FIREDOGLAKE ROCKS !!!

Great Post !!

Letters by US Mail to Congress are quarantined for days/weeks before delivery. (This has been the practice since the Anthrax scare.)
Call the senator’s office for fax number and fax your letter.

Rest assured, I’ll be calling John McCain today.

ecoast at 3 — hence the two copy strategy — one to the DC office, a copy to a local office.

Thanks for posting the whip count Christy. If anyone talks to their senators today, let me know either in this comment thread or in my whip count posted at Emboldened.

You guys are doing great work and the fact that so few pols have positions on the bill means our calls will have even greater influence on undecided senators.

And re a certain junior Senator from CT
[EPUed from last thread]

Further Imus — Chris Matthews was terrific, much to Imus’s dismay, I think. Very pro large voter turnout. Primaries are the only place where people’s votes count because the country’s been so gerrymandered.

And Monica Crowley strong Lieberman supporter. Shame on those naughty Dems picking on sweet l’il Joe. And whazzup with her being a news bunny? One hopes it’s because the regulars are on vacation. Talk about blatant partisanship in the “real” news.

Imus and cronies still pushing the theme that this is just a one-issue. Nice spin, guys.

If MSNBC has any smarts there’ll be a v-clip of the whole Matthews conversation with Imus. Big IF.

[sidebar, ironranger, left you props last thread for your great Magical Thinking comment]

I’m curious as to what the ‘wavering wigglers’ denotes. I can’t imagine Feinstein being so solidly against this bill and yet Feingold and Kerry wavering.
Could you clarify what this status means? I’m not disputing it, I’m just wondering if this means that the Senator’s office was caught unawares.

longtime Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn of Texas, had a standing order with his staff that any letter received written in pencil on blue-lined paper was to be brought promptly to Rayburn’s personal attention …

snail-mail addressed to DC offices get delayed by the horribly tight anti-anthrax security measures so only send (or deliver) snail mail to the local (state) offices of Congresscritters. Faxes are effective these days. Emails are too easy to mass-generate so they get blown off easily too.

If your phone call is being dealt with by a totally clueless dimwit, politely request to speak to a more knowledgeable person in the office. On broad national constitutional issues, its best to call the DC office.

Love Vermeer - it’s the painting of light that always gets me (art major in college, believe it or not). Food for the soul, always.

JOHN MACK!

OT, but had to say something.

The world lost one of its greatest musicians Sunday.

John Mack was renowned as Principal Oboe of the Cleveland Orchestra for many years, and as a truly gifted teacher and mentor right up to the end of his life.

He gave much. His former students are all over the world in prominent positions, carrying on his legacy.

He will be missed, but never forgotten!

LUV Vermeer (but not as much as I LUV Christy)!

Now to read the post . . .

dratty at 8 — it means they haven’t taken a position as yet, one way or the other. They take a position, they move to another list. It’s quite simple.

Bingo, Anne (art-history minor, here)!

One wonders why Specter didn’t propose a bill during the Nixon administration to make burglaries legal if the President authorized it. That would have cleared up that whole thing, wouldn’t it?

This isn’t really any different. Bush is breaking the law, and he won’t stop until he’s prosecuted. It’s time to stand up to the criminal gang in the White House, and if Congress won’t stand up to this obvious criminality, the rule of law is dead. Anarchy will follow. I’ve never advocated violent revolution, but it may be the only course remaining when government completely fails to act in the face of blatant criminality.

I can’t imagine Feinstein being so solidly against this bill per the clip at C & L of the ABA Pres, there was an earlier “Specter - Feinstein” bill (presumably that was not so egregious bc the ABA noted its position as being in favor of the Harman bill or the earlier Specter-Feinstein bill) and that is what she is backing.

ABA calls this new bill the Specter-WH bill. Probably not a bad way to reference it.

What dratty said at number 8.

In no way can I imagine Kerry voting for Specter’s slimy “compromise.” I’d guess the office didn’t have a prepared response.

Mornin’ Doggies

aaacckkk!, I Hand Wrote my letter to Senator Boxer yesterday afternoon - just to illustrate how serious and sincere I was in expressing my displeasure (campaigned for the woman in 92′ in a so called Reagan Democrat stronghold of the Bay Area)

would still like to hear the 4-1-1 on the private fundraiser she and Shortride attended after being so viciously accosted by those mean bloggers

Not to chase glory but I also assembled a list by category yesterday, #188 on Boxer Meltdown.

