Senator Jack Reed Dispels GOP FISA Lies

[cal04]

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/02/17/late-edition-senator-jack-reed-dispels-gop-fisa-lies/


Democratic Senator and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jack Reed, appeared on Late Edition and did a great job of debunking the lies and spin being floated by President Bush and the GOP on FISA. As Juan Williams did earlier on Fox News Sunday, Reed makes it clear that allowing the flawed FISA legislation passed last August to lapse does not mean the U.S. can’t do surveillance on suspected terrorists.

Host Wolf Blitzer floated out the exact same argument William Kristol did on Fox, which is this notion that Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, is some sort of apolitical figure and somehow that makes him more believable. Reed shot that down, reminding Blitzer that the previous FISA laws are still in place and that U.S. intelligence can still go after suspects for several days before requesting a warrant.

[malaise]

1. I saw him live

He was excellent.

[TwilightGardener]

2. I think he would make a good VP pick for Obama, myself. Low-key, but smart.

And a military guy.

[malaise]

3. Against the war from day one as well n/t

[TwilightGardener]

4. He strikes me as an uber-competent, knowledgeable guy, and full of common sense--

not a showman, but a very low-risk, high-return choice for running mate.

[Inuca]

5. That's an interesting idea

I don't think that the traditional arguments for VP pick, such as help carry the state, are much relevant any longer. And maybe as a fringe benefit we can have Linc Chaffee back as an independent caucusing with the dems, I like people who dare to be different :-).

[TwilightGardener]

7. Hey, anywhere we can use a smart guy like Chafee, I'm all for it!

And yeah, I really hate the region/swing state/nationality rationale for VP pick--it rarely seems to work, in practice. Drives me up the wall.

[gaspee]

6. I am so proud of my two senators

Smallest state has two of the greatest Senators. Even Chafee was good for an R -- at least on the social issues and the war.

One of the things I really like about my state is that it's fairly easy to get to actually meet your senators/reps (except Patrick -the useless one - Kennedy.) They are not apart from "the people" like the rest of our Oligarchs seem to be.

Go Jack Reed!

I am so happy I moved back to RI 7 years ago. After living in CA (San Francisco) Texas and Florida, I'll never leave New England again. Maybe I'll head to Vermont or Maine, but New England is where I was born and it's where I plan on dying.

[stellanoir]

8. Sorry you can't leave RI especially if you've drunk from the fountain on Fountain Street.

Or so the legend goes, you'll at least always come back.

I've lived in Vermont, NH, and Mass.

I lovermont for sure but you'll never find a quirkier tiny state with such diversity, local characters & color, beauty, and easy access to the big apple and beantown.

Besides we were founded by an anarchist based on reaction to the Puritan Bay Colony for freedom of religion. :)

Do you know about the "Drinking Liberally" event on Wednesday at the Wild Colonial. I've never been but am thinking about it.

Yeah I like our Senators though Jack Reed really annoyed me in the summer of '04 when asked about the electronic voting machines.

He said, "I think we can trust the manufacturers to do the right thing." Sheesh. I wrote him a letter and got back a 5 (or so) page Congressional document on online voting.

Had nothing to do with what I wrote about. Yikes.

Sheldon is an ace though. They're both right about the FISA baloney.