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SPECTER: I'm pissed my Amendment is being blocked by the obstructionist Republicans so I'm not going to vote for cloture.
JELLO JAY ROCKEFELLER: Despite the fact that this crappy bill is the result of my personal agreement with the White House to give them everything they want, I got punk'd and we're now being "held hostage" by the obstructionist Republicans who are blocking even the teeniest, most meaningless Amendment. This is how much respect the GOP has for "bipartisanship." I'm not going to vote for cloture, either.
Chris Dodd is just as wrong for trying to keep Dick Cheney and the telecoms from getting amnesty for their crimes as the GOP is for their insistance on ritual humiliation of us Democrats before they allow us to give them what they want.
BOND: Surly blah blah blah. (fumbles for mute button)
FEINGOLD: "Invoking cloture on this bill would be an abdication of our responsibility to consider legislation which will effect our constitutents for years to come."
CORNYN: Scary terrorists. Bad. [CHS asks: What's going on with the Abramoff investigation in which Cornyn was implicated in e-mails for helping Jack and Ralph Reed bilk one tribe and screw another? Just asking...] The Intel committee sure was bipartisan, and I'm not just saying that because they decided to cover Dick Cheney's ass with telecom immunity. No, really. "We need to finish this legislation, to give members a chance to debate it, and then to vote." [CHS notes: Then why were you objecting to introduction of any and all amendments to the legislation so that particular issues could be discussed more fully on the Senate floor? Liar. Never mind that FISA is still in effect, the only thing that you care about is keeping the cover Dick's behind immunity in place.]
We need to move on this now, because covering Cheney's behind is important to all of America. If we kick the can down the road, we'll just be right back here with me asking you to cover Cheney's read end yet again. Why not make the tough choice for CYA today? [Note for Mary: He and Bond are both wearing yellow ties today.] "We must eschew partisan lines." Good lord, his staff wrote this for him and he can't say eschew. "Don't repeat the same arguments over and over without coming to a conclusion." [CHS notes: Pot, this is kettle...]
Some people have argued that the telecom companies had a duty to read the law and to refuse to cooperate with the Bush Administration in good faith. [CHS says: No, you dumbass -- and as a former AG, you ought to know this very, very well. We think they should have followed the law. The law requires a warrant. It also allows for complete cooperation for 15 days or longer in case of an emergency. Exactly when did more than 5 years without a warrant and without following the law become lawful conduct for any person prosecuting a case?]
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Zed ? Still lurkin’ and thanks to those doing the heavy lifting here so my lazy ass can be informed.
Jello Jay gels, for once!
No Immunity Fer No Body!
they called him mellow Jello
fritz :)
A lurker zed! Congrats.
I do find it hard to accept these words from Jello Jay. I wish I even half believed that HE believed them. “The senate should be allowed…
Jane! Appreciate you and Christy and everyone else for the work on FISA!
Thank You!
That about sums up Scottish Haggis reasoning, Jane!
“A stitched piece of work”, Jello Jay. Weasel. He’ll vote no on cloture, yes on immunity. Rat.
Quite rightly…
This is a tribute to We the People as well! Yay to all Patriots!
Remember when John Dean said Congress has lost its institutional pride? Maybe they’re beginning to find it again.
one day at a time
He’ll vote no on cloture, yes on immunity. Rat.
His “immunity” language is, says he, vastly different from what the administration requested. I’ve scanned the immunity provision in the SSCI bill, and I’m not ready to dismiss it as immunity (as in get out of the case no questions asked) just yet.
Devil is in the details … I just don’t have time to check all the details.
Rockefeller.. I was for the President and Republican wishes until they were against it.
Oh I hoope so — waddaya think?
Alice in Wonderland… even he sees it!
That would be nice!
Oooh, calling the administration political terrorists! Holding the bill hostage!
Somebody ate their wheaties, eh? I wonder who wrote this for him.
I’m not sure that really IS jello Jay up there!
Excellent framing! He’s sending us a message.
Hey Senate Democrats! We’re watching you! Howzit feel?
I have rarely heard Rockefeller this worked up. Something’s happening.
Fair enough, but if I’m gonna give Spectre his well-deserved hard time, I’m not gonna give Jello Jay a pass. This cloture vote is critical, but even if we prevail, we still need to keep the heat on until the final bill is passed.
Hi Jane:
FDL is sure humming and buzzing today. Among you and Christy–and Blue Texan: Can’t keep up today… Then there’s Raven in the comments…*g*
(Consternation amongst the Dems:) “Wait, wait - ritual humiliation is a *bad* thing?”
OMG - It sound like Jello Jay has pulled his head out of is a$$ and come to realize that Bush & Cheney don’t like oversight. Will wonders never cease?
rockefeller is totally prepared to shill for the teleco companies and eat shit for BUSH, he just got pissed that the maitre d’ gave him a bad table.
he is still going to the same restaurant and eating what matre d’ bush orders for him.
let’s just get to the part of where we see a filibuster, as that is the only thing that is going to tell us anything. Talk is really cheap out of these mouthes.
Do you suppose enough of his constituents WENT OFF on him over the weekend?
jane’s liveblogging includes a translation from senate bullshitese to plain english? awesome!