Commenter bg reported Bingaman as against, not wavering, if I am reading my notes correctly.

Missing category here: peach cobbler: cbl in Texas, as served to Cornyn staff.

Do the Senators read FireDogLake?

After posting yesterday that Senator Boxer had provided “zero response” to my two email messages regarding my feelings about her campaigning for Joe Leiberman, lo and behold,

…two messages from her “correspondence director” in my inbox stating “Your message has been forwarded to the appropriate campaign committee for response.”

I don’t know what the hell that means, and the forwarding apparently took place after the event I was concerned about came to pass, but hey, at least somebody, somewhere cares (or what passes for caring in incumbent friendly Washington!)

Bill Nelson’s lines all bizzy — will keep trying for Julia Spencer there (wanted to yesterday afternoon, but too much lightning here).

Sen. Pryor’s (D-Arkansas) office stated that he had yet to take a position on Specter’s bill. They did say that they had been receiving a lot of phone calls on that issue.

Vermeer is great, the light in his painting is amazing. If you ever get a chance to see his work in person, you can almost feel the warm of the sun on your skin, or in the room.

I had to hand write something the other day and I was appalled at how bad my penmanship had gotten. I don’t use a pen anymore and it really showed.

Source of Bingaman: bg at 88 on Dialing for Spines: Senator Bingaman supports “The Opposite” of what this bill calls for. Senator Dominici’s staff “was not at liberty, I mean, I can’t say what his position is.”

Sounds like a position of against.

Barbain Countertenor also called him, 28 on Trust George. Already called Sens Bingaman and Domenici. I suspect that Bingaman will oppose. So that’s two.

Called both Richard Burr’s and Elizabeth Doles offices this AM. Neither Senator has announced a position. In both offices the staffers were unfamiliar with the bill.

Know whatcha mean, keyote.

Yesterday I got TWO letters from FLA Nelson re net neutrality and something I’d written a snailmail about even before that. Both replies dated July 1 and full of worthless mushmouth. Rill sharp razor, that guy.

Lessee, now where’d I put my granddaddy’s strop . . .

I think Bingaman should be in the Patriots column. I was put through to a DC staffer who was familiar with the bill and clearly said Jeff is opposed to the entire thing. Maybe they changed after that? I don’t trust Jeff particularly, but I thought it was very clear yesterday that he opposes the Specter.

I have another call in to them, left a message with them and hope to hear shortly.

I also dispute that Biden, Kyl, Sessions, Graham, and DeWine had no contact. Both maggie s. and carolyn urban called the entire committee. Maggie s. reported that only Feinstein was against. I can go find their numbers, brb.

If cbl doesn’t serve us that peach cobbler Saturday, she’s looking at Trouble. Just sayin’.

Drat! My congressman (Ralph Regula, R-fossil) has his website rigged so it’s almost impossible to contact him.
Have to wade thru layer of privacy-release form in MSWord. Feels as if I’d be on some creepy enemies list for the rest of my life, no matter what I said!

And he’s the guy so proud of having us all fund his wife’s pet project on 1st Ladies of the U.S., a no-doubt worthy learning tool, complete with costumes & skits & stuff… Caught some heat for it; maybe that’s why the extra layer of covers on his cushy office now.

Sen. Voinovich is the consumate wiggler-waverer, but I asked for an answer, and will keep trying. Don’t expect much.

DeWine’s locked in the race of his life agnst Sherrod Brown, & may very well lose his seat in the fall (I hope, I hope); ads are starting to get a tad nasty - never seen that from either of them before. I get the feeling DeW’s so terrified, he’s absolutely frozen in place, even tho airing a lot of ads pretending otherwise. I’ll keep pestering. He has sent some non-canned, written answers back to me in the past. I strongly suspect he’s hiding under his desk till after the Wed. Judiciary meeting. I’ll find some way to shine a flashlight under there & tap on his shoulder ;->

P.S. And Dominici, not so much. Still nothing today. I asked them if Dominici was too terrified to allow the people of the United States their rights of redress?

Maggie s. at 109 on Spines: I called all the Senators on the committee and my Congressman’s office, too.

That’s one.

