perhaps literally assassinated long before you would ever hear of him.

[Zodiak]

20. Another day, another capitulation

The Democrats are using my privacy rights as a bargaining chip, and they sold that chip for 30 pieces of silver.

Well, more like 2 pieces of silver.

And no, I'm not voting for any of these Democrats that sell us out on a regular basis. I am no enabler of corporatists and authoritarians.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

21. Here you go - check out what PAC's give to any member

CUNA Political Affairs

http://capwiz.com/cuna/dbq/officials/?affiliate_lookup=1

[MLFerrell]

22. NEWSFLASH: DEMS CAVE TO BUSH YET AGAIN!!!

In other news, the sun rose in the East this morning.

:banghead:

[VP505]

24. They cave just

as regular as the sun rising in the East.

[rodeodance]

27. actually, this comes under 'there are no good options' choose amongst the leftovers/bad options.

[rodeodance]

28. I do not trust Jay Rockerfeller---he has done NOTHING about PhaseII and now he

is in charge of this bill.

The draft Senate bill has the support of the intelligence committee's chairman, John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), and Bush's director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell. It will include full immunity for those companies that can demonstrate to a court that they acted pursuant to a legal directive in helping the government with surveillance in the United States.

[endarkenment]

29. There was a good option: do NOTHING.

That would have expired the current abomination and returned us to the legal situation prior to the coup of 2000: FISA warrants required for all of these wiretaps.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

26. I KNEW they'd cave on the immunity issue.

I'd have bet good money on it.

[rodeodance]

30. .....but with Republicans accusing Democrats of being weak on terrorism, a "no" vote proved too hard

.....GOP leaders offered a motion that would have sent it back to the House intelligence and Judiciary committees with a requirement that they add language specifying that nothing in the measure would apply to surveilling the communications of bin Laden, al-Qaeda or other foreign terrorist organizations.

Approval of the motion would have restarted the legislative process, effectively killing the measure by delay. Democratic leaders scrambled to persuade their members to oppose it, but with Republicans accusing Democrats of being weak on terrorism, a "no" vote proved too hard to sell, and so the bill was pulled from the floor.

[rodeodance]

31. ......t ended up in a train wreck," she said. "It was total meltdown."

......Stacey Bernards, a spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), called the Republican maneuver "a cheap shot, totally political."

Caroline Fredrickson, director of the Washington legislative office of the American Civil Liberties Union, called it a "perfect storm" of progressive Democrats who did not think the bill protected basic constitutional rights and of Republicans who took advantage of the lack of unity. "It was too precipitous a process, and it ended up in a train wreck," she said. "It was total meltdown."

[endarkenment]

35. So is there any question about the LEADERSHIP problem?

We do not have our act together.

[robinlynne]

32. NO!

[williesgirl]

38. We need a massive calling/email campaign to EVERY Dem Senator that this cannot happen

and that we are prepared to withhold every campaign donation from them or their groups and vote against them if necessary. I sent emails to every Dem Tuesday, but they were too polite as it turns out.

[damntexdem]

39. If Dubya agreed to it, I'm against it.

And if passed, he wouldn't obey its limits, anyway.

And, yes, congressional Dems certainly seem useless.

[lateo]

40. The Democrats are....

Lucy and the voters are Charlie Brown. Lucy was holding the ball and we were believing Charlie was finally going to get to kick it. This shit happens every time folks...wake up.

[KansDem]

41. What are in those emails? Those phone calls?

Goddamn!, there must be some real juicy messages the powers-that-be don't want us to know about!

[DeepModem Mom]

43. Senate Deal on Immunity for Phone Companies

Source: New York Times

By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: October 18, 2007

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 — Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday with the Bush administration that would give telephone carriers legal immunity for any role they played in the National Security Agency’s domestic eavesdropping program approved by President Bush after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a Congressional official said Wednesday.

Senators this week began reviewing classified documents related to the participation of the telephone carriers in the security agency program and came away from that early review convinced that the companies had “acted in good faith” in cooperating with what they believed was a legal and presidentially authorized program and that they should not be punished through civil litigation for their roles, the official said.

As part of legislation on the security agency’s wiretapping authorities, the White House has been pushing hard for weeks to get immunity for the telecommunications companies in discussions with Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Senator Christopher S. Bond of Missouri, the ranking Republican. A tentative deal was first reported by The Washington Post.

The Intelligence Committee will begin reviewing the legislation at a closed session on Thursday.

The agreement between the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Bush administration would also include a greater role for the secret intelligence court in overseeing and approving methods of wiretapping used by the security agency, the official said. But it is not clear whether this and other toughened civil liberties safeguards included in the agreement will go far enough to mollify senators on the Senator Judiciary Committee, who will also review the plan once the intelligence panel finishes its work....

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/washington/18nsa.html?ref=todayspaper

[I Have A Dream]

44. ...

:banghead:

:cry:

[jordi_fanclub]

45. ASININE politicus! n/t

[morgan2]

46. how can a congressional law

grant immunity from the constitution?

[LakeSamish706]

47. This gets so repetative with these spineless leaders..... Need to throw...

the entire group out and re-elect some that are going to do the job they were elected for.

[Trillo]

48. As I'm reading through the news item,

I keep losing focus. Is it a song & dance show? A bunch of puppets getting their strings pulled?

[rich1107]

49. Timing

If it only covers them from 9/11/2001 onward then they are exposed for whatever they turned over from 2/01 until 9/10/2001. Not ideal, but something is better than nothing.

