Christy, you hit my feelings exactly. Right now, I’m somewhere in the dark swirls of that painting. Don’t know how or when I’ll come out.

Why don’t we just rip up the Constitution? The Senate is about to rip up the fourth admendment… whats to stop them from ripping up the rest… I am sick and disgusted by those who want to destroy over two hundred years of the rule of law and the protection of the citizen’s yes the citizen’s rights are take away by this bill.
We now must focus on retiring all those who voted this bill!

Shorter Rockefeller on FISA: 9/11, different world, we should all be scared.

Jus Cogens!

Privacy is a human right!

Kit Bond needs to meet Article III.

Jonathan Turley summed it up beautifully on Countdown last night. This is NOT A COMPROMISE-it is a CAVE-IN!!

I am ashamed of Obama for his position on this and I fear more triangulation to come. Just don’t call me for donations.

The 4th Amendment: RIP

Sorry to get here later than I’d hoped gang — had a doctor’s appointment that ran way late this morning. Glad to be here with everyone for the vote, though.

I’m just sick to my stomach about this whole mess — and I feel totally sold down the river by the so-called leadership on this. Hello police state.

It may not be dead yet (although the lawsuits will be). I jumped the timing and posted this at Open Salon:

The Fourth Amendment was rushed to Walter Reed Medical Center this afternoon, where it has been admitted and immediately rushed to the ICU. It is rumored to be in a persistent vegetative state.

“The Fourth Amendment was the victim of a vicious, warrantless attack today. It appears to have been nearly completely eviscerated”, said Dr. R. Feingold. “I tried to warn off the attackers, but they did not heed my warnings.”

The assembled medical staff appears to be at a loss on how to proceed in the care of the Fourth Amendment. Spokesman Dr. C. Dodd said, “We think that a Dr. Scotus may be able to resuscitate this patient, but we are not sure how to get the good doctor to join in this treatment. We understand that any help to be provided is likely to be years away.”

I’m so tired of that argument…like nothing seriously bad ever happened before?

Because of the Gerrymandering in Calfornia, that’s going to be difficult if not impossible in the next decade.
I am furious. We are no longer a democracy.

Nelson of FLA voting with the pukes on the amendment.

Cave in not compromise. Absolutely. Looks like a bad day. Lets see…

Now there will be 2 minutes of debate on the Dodd-Feingold-Leahy Amendment, then there will be a vote.

Gee - Two *full* minutes?

Yeah, that oughta cover everything important. Is this one (again) Harry’s fault in his rush to fluff the prez?

wish we could all hold hands through this…

Why even bother to vote? Republicans have their kangaroo courts and now they have their kangaroo Senate.

Is Obama there to vote?

Spector voted “no” on Dodd Feingold. What a hypocrit.

Obama voted for Dodd/Feingold amendment….Where was he? Why didn’t he speak on this? If he thinks this is good enough he is wrong.

Obama voted for the amendment.

Obama just voted Aye.

Obama showed up

Re: the 9/11!!! argument. Didn’t I read somewhere that the requests for wiretapping began BEFORE 9/11?? Did I dream that or did that get lost in the fearmongering? Anyone else share my hallucination??

Obama is there. Voted Aye, of course.

Is Digg acting up again? Or at least trying to post this to Digg(like yesterday).

Clinton votes for Dodd/Feingold.

Must be..I just tried Digging it and it would not work for me at all.

looks like Feingold loss will be about 40-60.

Spector voted “no” on Dodd Feingold. What a hypocrit.

fucker oughta be sworn in every single time he rises on the Senate floor.

Clinton is present - aye vote.

I think I’ll go buy some torches this weekend, to go with the pitchfork I bought last summer.
I wish I didn’t feel that I’ll need to use them.

Did I just hear Webb vote no? Or is there another name that sounds like his?

Asshole Webb voted no. Glad he backed out on VP

Wasn’t she a co-sponsor? But still…

Has anyone kept count?

As I watch the Senators all congregate and gossip with each other I’m reminded of Johnathan Turley’s words last night talking about a crime being committed and everyone stands around and does nothing.

OT: Broken Laws, Broken Lives has a petition out.

McCaskill NO
Kerry YES

Obama is there. Voted Aye, of course.

Wow, that’s leadership.

McCaskill - no?

That’s much better than any vote on this has been so far.

I’d guess it’s closer to 35. Dems we lost include Jello Jay (of course) Carper, Salazar, Kohl, the Nelsons.

Both Nelsons no, Lincoln, Pryor, Bayh, Kohl, Salazar, Landrieu,

lots of turncoats

Well, I hope Jane’s takin’ names and getting another ad ready -

Lieberman true to his traitorous self.

DiFi, no.

Feinstein NO (big surprise)
Lautenberg YES
Lieberman NO (big surprise)
Byrd YES (I didn’t know he was back)

China you can believe in.

and Mikulski too! What’s come over her lately?

Yes 32
NO 66

32 to 66 amendment failed.

32-66.

did you hear how whitehouse voted?