Senators positions are dynamic and changing. An undecided office Monday morning might very well firm up by late Monday afternoon. Most Senators started off undecided — constituent contact forces them off the fence. There’s the weekly Party Caucus today that might very well firm up Party positions…

Oh, and I never saw any comments on Specter saying this thing was the improved/best they could do after essentially duking it out with the WH. Excuse me? WTF did it look like before he went to bat for our freedoms? Just wondering.

Carolyn urban at 162 on Spines: I did it! Called all the rethugs and spoke with all their staff (except Cornyn - no staff, no message, no ability to contact - try him later). Gasp.

That’s two.

bg @ 27 - I had left Bingaman off the list of opposed because I was not clear what “The Opposite” of this bill is. For Democrats, that might be keeping FISA law the same. For Republicans, it might mean not even submitting Bush’s domestic surveillance programs to a test of their constitutionality. I assumed from your language that the staffer was not very informed as to the senators positions. Your response here is helpful and I’ll change it now.

For many members of the House and Senate, especially from the West, Monday is also a “travel day” to get back to DC. It’s likely that calls that got a “no position” response yesterday may indeed change to either a pro or con stance today.

OfT, Prairie Sunshine at 5:58, thanks so much, prior thread, for the summary of Tweety on Imus, glad to hear he was so pro-Ned.
Also glad to hear Nixon’s former live in biographer (and dues paying neocon) Monica Crowley had such good things to say about Joe. I don’t think her support will help him much in the Dem primary, but it could do a lot of damage, here’s hoping.

BTW, Sherrod Brown (Dem - TERRIFIC!), running to unseat DeWine in OH, has - for years now - had a really nifty habit of writing a personal thanks to people who write good letters to the editor of their local newspaper(s).

COOL! I’ve got 2, & hubby 1 over the last year or so.

Sherrod’s good. Please don’t blame him for Paul Hackett. Even Hackett is publically backing him now.

dratty *8

FISA is one of those issues that DiFi actually gets into righteous indignation about. And she has her own version of a FISA bill that’s different from the Spectre’s. (no one has seen her version to my knowledge, unless it’s that old bill from back in April).

Hence her solid credentials. Feingold is only in the Wiggler category because he said he was waiting for the Judiciary Committee’s recommendation before stating his own opinion.

I called Specter’s office yesterday (since I live in PA), and the guy I talked to really seemed to not understand how the bill is not a good thing.

here’s what I’ve been doing with this handy little link below

I look up the Congresscritter’s 3-5 largest contributors on the site - then I look up the Corporate Counsel for same - and fax them a letter stating general concerns about , proprietary info,projected sales, quarterly profits, Could one of their employees or employee’s dependents sue them down the road over exposure of Personnel or Ins. info., etc., Asking them to ensure their candidate is watching out for their privacy. Then I fax a copy of that letter to Congresscritter’s office as a means of getting their attention.

As previously reported, when I called Cornyn’s office to confirm receipt of my last fax, I was put through to his Chief of Staff

the cobbler thing - one of the first Roots pioneers advised bringing goodies to offices when visiting - have one of those Cake Mix Cobbler recipes wherein I use fresh peaches and kiss of bourbon - apparently a hit, b/c instead of being id’d as some librul nutjob (as I initially feared), am now id’d as ‘the cobbler lady ‘

http://www.opensecrets.org/

so today with Cornyn out of the way, think I’ll go look up Chuckie Schumer’s biggest donors and write them a note, although I believe DeWine is dealing w/ re election - wonder who is current largest donors are . . .

Good morning and thanks Christy and everybody.

I was reading Prof. Cole’s sobering account this morning and tucked in at the end was information about a forum on blogging and careers and whether blogging can derail your career. He included this quote which seems somehow apropos here:

>>>>>>>

Henry David Thoreau refused to pay the poll tax put in to support the immoral American-Mexican War, and was sentenced to a night in jail. His friend Ralph Waldo Emerson came to visit him and asked him “David, what are you doing in there?” Thoreau replied, “What are you doing out there?” If intellectuals aren’t misbehaving in the sense of dissenting and critiquing the collective grounds of our political being, then they aren’t doing their jobs.

http://www.juancole.com/

Glad to hear Tweety [did good] on Imus.

I still don’t trust him as far as I could throw him. He’s flipped & flopped so often, on so many topics. He just can’t be trusted. I think he simply likes to be seen as a “scrappy” fella, mixin’ it up on the side of the “in” guys.

Watch him….

