Comments (23)

chisholm wrote on October 18, 2007 6:31 PM:

Wow, this is what resistance looks like. It's interesting to see how passive-voice Democrats react to it--I think they're actually shocked that someone (Dodd) did something. What an insane news day.

bob wrote on October 18, 2007 6:51 PM:

Now put a hold on Mukasey until he promises to end waterboarding and extraodinary rendition.

Diane wrote on October 18, 2007 7:10 PM:

We need to work, work, work on these Senators between now and then.

jawbone wrote on October 18, 2007 7:27 PM:

Does anyone have info on all the holds that have been honored by Reid--both D & R?

Thanks much.

Reid put that baby on the calendar with some rather startling alacrity--given that Leahy hasn't held his hearings yet, or scheduled them afaik.

Interesting--and sad.

shoephone wrote on October 18, 2007 7:53 PM:

What does the White House have on Reid and Feinstein and Rockefeller? Seriously. These people are traitors.

profmarcus wrote on October 18, 2007 8:07 PM:

so, off goes yet ANOTHER letter...
-----
Dear Senator Reid,

I couldn't have been more encouraged to learn that Senator Chris Dodd had placed a hold on the heinous compromise FISA bill crafted yesterday by the Senate, a bill that grants retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies for their work illegally assisting an already criminal government to spy on its citizens.

I am deeply troubled by the many attacks on our United States Constitution that have been the hallmark of the Bush dministration. There are many serious issues facing our country, but none of them, I am convinced, are as critical as the on-going constitutional crisis, a crisis so severe it threatens the very existence of our democratic republic.

I have been equally concerned that none of the 2008 presidential candidates, with the occasional exception of Senator Dodd, have had the wisdom or the courage to speak out forcefully about our dire straits as a nation. That Senator Dodd is drawing a line in the sand by putting a hold on the shameful Senate FISA bill is a small ray of light in a very dark landscape.

I expect, Senator Reid, that you will take a cue about your own leadership from Senator Dodd, and use every means at your disposal to halt the shredding of our constitution and the abrogation of every premise upon which our nation was built. It's time for you and every Senate Democrat to take your oath of office seriously and make the protection and preservation of the United States Constitution your first priority.

Sincerely,
-----
if i had a nickel for every petition i've signed, letter i've written and phone call i've made on behalf of the future of my country, i would be a rich man...

http://takeitpersonally.blogspot.com/

seamus wrote on October 18, 2007 8:50 PM:

The stench that is rising from the floor of the Senate is from feckless coward and authoritarian enabler Dianne Feinstein as she goes into the tank again. She is rolling over on the 4th Amendment this time, along with Jay Rockefeller, both willing to do anything to save AT&T from their own greed. The telcos knew they were breaking the law when they gave Bush the customer data he asked for in return for billions in contracts and a new monopoly. They never expected to get called on it, but that lawsuit in San Francisco is looking like it could lose, so plan B is Harry Reid, Jay Rockefeller and Dianne Feinstein, and they are performing as expected.

Diane wrote on October 18, 2007 8:51 PM:

The mainstream media is totally blacking out this issue from its coverage. What's up with that?

Leo Nidus wrote on October 18, 2007 8:54 PM:

Warrantless wiretaps? No way.

T H I S I S A M E R I C A ! !

della Rovere wrote on October 18, 2007 9:05 PM:

what a craven excuse for a leader! no wonder the Dems seem so wimpy. Gutless Harry is in charge.

enough wrote on October 18, 2007 9:29 PM:

To profmarcus:

Here is part of my last letter to Harry Reid:

"Senator Reid,

Just how many Americans need to beg you to stand up to Cheney and Bush and push back against any legislation or amendments or resolutions which give them more power and violate the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution? Would you like me to send you a copy of the Constitution?

Here is what the Fourth Amendment says:

'The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.'

That clearly indicates that a corporation has violated constitutional rights if it has aided the government in eavesdropping on citizens without a warrant. No immunity, no deals on immunity for the telecom industry. This is not subject to negotiation.

And no 'blanket' warrants--these do not 'describe the place to be searched' and do not show probable cause against any individual. What if your name is Reid and they decide to surveil all those named Reid in the U.S.? Bet it's already happened. How, exactly, do you know who has been surveilled?"

Today, somewhere between 24 and 32 percent of Americans approve of Bush's overall job performance. Something like 11 percent of Americans approve of the job congress is doing. Could it be because Reid and Rockefeller and Feinstein and Pelosi and Hoyer won't stand up on their hind legs and shout as loud as possible "this president is driving this country to ruin?" Pick one: violating constitutional rights, illegal activities to profit cronies, lies to congress under oath, violating international treaties, indebting this nation to the benefit of foreign countries.