[tekisui]

50. I had the same idea.

We know that they were illegally spying pre-9/11. And, it doesn't grant immunity to those who gave the orders.

[robinlynne]

53. yes it does. It says the companies were responding to legal orders. so it gives

immunity to the government. besides it quashes all the lawsuits about to come to trial. So, it quashes discovery and all the information which is about to be revealed.

[tekisui]

67. Well, son-of-a-bitch.

It seems like Our Dem Leaders just can't wait to cover chimpy's ass. I give up. Screw them all.

[BearSquirrel2]

51. Pardons ...

There is no such thing as a "good faith response" to 9/11 that started BEFORE 9/11. The fact that the Democrats are folding on this makes me believe that Nader was right after all. What's the point in voting for a Democratic Party that is going to sweep all this malfeasance under the rug on the eve of the 2008 presidential election.

I can only believe:

a) The Democratic leadership is stupid!
-or-
b) They are in cahoots with the Republicans.


Prosecution of phone company executives for pre 9/11 illegal wiretapping would be a great way to take down the Bush administration and put these crooks in jail. They were NOT acting in the interest of national security, they were SPYING on their political enemies. How can Democrats conceivably endorse a law that is both contrary to the Constitution and simultaneously allows Republican operatives working in the government to tap their communications.

When I found out that the Bush administration was doing wiretapping before 9/11 that was the final pin in the coffin. They knew about it, they let it happen because they are facists. Their goal for this county is ultimately a draconian regime with the illusion of Democracy.

[robinlynne]

52. so is it Leahy we need to bombard with phone calls?

We need to stand up, so our dems will get the hell out of their chairs. only a major cry from the population is going to do it.

[anachro1]

54. Telecom immunity

*Sigh*

Why do we even BOTHER thinking that someone with any gravitas will ever TRY to stop this evil motherfucker?

Years from now, people will no longer roll their eyes whenever someone likens Bush to Hitler. As Democrats, we virtually sanction all his crimes. We are all accomplices of this war criminal.

The ABSOLUTELY LAST THING I wanted to achieve by voting for Pelosi and Reid was for them to become snippy little handwringing do-nothings, and sure enough, that's what they have become.

Amerika - land of the Good Germans who would not stop an evil dictator.

[DeepModem Mom]

57. Sigh, indeed, anachro1. Thanks for your post, and welcome to DU.

[Occulus]

55. GOD damn son of a FUCKING BITCH!!

DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT!

ALL I can do today is cuss. There's simply nothing left to do!

[acmavm]

56. Can't piss off those campaign donors, can they???

Money trumps decency and integrity and honesty again.

[dmosh42]

58. Is there any doubt about corporate influence over our gov't?

Congress can't wait to bend over for them!

[everydayis911]

59. We've seen it once

We'll see it again. Those spineless worms are screwing us again. And what are we going to do about???
NOTHING! What is it going to take to get people to see what is really going on with our government. Maybe if they throw these stories in between who killed Anna Nichole Smith and The Dr. Phil show we might get more people to see. I have a nephew who is 25 and I asked him if he knew anything about Blackwater? He just shook his head no. I mean were talking about the way people are going to live their lives here and they don't even know the danger were in. Is it just me???????

[scipan]

63. SEN DODD PUTS HOLD ON BILL

Exclusive: Senator Chris Dodd Will Put A Hold On Telecom Immunity Bill
By Greg Sargent - October 18, 2007, 1:55PM

Senator Chris Dodd plans to put a hold on the Senate FISA renewal bill because it reportedly grants retroactive immunity to telephone companies for any role they played in the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping program, Election Central has learned.

Dodd will send a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid this afternoon informing him of his decision. Dodd also plans to put up a page today at his campaign Web site where opponents of the immunity provision can register their opposition.

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/10/exclusive_senator_chris_dodd_will_put_a_hold_on_telecom_immunity_bill.php

http://action.chrisdodd.com/signUp.jsp?key=1570

[feminazi]

65. Yeah, Chris!!

He's looking better and better.

[Zorra]

60. We really need to elect Dennis Kucinich President. End of story.

He wouldn't put up with any of this bullshit.

And he'll undo everything that the Bu*h administration has done.

[Trillo]

61. Is it time to make like the Amish?

Swear off all forms of technology? Tell the boss that having any phone allows your privacy to be compromised, and that since privacy is priceless, s/he's a fascist for demanding an employee have one.

Something for me to think about. It is nice to be able to talk to a distant, elderly relative who won't be around much longer, but that physical distance really is just another aspect of a sick modern society.

[0rganism]

62. is there a possible silver lining in 5th-amendment protection overrides?

I'm looking for an angle here, any angle, from which this doesn't suck.

Maybe this expedites the investigative process, in case the telcos are called in to testify before congressional committees? Meh, probably not. Just another stupid/evil day in DC where the Dems decided that it was waaaay too hard to stand up for the constitution they've sworn to uphold.

[Massachusetts]

66. Tiny Tim's premonition about Bu$hco and the Complicit Dems.

Tiptoe through the window
By the window, that is where I'll be
Come tiptoe through the tulips with me

Oh, tiptoe from the garden
By the garden of the willow tree
And tiptoe through the tulips with me

Knee deep in flowers we'll stray
We'll keep the showers away
And if I kiss you in the garden, in the moonlight
Will you pardon me?
And tiptoe through the tulips with me