WI update:

Both Kohl and Feingold’s offices are refusing to say one way or the other yet. Both are using the same excuse; waiting for the judiciary committee’s recommendation. I could see Kohl going either way but I’ll be shocked if Feingold supports this bill.

cbl @ 42

Talk about using someone’s own weapons (money/donors) against them! Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword . . .

Missing category here: peach cobbler

I was waiting for the peach cobbler - thanks E.

The real questions are - why is legislation needed and what is it supposed to accomplish.

Specter hasn’t been briefed on the program and seems to feel there is a need for the FISA court to act as, in essence, a secret COngressional committee, negotiating through rejections or approvals (all of which are not appealable and not subject to argument/input by anyone having a case in controversy interest) to institute a broad plan of surveillance that includes a mass warrant approach not contemplated by the 4th Amendment.

Harman has been briefed on the program and says FISA is pretty much fine - here’s a tweak that’s all that is needed.

Specter has already gone on the record, somewhat incoherently and incomprehensibly, but still on the record as saying he thinks the President has these “inherent” powers that may trump FISA - although he has also ranted that Congress should be ‘consulted’ and has some kind of rights (you know, those Consitutional ones, to write the LAW). So why does he think the legislation is needed if he believes in the magic bullet inherent powers argument? If it’s not needed and the President doesn’t have to follow it -why write it?

I rambled in an EPU post about this, but it seems pretty clear that the Harman legislation is addressed to providing more assets and a smidge of extra emergency response powers - things targeted to a legal program operating legally. But that legislation does not deal with the huge underyling issue - what if these existing cases go up and the President has had NSA & DOJ operating a blatantly illegal and unconstitutional program? What happens about those criminal penalties and civil penalties? What do we do?

The Specter legislation doesn’t really care about having an effective surveillance program with adequate funding for oversight (the Harman bill issues). His legislation, IMO, is a bit of a panicked response to the fact that he knows his representations about “inherent” power are tripe when it comes to Bill of Rights violations and pretty much tripe on criminal law violations. So his legislation is very solely targeted at trying to avoid, for now, what could be some very crippling effects of the programs being found to be illegal. Bc they are. And what are we (the country) going to do about that?

egregious @ 28:

I also dispute that Biden, Kyl, Sessions, Graham, and DeWine had no contact.

I am not counting unreturned voicemails, as we have no actual feedback from them. That rules out DeWine on my list until we have a response.

I hadn’t seen comments the “called full committee” comment. I’ll add Biden, Sessions, Kyl, & Graham to the Wavering Wigglers list, assuming that either maggie or carolyn spoke with a staff member who told them they had no position.

Hiya,

OT
Someone mentioned yesterday that the Boston Globe does a fine job in investigative reporting, i.e. signing documents, etc.
I agree. However they did a dismal job on the CIA leak case, one of the most important stories of the year.
I wrote to them and asked why this was so…
and I never received a reply. They can be a
tad elitist…
Anywhichwayhow, did you see the AP story that
“no one in the Bush regime have had their security clearances snagged…
Another weird piece of info, “The CIA has not completed a formal assessment of the damage to national security that may have been caused by the Plame outing in 2003. According to Christopher Walker, CIA Director of Congressional Affairs, it won’t be completed until a criminal investigation of the leak has been concluded.”

Hmmmmmm

Jack

The aide to Senator Brownback was unfamiliar with the bill. He said Brownback doesn’t have a position, but he would be happy to pass on my thoughts. After I went through my concerns the aide said, “So you support the bill.” Needless to say I went through my concerns again and stated emphatically that I was against the bill.

when making your phone call and you think you are talking to a blank wall, politely ask to speak to a more specialized expert in the office…

Prairie Sunshine: I started collecting lupine seeds…with this drought, they are drying up & dropping seeds like crazy. The lawns crunch. 30-40% rain chances tonight (fingers double crossed), after that, it doesn’t look good.
War busting out all over…where are the grownups? It reminded me of a young boy jumping on the sofa when the mom told him to stop, he was going to get hurt. He said, just one more time & ended up losing his front teeth. I don’t see much difference between kids not understanding consequences & our world “leaders”.
I am so sick of these people in power who walk around 24/7 w/ war erections.
A blast from the past one year ago that I thought was total satire when I first read it:
“A man (bush) of extraordinary vision & brilliance approaching to genius, he can’t get anyone to notice. He is like a great painter or musician who is ahead of his time, & who unveils one masterpiece after another to a reception that, when not bored, is hostile.” John of powerline blog
A lot of people thought Jim Jones was a genius too…that turned out well.