I too have written and called many times. Are they deaf? Have they never read the constitution?

We don't need no stinking badges. We need many more people like Chris Dodd and Dennis Kucinich.

darcl;ay wrote on October 18, 2007 9:34 PM:

I am so disgusted with the democratic leaders I could spit. The contempt that I hold for these pathetic excuses for Senators knows no bounds.
I was shocked that even Keith Oberman did not mention this on his show tonight, makes you wonder if he is just another shill out there to feed the public more $%#* , or in this case NOT!

The Oracle wrote on October 18, 2007 9:41 PM:

--Not all Democrats on the Judiciary Committee appeared to share Leahy's concerns. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who sits on both the Judiciary and Intelligence panels, signaled she was likely to support the bipartisan approach.

"At this stage, it is a bipartisan bill," Feinstein said. "I'm absolutely convinced that the only way we can legislate on this is on a bipartisan basis. This bill so far is bipartisan - that's good news."--

It's disturbing to listen to a Democrat (Feinstein) repeat a Republican talking point so many times...bipartisan, bipartisan, bipartisan...when we all know the real reason the Bush administration (and the criminally complicit telecoms) are so desperate for retroactive immunity being given them for blindly obeying the Bush crime family over illegal, un-American spying programs is because any civil case argued in open court will reveal the criminal activities and impeachable offenses of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

Or one can view this retroactive immunity for the criminal acts of complicit telecoms as the Bush administration trying to use Congress to preemptively pardon some of their fellow culture of corruption Republicans, following Bush's giving Scooter Libby a free pass, and before Bush sets a presidential record for pardoning the most people as he leaves office.

I just pray to God and for the sake of our country that Harry Reid honors Preside...er, Senator Chris Dodd's hold, so that another criminal Bush scheme doesn't work.

enough wrote on October 18, 2007 10:04 PM:

And when they give in (again) to this demand, what will Bush want next? Immunity for murder in Iraq by contractor/cronies?

He just keeps moving the goal posts. Who can draw the line right now? That would be the Democratic leadership, but they refuse. I do not want to hear (again) "Touchdown, Bush."

And will someone in congress please address the horrific violence being driven by this government to drive world war? Oh, that's way too controversial.

Anonymous wrote on October 18, 2007 10:31 PM:

Well, someone has finally stood up to Hop-a-long Bush. Said that's enough and I won't tolerate any more. Unfortunately it is Putin.

midwesterner wrote on October 19, 2007 2:03 AM:

Reid isn't helping Dems with this action. His fund raising letter arrived in my mailbox today. Into the trash it went.

jthomas wrote on October 19, 2007 3:04 AM:

Has anyone been following this?

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101707A.shtml

Attorney-Gate Probe to Continue Without Domenici
By Jason Leopold and Matt Renner
t r u t h o u t | Report

Wednesday 17 October 2007

the White House's Office of Special Counsel (OSC), which has been conducting its own investigation into the firing of at least eight US attorneys last year, has been unable to obtain documents from the Justice Department (DOJ) to advance its probe into the matter, three people with knowledge of the issue said on Tuesday.

The OSC sent a request to the DOJ several months ago seeking a wide-range of documents, including email correspondence between DOJ and White House officials who had discussed which US attorneys should be selected for dismissal. The OSC set a deadline for turning over the documents. However, the deadline has since passed and the DOJ has not formally responded to the OSC's request, nor has the agency stated a reason it would not turn over documents. The OSC appears to have been particularly interested in obtaining documents from the DOJ surrounding the circumstances that led to Iglesias's ouster, said individuals knowledgeable about the inner workings of the OSC probe.

A spokesperson for the DOJ did not return telephone calls or reply to emails seeking comment.

The Senate Ethics Committee will likely not conduct a formal investigation into the conduct of New Mexico Republican Sen. Pete Domenici. The Ethics Committee had been investigating a telephone call the senator made to David Iglesias, the state's former US attorney, in which Domenici inquired a few weeks before last November's midterm election about the timing of an indictment against a popular Democratic official in the state who was the target of a corruption investigation, according to two people who work closely with the Senate Ethics Committee.

In interviews conducted last week by Truthout, these people said that Domenici's recent announcement that he would not seek reelection next year due to a medical condition was a deciding factor in keeping the probe from becoming a full-blown public investigation.

