I have noticed something a lot here lately. Those of us who have posted about this FISA bill have been subjected to much criticism. I have been told by a lot of people that they "used to respect my writing." Past tense. Pretty clear.
Greenwald's write-up of the court ruling yesterday puts our Congress in the worst possible light for credibility. I did not do it. They did it with their claims on why they had to put this bill forward. We are remiss if we do not question.
I believe most of this sudden
pulling to the far right on issues is being done by the usual Beltway strategists.
The decisions are still being made by the
policy shop for the nominee as Harold Ford said earlier.
I am glad to see Glenn's post on this. It is long and powerful.
Ruling reveals that the Democratic leadership's primary defense of their new FISA bill is a ruse Thus, we have extremely strong indications from multiple courts that the President deliberately broke the law for years -- a law that provides that violations of its provisions are felonies punishable with 5 years in prison for each offense. And yet our political establishment, with Democrats at the helm, are about to ensure that there are never any consequences for that lawbreaking and no accountability whatsoever in a court of law.
A typical line in Barack Obama's stump speech throughout the primary season was that "the era of Scooter Libby justice . . . will finally be over." But this new FISA bill -- and the immunity it bequeaths -- is the very essence of "Lewis Libby justice": ensuring that our highest political officials and other well-connected elites can break our laws with total impunity. Courts keep ruling that the President and his allies have no excuses for having broken our laws, while our political establishment acts to ensure that they are protected from the consequences.
..."This history of the telecoms -- faring no better in court than President has -- gives the lie to Fred Hiatt's deeply (and typically) dishonest Washington Post Editorial today -- by way of praising Obama's FISA stance -- that telecom immunity is a good idea because "The likelihood of prevailing -- or even getting very far -- with such lawsuits is low." The exact opposite is true: it's precisely because the telecoms know they are in severe danger of losing in court -- because they broke multiple laws -- that they and the White House are so desperate for amnesty.
The excuses offered by our political establishment for this rampant lawbreaking have been systematically rejected by the institution the Founders intended to adjudicate these legal issues -- our courts -- and it's for exactly that reason that our establishment is now conspiring to take away from the courts the responsibility they were assigned to hold lawbreakers accountable.
Talking Points Memo has a long history put together of Barack Obama's statements on FISA.
Please read it. Then think before you disparage those who are alarmed at the turnabout.
A Time-line Of Obama's Statements On FISANote the difference between the January statement and the June statement.
I have an Obama sticker on my car, our last donation was the other day for $100. I can post the receipt to establish my bona fides if necessary.
But in the end we are all accountable for our actions.
DU Donor