I called Sen. McCains’ Washington office, spoke to a person who put me on hold for a minute and then forwarded me to somebody else, on whose machine I left a message asking for McCains’ position on Spectors’ bill. I stated my position ( our position ) and asked her to please return my call. If I hear back, I will let you know.

I don’t know how much good it will do, but I will call by freakishly idiotic Senator, Jeff Sessions, and report back whatever, if anything, they are willing to say.

I’ll be dropping by Sens Durbin and Obama’s Chicago Loop offices with (unsealed) handwritten letters at lunch hour.
Thanks to Durbin and “Please explain how you could possibly find this acceptable” for Obama.
The Great Black Hope indeed….Pah!

I sent a heads-up, copy of my letter re Specter shenanigans, to Rep. Sherrod Brown.

Would LOVE it if he comes out publicly with a position on this, especially since his opposition, DeWine is still hiding under his desk.

Brown’s very articulate, and not shy in the least. Will let you know if he issues statement, or whatever.

It’s important to keep in mind that we don’t want to take anyone’s position for granted. Yes, I’m guessing Feingold will be against this bill, but it doesn’t do us any good to put him in that column before he’s actually there.

We’re seeing that the overwhelming majority of senate offices have no position. That’s not surprising, but it also provides us with a real opportunity to influence their decisions.

Please keep up the great work folks. Keep posting your feedback/responses from Senate offices here. I will be updating the whip tally over at Emboldened, so check it out for the latest updates.

Wallflower - maybe you could send a picture of a blastocyte on a cell phone . . .

Mary at 47…

Striking, Or ‘Kung-Fu StrikeThru’…
Nice.
—–
Called Ted Kennedy and thanked him for his efforts, urging him to do whatever he can to block this.

Calling Kerry. See what his position IS.
—-
Christy:
LetterWriting graphic: Nice choice. I’ve actually seen that one before (well, on TV). Recognized it as Dutch…but ID’d as the OTHER Dutchman.

PeterR,

actually rec’d a thank you email from a semi-important lawyer (#4 ?) @ Chevron when I was trying to get Kay Bailey Hutchison’s attention

btw, always identify myself as a private citizen and non stock holder and then proceed to do a pretty good ‘concerned’ impression - see Christy, all those trolls served a purpose after all -*g*

Matt, in comment 35 above, carolyn urban’s quote says that she called everyone on the committee, and was specific about who couldn’t be contacted.

On this basis I conclude she did reach DeWine’s office, and that he had no position. Of course it’s worth contacting him again to nudge him in the right direction.

I am soooooo sick of Politicians that “have no opinion or comment” on the yet to be proposed legislation. They already know the details….what gives.

Our congresscritters are of the people and one of the people that was elected by the people. Do you congresscritters get it?

As a constituent, I demand answers.

(Rant Complete)

Called Senator Levin (D-MI) - staffer was cordial and confirmed the mail quarantine. Said the Senator wouldn’t see you sent letter for 6-8 weeks. Take Note…FAX. Levin has taken no public stance on this proposal. I then peppered the staffer with questions of why.

Sworn to uphold the Constitution

Have called over 50 times on 20 different issues, why does the senator never have an opinion? Does he ever have an opinion?

Reminded staffer that he is the peoples representative and we want an answer.

ironranger@6:55 — Charlie Manson had his little coterie as well. And then there’s the whole David Koresh apocalyptic kaleidoscope these guys seem to look thru. Blame it on the Waco water?

called Ken Salazar’s office again today
He still does not have a position.
I told his staff member that as a Colorado voter I’d like to see a quicker response to such an important bill, by now he should have researched and come to a conclusion.
Told her I also expected him to vote against bills that attacked the Constitution.

sunny — so GOOD to see you back!

Condolences on Sessions (empathy, almost, since I’m 50%-Senatored by Mel Martinez and 100%-Repped by Tom Feeney) — but having to deal with 80-IQ Jeffie . . . pee-yewwwww!

NOTE TIME CHANGE FOR HEARING:

It now starts at 9am EDT.

Kerry’s DC via 888 took a while to pick up. Maybe ten rings.