Urge my colleagues to vote no on cloture, so we can reassert our role in Congress, the role of oversight.
He knows he’s speaking to a citizen audience. You can see it from his body language.
Once these people know they are being scrutinized, they will be more self-conscious about their duty.
I wish Senators actually talked the way Jane live-blogs ‘em. C-Span would really be must see-tv!
This is a big deal, he’s finally outing the Rovean obstructionist tactics as attempts to terrorize.
kit bondage ready to tie us all up and extract information with all his tools of persuasion.
Speaking of haggis! Signs of economic problems…more reason Arlen’s grumpy perchance!
Why do they pretend the White House will pay attention to any version of any bill?
fair enough, squared…it’s just that from a tactical standpoint today is what matters today.
“closing arguments” - repubs have to have last word!
Kit didn’t get the VETO threat memo? LIAR!
It’s “The Way Forward”. Kiss my ass Kit.
Bond: “I haven’t heard anything from the White House except they want this bill passed.”
ding-ding-ding!
and just think what congress would be like if they knew that every day, on every topic we were watching them with this level of scrutiny! and that we could see through there kabuki with our x-ray vision?
why, they might actually start to represent us.
we still have a long way to got… even on the big issues… but progress in the right direction is a wonderful thing.
Is Bond back pedaling or is it sleight of hand?
i wish wino dude with the UGLY tie would go away! THIS is the part that always gets me irritated, these long winded total bs rants.
Could the Democrats PLEASE grow a SPINE !?!
bond is a liar and a tool. read his comments through that sieve.
saying that without this bill there can be no surveillance is a lie.
slight of hand
Giants.
Is it me or is Bond’s tie fluorescing? It’s painful to watch…
“He knows he’s speaking to a citizen audience. You can see it from his body language.
Once these people know they are being scrutinized, they will be more self-conscious about their duty.”
But they need a wider citizen audience. They need to find a way to get their comments to the MSM viewing public.
Yah! I just got off the phone with Feinstein’s office which says she will vote “no” on cloture!
Bond:
intel bill good/bipartisan
judiciary bill bad/partisan
I thought we had some Gooper votes in Judiciary.
I could be wrong.
Would Bond know a FACT if it flew up and smacked him in the face?
If distorting the truth isn’t helpful, then Mr. Bond needs to go sit his ass down.
but look at bond’s body language. he’s not aware of our scrutiny! He’s just talking to the chamber or his notes.
Our side must talk directly to us! And those who talk to We the People - and listen to us - can go back there for another term!
Amazing!
no.
The bottom line is will ~5 Bush-Dogs vote against any and all Thug cloture motions..if not, then a “filibuster” will only delay the end result by about 30 hours.
That “Appalachian craftwork” crap. Oh, man!
I just hit the mute button, this guy is so full of S**T it’s unbelieveable.
Ah, Clinton did it!
did he just call the president a whore?
VHT to c-span
There we go - Clinton did it, too!
You knew that was coming….
When all else fails… Clinton did it, too!
subliminal emanations of propaganda flowing from the strange tie?
but this kind of speaking he’s doing puts people to sleep…. not effective!
A long lost cause eh?!
I hope John Dean is on Keith tonight.
“but look at bond’s body language. he’s not aware of our scrutiny! He’s just talking to the chamber or his notes.”
Because the Repubs don’t CARE aobut our scrutiny or to talking to the people or what the people want. He is just reminding the republicans in the chamber of the administration’s marching orders!
Okay, I’ve looked at Rockefeller’s Title II immunity lingo. It’s immunity as far as I’m concerned. The process is for the AG to submit a certification in secret, the certification need only assert that the search order was lawful (without defining “lawful”), and the court rules on an abuse of discretion standard. Further, the Bond/Rockefeller immunity relaxes the law, to permit search directives to have emanated from and have been certified by “the head or deputy of an element of the intelligence community,” but FISA requires warrantless surveillance to be certified by the AG, pursuant to an order from the president.
I have rarely heard Rockefeller this worked up. Something’s happening.
He’s feeling heat and decided to practice his acting.
For the same reason the WH is so adamant about immunity — because in a year, the King isn’t going to be able to make all their legal troubles go away with a wave of his
executive privilegehand. Any lawbreaking they do now could conceivably be prosecuted, so they’re desperate to make it all legal in a way that they weren’t before.My computer glitched for a second. Did I hear Bond say that the FISA court would not have approved some survellience so we can’t be subject to it?
cboldt..do you have any insight into what Whitehouse’s game is with respect to immunity?
Nicely put; I may need to borrow that. Unfortunately, our beloved Democrats provide too many situations for which this formulation fits.
liability lies at the heart of this legislation….
here we go: “orders of the attorney general and other attorneys conveying the orders of the president from the intelligence community”
When did our nation become one of “orders” rather than laws — is what I want to know.
gotta agree, Jane can translate! You never have to ask how she really feels about it!
bond lies about state secrets.
the material can be presented in camera to a federal judge as specifically provided for under FISA.
even it were true (and at this point i never believe a republican who says it), i don’t fucking care. it’s still wrong, and as far as i’m concerned, throw them both in jail.
prego
Does anyone else think that Kit Bond looks like a cross between a surly garden gnome and a leprechaun on a bender? And what in the hell is he talking about regarding people threatening our intel personnel — I thought that was Dick Cheney’s job?
hopelessly!
because the highest levels of our government are LIARS
I would suggest to Kit Bond that one clear way to ensure the continued cooperation of “the providers” would be for the FBI to pay the wiretap bills. But what do I know?