These individuals requested anonymity because Ethics Committee rules prohibit them from commenting publicly about the status of its investigations.

"It's unlikely the preliminary investigation of Senator Domenici will move to the next stage," said one person who works closely with the committee. "The reason? His mental state."

These individuals added that the Ethics Committee and its legal counsel had been in discussions with Domenici and his high-powered Washington, DC attorney, Lee Blalack, just a few days before Domenici announced he would not seek reelection, to quietly end the ethics probe into the senator's behavior. Blalack did not return calls for comment on Tuesday.

Over at the House and Senate, Erica Chabot, a spokeswoman for Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Truthout last week that the committee's investigation into the circumstances behind the US attorney firings is ongoing, despite the resignations of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and former White House political adviser Karl Rove.

The House Judiciary Committee voted to hold Rove and former White House counsel Harriet Miers in contempt for refusing to answer a subpoena and testify about their role in the attorney firings. The White House, asserting executive privilege, instructed Rove and Miers, as well as other officials, not to testify about the US attorney firings. The House Judiciary Committee is currently working to schedule the full Congress to vote on the contempt charges.

Chabot said that the committee's silence regarding the matter should not be interpreted as a sign a deal was struck or that the Gonzales's and Rove's resignations amounted to a quid pro quo.

"There was no deal made, Senator Leahy is not in the business of wheeling and dealing for resignations ... We would like to come to some kind of conclusion on this," Chabot said, adding, "The confirmation hearing for the new attorney general has become the focus for the Senate Judiciary Committee. The attorney firing investigation will come up in the confirmation hearings."

Iglesias told Truthout Wednesday that he has "faith" that "Congress will not let this matter rest until we know the true reasons behind the firings."

"If those reasons are improper then the appropriate consequences should follow," Iglesias said. "Resignations and retirements do not fix the underlying problem."

timothy ender wrote on October 19, 2007 7:56 AM:

Dear Senator -

I do hope that you are well. I am writing out of concern for the FISA bill recently put on 'hold' by Senator Dodd.

As I understand it, you wish to oppose Dodd on this and plan on getting it to the floor for a vote.

Senator, why on earth would you do this? For once a Democrats (Dodd) is standing up to Bush and you plan on pulling the rug out from under him? Exactly what was the purpose of me volunteering and helping the Dems get control of the Senate if you aren't going to act like an opposition party?

You think this won't hurt the party? What is wrong here....stop protecting your own seats and start protecting America and her constitution.

I do hope you will reconsider and fight Bush on this, especially the retro-active immunity for Telcos....

As you know there is a lot of dismay by rank and file Democrats over the capitulation the Dem leadership to the President. I hope you won't go through with yet another one.

It's time to start acting like a Democrat.

Please reconsider.

Richard L. Adlof wrote on October 19, 2007 9:20 AM:

No 'ex post facto' laws - Read the Constitution.

No retroactive immunity.

No certification of human rights violations - Prosecutions is the correct answer.

Demand that anti-trust laws be enforced. Demand American ownership of critical industries serving every level of the American governments. Demand that Aerican labor on American soil be used in those industries providing goods and services critical to our existence as a nation.

It is more macho to tell the fascist plutocrats in get bent than to join their ranks.

scootmandubious wrote on October 19, 2007 10:46 AM:

Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi really need to be replaced. I am so tired of Democratic efforts to become GOP 'lite.'

Has anybody investigated how much money the telecommmunications companies have given to pols like Reid who think that giving them blanket amnesty is even remotely acceptable? So much for the rule of law. Or the Constitution.

I hope many other concerned Dems will sign and comment on the Dodd petition and also post the link to his latest direct action on their blogs. I put it up on mine.

I now see 2 candidates who have shown themselves to be potentital leaders...and only 2.

That would be Sen. Dodd and Rep. Kucinich.

http://scootmandubious.blogspot.com

Anonymous wrote on October 19, 2007 11:08 AM:

Damn. I fell for it and wasted $50 on Dodd's campaign. Next time, no dime until I see how it plays out. This now looks like it was another show for the naive base.

Kathy Heckman wrote on October 19, 2007 4:12 PM:

Hey, don't give up on Dodd. If the Senate ignores his Hold he is going to Filibuster. It's not his fault Reid et al are ignoring the Hold.

danancy wrote on October 20, 2007 7:32 PM:

I think Chris Dodd and Dennis Kucinich should team up and win the whole thing. They are both intelligent and IMO true patriots. God we need them now.

Hang in there everyone!