The energetic intern maintained that the staff w/more didn’t pick up. Said, since Kerry’s not on committee, he reserves positions till leg. hits floor. When it does, “We’ll have ‘a strong’ position”. I implored him to make a statement supporting Kennedy in Judiciary ASAP.

Phones confirmed ‘off the hook’ but wouldn’t confirm a particular issue:’everybody about everything.’

Didn’t care I was a voter from Western Ma. No info taken…at least Kennedy’s office noted the zip info.

At least I made him look up the bill on Thomas. Thanks for including bill # Christy.

egregious @ 61 - I see that. I think there’s a little confusion here. These calls have two purposes (1) to express our opposition to the Specter bill; (2) to find out what a senator’s position on the bill is.

I’d love to hear more from Carolyn, but from what I read, she only expressed her opposition and did not report back their positions on the bill. The tally I am counting is not who has been contacted in regards to the bill, but who has provided us feedback on their position on the bill.

I really appreciate your help getting the feedback in order. Thanks!

I haven’t had a chance to peruse the comments in prior threads to see whether this story has already been mentioned:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14020234/

Sen. Specter preparing bill to sue Bush
Republican committee chairman fighting against ’signing statements’
The Associated Press

Updated: 7:11 a.m. ET July 25, 2006
WASHINGTON - A powerful Republican committee chairman who has led the fight against President Bush’s signing statements said Monday he would have a bill ready by the end of the week allowing Congress to sue him in federal court.

“We will submit legislation to the United States Senate which will…authorize the Congress to undertake judicial review of those signing statements with the view to having the president’s acts declared unconstitutional,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said on the Senate floor.

Specter’s announcement came the same day that an American Bar Association task force concluded that by attaching conditions to legislation, the president has sidestepped his constitutional duty to either sign a bill, veto it, or take no action.

(snip)

Whoever answered FLA Nelson’s foam claimed there’s no Julia Spencer in that office — though that’s who someone tried to put me through to yesterday — then FINALLY let me leave a message for one “Brent Woolfork.” Asked him to return my call, so now back to my regularly-scheduled wait-&-see . . .

As of yesterday at @ 11:00 am, Sen. Bill Nelson had “no official position.” I told his receptionist how horrible the bill was in polite but extreme detail, and further indicated that I was an active Democrat who expected that my Democratic senator who is no longer vulnerable in his re-election race (now that Katherine Harris has imploded), needed to stand up for the principles in our Constitution and not take an appeasement position toward republican attempts to bring East German style fascism to America. (she said she was writing down my comments. Yeah. I’ll bet). Don’t know if it did any good but there is my report. . . .

Specter hasn’t been briefed on the program and seems to feel there is a need for the FISA court to act as, in essence, a secret COngressional committee, negotiating through rejections or approvals (all of which are not appealable and not subject to argument/input by anyone having a case in controversy interest) to institute a broad plan of surveillance that includes a mass warrant approach not contemplated by the 4th Amendment.”
FWIW, WAG ALERT, I suspect what might be partially driving this is
that NSA, CIA, FBI, push everything, no matter how remote, “upstairs.” When the next successful attack occurs, no one wants to be named on a paper trail that contains evidence that wasn’t thorougly investigated. I suspect this is why Specter does not want to be briefed on NSA spying, it’s less work and fewer tough decisions. My guess is both House’s Intelligence Committees are being asked to make practical, real time decisions as payback a consequence of holding post 9/11 hearings and hanging the entire intelligence community out to dry. I suspect the intelligence communities are wallpapering those committees and the WH with reports. The next time they’ll say, we informed Congress and the WH on this date in this traceable document.
This pressure may in turn be leading both the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch to gang up on the Judiciary as a way out. It sounds to me as though the FISA court will have all the responsibility. The plan is that the only way something won’t get investigated, is if the FISA court prevents it.
This is a separate issue from decriminalizing prior WH crimes.

Thanks lotus-good to be back!

WOW sp, cpa, I had not seen that, thanks!

Yesterday, I watched two lawyers discuss the Bush admin and its ignoring laws and constitution. One of the laywers participated in producing the ABA report and said he was working with Specter on a bill. I assumed that the bill would support the findings of the ABA committee?? I hope my assumption is correct. Did Specter realize he was snookered?