Bond is repeating the same argument that telecoms can’t defend themselves if the government invokes state secrets, an argument the Greenwald totally demolished by pointing that the law in fact allows them to provide just such evidence to the judge ex parte.
where
Exactly..He is doing a Specter or “ex-Specter-ating”
It amazes me that the rethugs think they’re gonna use this against the dems in the election. They seem to have no freakin clue that there are a lot of republicans and independents out there who actually do believe in the Constitution and expect them to uphold it. I really can’t wait for this worm to turn on them. Does’t matter if they “win” this one; it will still be a loss in the long term.
You know, I wish I lived in the future. When I was a wee lad, the history of politics was dry, dry, dry, as dull as dirt. In the future (assuming we have one that involves computers) kids studying politics will stumble across phrases like the one Jane wrote above. They will spit their Zero-G pop across the space station, roll on the ceiling laughing, and then carry a hardcopy of the phrase to show all their friends in the dormitory.
Studying the Decline of the American Empire will be much more fun for those kids than the Decline of Rome was for us… thanks to writers like Jane!
Kit Bond reeks of “used car salesman.” How does anyone ever believe this man?
do you have any insight into what Whitehouse’s game is with respect to immunity?
The same as Specter’s. To sweep past administration actions under the rug with an assertion of state secret.
That’s a better legal approach than Congress undoing its own laws, and admitting, through action, that the privacy protection laws it passes are hollow bullshit.
Bond is completely ignoring our civil liberties. He cares more about the poor telecoms and unlimited Presidential power than he does about my rights. Screw that! I deserve protection!
The carriers don’t need amnesty. They did nothing wrong. Where were that judicial decision?
In the really small window on my computer screen, Bond looks almost as sickening as Bush.
Kit Bond: “Telecoms don’t need amnesty, they need liability protection.” Huh? Whazzadifference?
Well I finally made my call to DiFi (in SF)and asked that she oppose the current FISA Bill as it is a violation of our constitutional rights under the fourth amendment. Also asked if they were busy with phone calls.. she replied yes and then I said that the people were opposed to any sort of immunity for the Telco’s… Keep calling DiFi her office needs to know that we the people oppose this FISA bill with any sort of immunity for the telco’s
Now he says the telecoms themselves could be open to domestic terrorism.
maybe shoulda thought about that When Boosh winked at ya over the Hors Deourves, eh?
How about bringing up the lack of first responder funding from the repukes who brought us the Never-Ending War on Terra™ ?
Thanks for looking into that cboldt (and for the follow up at #74 ; )
Especially since they’re booking record profits
I can’t believe the hazardous waste coming from Bonds mouth.
I call BULLSHIT
A curmudgeon, a very cranky one.
Everybody must spy on everybody else at all times. That’s the best solution.
time running out….. wish it were the end of this and any term!
This should be good
Go Russ
Agree but that position seems at variance with his usual politics.
Oh, thank god, it’s Russ. One more minute of Bond, and I would have had to hit the mute button.
LOL — yep, surly garden gnome crossed with a drunken leprechaun… That’s a keeper : )
YEA FIENGOLD!!!!
hey, here’s a compromise: no financial liability for any telecom, just jail time in a SuperMax for their execs if they are found to have violated our civil rights. See how easy? Just write the law that-a way. Seriously, is Kit Bond on Crack?
Feingold up.
Go, Russ…!
Even my computer hates Bond — times out after 2 minutes and begs me not to restart him.
So I won’t.
Bond is an embarrasment to the “Show-Me” state.
Show me that someone gave the telecoms a warrant, and then they’re off the hook legally. Period.
Yay Russ! Where are Obama and Clinton? Why are they not speaking out?
don’t shoot the TEEVEE
Bonus points in the opening statement, he brought up Rubberstamping.
Russ spanking the GOPs
Again translating Kit Bond:
“Americans’ rights are protected, up to the point where they are actively engaging (in terrorist activity)” =
“Americans’ rights are protected, up to the point where they are actively thinking for themselves”
you go Russ
Feingold up now. Shouldn’t be voting on cloture-should be voting on Amendments. The minority is very disturbing…won’t allow changes, have obstructed any effort to legislate, and wish to be a rubber stamp.
That’s the right idea…the scum shouldn’t be able to buy their way out of multiple felonies with stock holders money.
I wish they ALLLL looked as good as Russ! Would make watching these things a far more pleasant experience.
What a contrast! First wino dude Bond, then THIS!
WHAT A RELIEF!
Calling out Darth on his scare tactics.
BOOYA!
Go Russ! He’s outraged, and laying out how the Republicans have blocked this legislation at every turn.