Mary, here’s the link to the story of Hamdan’s confiscated notes (sorry I had left when you responded yesterday):
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2....._0721.html
They were notes he took after the Supremes decision, and after the govt had confiscated many notes from other prisoners and their lawyers concerning the suicides. Just curious what you think, as I think of you as the Hamdan expert. (As well as Christy, of course.)

Good morning again, pups. Project in progress report…Made my calls to Fargo offices of Dorgan and Conrad.

Dorgan’s staffer took my statement of strong opposition to SB 2453 and will look into Senator’s position and get back to me.

Conrad’s staffer transferred me to the DC office where I left a voicemail statement for the relevant staffer again voicing my strong opposition to the retroactive neutering of Congressional oversight and assault on the Constitutional principle of checks and balances.

RE: Mark Dayton –

The person who took my call yesterday said that Dayton hasn’t seen the bill yet (he wants to actually look at it, or have his staffers look at it, first), but she said that if the bill was as bad as we say it is, he’d very likely vote it down. So I’d move him into the Patriots column.

SP CPA et al:

This just jumped at me off the Boston Globe Biz section:
http://www.boston.com/business.....s_jump_66/

Foreclosure filings in Massachusetts increased 66 percent in the second quarter, according to data released yesterday, a trend that is expected to continue over the next year.”…
—–
Couldn’t find the ‘Weird Sisters’ and ‘Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble…’
Instead, this:
“The earth hath bubbles as the water has,
And these are of them.”

Oh, and CBL:

Atta Girl! You are good.

OT

Courant Did-Bill-Make-You-Wanna-Vote-For-Joe? poll update:

Yes — 69 (8.4%)

No diff — 166 (20.3%)

No — 582 (71.2%)

OK, Tennessee has checked in with the following results:

Add Alexander to the wavering wigglers and put Billy Boy firmly in the Redcoat category.

Sen. Alexander’s office said he has no position but is aware of the bill. They listened politely to my explanation that this bill will gut the FISA Court system that has worked well for years and will upset the balance of powers between the Judicial, Legislative and Executive Branches and vest absolute authority for these matters in the Executive.

Sen. Frist’s office said that he has not commented publicly on the bill but that he fully supports permitting the NSA to “do its job” to protect America. They also listened politely to the above related statement.

Ha! Just got a robbotelemarketing call: “Would you to know the present market value of your home.”
—–
Irony index ramping up, here.

umm…’like to know..’

Jules at 82

It’s a little more complicated than that. I support your right to support Lieberman but I don’t think you listened very clearly to what Lamont said on NPR. Robert Siegel repeatedly attempted to get him to say he supported one or the other of two bad alternatives. Ned was diplomatic without ducking the question.

I just called Schumer’s office. They said he still has no position, but has requested the Spector hold public hearings tomorrow, after which he will decide.

I told them that the bill appears to be clear enough without the need for hearings, and outlined the reasons.

Mary @ 47

I think you are right on target with the true purpose of this legislation. How do we deal with blatantly illegal activity in the past, as we try to move forward?

Sadly, this is what happens when Congress abdicates its oversight responsibilities - or fails to hold the Executive branch accountable when it (Congress) discovers that the White House has been holding back on keeping the Congress appropriately informed.

It’s kind of like raising a child and never setting any limits for 16 years, then being shocked - shocked, I tell you! - that the kid doesn’t obey a curfew when she/he gets a driver’s licence. It’s hell trying to make up for years of lax discipline.

But it’s even more hell if you don’t make the effort, years late though it may be.

Christy !

Roots !

Vermeer !

TalkLeft has a cute Whiny Joe graphic http://talkleft.com/whiny-joe.jpg

By the way:

The media is touting Specter’s bill as doing EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of what he know it will do.

Shoot a few letters the NYT’s way, as well as to your local newspapers. Point out that the bill will actually kill all current and future lawsuit by retroactively legalizing Bush’s crimes. Worse yet, the bill removes all effective oversight — and the case of Duke Cunningham shows what happens when our elected officials are allowed free rein on espionage programs without any real oversight. (Keep ‘em short and punchy — total word count 150 or less — to increase the likelihood of their seeing print.)

letters@nytimes.com
letters@latimes.com
letters@washpost.com
editor@usatoday.com

You know what to do.

More on Lamont/Lieberman:

If you go to the Hartford Courant’s home page and look at the photos from the Clinton event in the slide show, you will see that a protestor made it into the first two photos, holding a sign that clearly reads “No more war, nor more lies, no more cronyism”.

I don’t know who the protestor is, but my hat is off to her. She made an impact on the coverage of what was supposed to be one of the most important days of Lieberman’s campaign.

Here’s the link:

http://www.courant.com/

OT- Who is Milbank talking about here?

…But to run as a proud Republican? “That’s going to be tough, it’s going to be tough to do,” he said. “If this race is about Republicans and Democrats, I lose.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....00953.html

Prarie Sunshine @ 77 - Thanks, I’ve noted that you’re waiting for a response from Dorgan and Conrad. They’re still in my “No Feedback” column, but we know they’ve been contacted.

Phoenix Woman @ 78 - I’d like to keep Dayton as a Wiggler until we have a solid answer, though I’ve noted that he’s a likely Patriot. Good to see his staffer put faith in what you told him/her.

HinTN @ 83 - I’ve noted that Frist is a likely Redcoat, but will leave him as a Wiggler until they do comment on the bill itself.

S. 2453 National Security Surveillance Act of 2006 (Introduced in Senate by Sen. Specter [PA]) Title: A bill to establish procedures for the review of electronic surveillance programs.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/.....9:s.02453:

Shorter S.2453 — Presidential Pardon Act of 2006

I really want to go to this hearing, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to. I’m predicting a bit of a food fight between Specter and Graham. Graham wanted to be “the man” with a tricky little legal plan that would let the administration do whatever it wants while pretending to obey the law, but Specter has the standing as chairman to negotiate with the WH and bring his plan forward first. It isn’t surprising that most of the senators are wigglers. That is the basic policy on bills that aren’t even out of committee. I’m not saying that’s how it should be, but there are reasons for it.
Great job, Matt, Christy, and everyone else!

OT: The Donna Edwards campaign to unseat freaky machine Democrat Al Wynn is heating up here in Maryland. She works mostly on the other side of our district, so I haven’t seen too much of her, but she’ll be coming to my part of the district more soon, I hope. Today she was endorsed by ACORN. She definitely appreciated the boost she got from the firepups.

peace,
jim

Blank Kludge says: “Foreclosure filings in Massachusetts increased 66 percent in the second quarter, according to data released yesterday, a trend that is expected to continue over the next year.”
July 25th, 2006 at 7:28 am

Are foreclosure filings statistics available on a state by state basis and/or on a county by county basis?

RevDeb and other FDLers in Massachusetts - after you’ve read the Boston Globe story about foreclosures for which Blank Kludge provided a link in his comments at 7:28, what can you tell us about economic conditions in the Boston area?

Wow, ain’t that sumthin’, T- at 93! Now lessee, who ordered in hanger steak, risotto and Caesar salad X10 yesterday?

While in Baghdad . . .

‘I’ve lost count of the people I know who have been killed’

Ali al-Hamdani, who is half Shia and half Sunni and works for The Times in Baghdad, describes life in the western district of Jihad where sectarian warfare rages

And Afghanistan . . .

Accidental victims flee homes for filthy camp

What the Liberal Media won’t report!

The Iraqi military has been rebuilt!

However, it has been rebuilt by Saddamn loyalists who will never work with the US backed government, according to the fugitive Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri, better known as the King of Spades.

http://abcnews.go.com/Internat.....SFeeds0312

-GSD

Just wrote to my two Senators. FWIW, below is my text to Norm Coleman, which anyone is free to copy and hack as you might wish. The text to Democrat Mark Dayton was identical except that I struck the last sentence of the third paragraph, beginning “While there may be . . “

Dear Senator Coleman:

I am writing to urge you to oppose Senate Bill S-2453, the National Security Surveillance Act of 2006.

The importance of this bill goes beyond the partisan politics of today to the very question of what kind of government the United States will have going forward. This bill is an abject surrender to the Presidency of the Constitutional authority and prerogatives of the Congress and the Judicial Branch. It would be a giant step toward the kind of autocracy that the founders of our Constitutional system took such pains to try to preclude 219 years ago.

In the process of insulating the present administration from the consequences of its blatantly illegal activity over the past five years, it also emasculates the concepts of Congressional oversight and judicial review that have been critical to our system of checks and balances over the past two centuries. As the conservative jurist Bruce Fein has pointed out, the precedents of the presidential prerogatives that Bush administration is asserting will be like loaded guns left in the Oval Office for future presidents to use and abuse. Whi