Is there any real difference between the three amendments, anyone?

wonder if Arlen will vote for his own amendment?

Yes.

Yes.
Feingold—NO retroactive immunity, period.

Spectre— Make the govt. the defendant rather than the telcos

Bingaman—have the IG do a report and let us know what happened before giving them a free pass.

I think that’s about what they are but I could be wrong on the particulars.

wonder if Arlen will vote for his own amendment?

Only if he is sure it will be defeated. OTOH he may vote against it as a kneejerk reflex.

Boy, I’m so glad that we have a Democratically controlled Senate so that our rights are protected. Yeah, right.

Suggested mailer for those who support amnesty.

is that the first time he’s voted against immunity?

Who will be the stand-up Senators, who will be the sell-out Senators. I know I will never, never forget which of my Senators voted for the Iraq invasion and which voted against back in the day.

This is a defining, line in the sand moment.

Maybe the fluffery about Jesse running in Minn would be okay. If you’re gonna stage kabuki, might’s well invite the pro wrestlers….

Dodd, Feingold…profiles in courage, profiles in honor.

Aren’t we proud of our bipartisan Senate? /s
Not a single republic voted in favor of the Fourth Amendment.

We never were a demcracy but a representative Republic; even that no longer applies:
435 reps in 1941 when the U.S. population was 131+M; U.S. population is now 2 1/2 times that but still the same number of Rep’s.
AND the Supreme Court has said the President can specify the number of Rep’s for the House; see Obama or ANYONE else speaking to that inequity?

No. I believe he has ALWAYS voted against immunity. But then he votes for the bill. THere are about 15 Dems who do this.

When does the final authorization come up for a vote? Are Feingold and Dodd going to filibuster?

Rockefeller - Telcos can’t be expected to judge the legality of requests from the Government for information. EVERY telco lawyer should reflexively respond to ANY request for information with, “Where’s your warrant??” Apparently this depth of understanding of constitutional law is beyond Sen. Rockefeller.

Apparently, we have forgotten the Nurenberg trials as well.

Actually I think that Franken’s inclination is to do the right thing. Wellstone was his friend and in a way, mentor politically. He needs our support.

You are correct: Requests began February 01 IIRC. And then Bush blew off (”Ok, you’ve covered your ass”) the CIA rep who told him in Aug 01 that trouble was brewing. So what was all that surveillance FOR?

I wish somebody would stand up and filibuster. If that’s not possible, then I wish one of our senators would just stand up and start talking until dragged off the floor of the Senate by guards.

– Spectre— Make the govt. the defendant rather than the telcos –

Not this time around. That was Specter on S.2248 Directs the District Court to dismiss the cases if it finds either that the surveillance was within statutory bounds, or was constitutional

Gee - it’s downright inspiring to watch Sen. Obama down there on the floor whipping up opposition to the main bill and fighting for the amendments, huh? /s

Hi,yes. I was responding to the argument that 9/11 “changed everything”. So yes, the fact that this all started before 9/11 is a fact often forgotten.

I have a feeling that I’m going to be as depressed as I was when the House passed this POS…

Anyone have a list of No votes on Feingold & Dodd amendment?

The Borg Collective is inexorable.

So america has about another 1/2 an hour before it all goes to hell in a basket. Dodd and feingold were good but speaking to deaf ears. The fix has been in for a long time so now the dance in the senate goes on like the show trials in the Soviet Union (and Guantanimo).

I have to wonder just how many of those who vote for giving bush a walk actually believe what they said in their speeches, jelloJay being the dirtiest.

I’ve got the list of votes on the Yays and Nays on the Dodd-Feingold-Leahy Amendment. I think I got every one of them, running the TIVO back and forth a bit. Let me know if I missed one. Innouye switched his vote, btw, and that’s reflected in the listing.

All they have to do is read the names and I know how they will vote. How sad.

OK now I’m sure I’m in an alternate universe - Republican Arlen Specter offers his amendment to let the current FISA case continue in Federal court, followed by Democrat Rockefeller arguing against that because gee, the poor telco companies couldn’t have known what they were doing was illegal and anyway they had to comply with the government’s request.

Geez, really? Why doesn’t the government just issue a whole bunch of other mandates to businesses without passing any laws first. Laws, schmaws.

I’m surely glad we can count on Democrats to side with big businesses. Welcome to the Twilight Zone, again.

(For those here bashing Specter, he’s the one who offered the amendment, remember? It’s actions that count not words.)

It is starting to feel as though resistance is futile.

It is amazing how the Pukes are still in total control.

The borg. that says it all. resistance is futile…… no, wait! keep up the resistance!!!1

I thought it was different from the earlier one too, then he started talking on the floor about letting the govt. be in the hot seat rather than the telcos. Perhaps he got the new script mixed up with the old script. Not that it matters anyway.

INteresting that Inouye often votes with the Rs. Some majority, huh?

– When does the final authorization come up for a vote? –

Becuase voting started late, probably after lunch.

– Are Feingold and Dodd going to filibuster? –

They can’t - they gave away that right when they agreed with the UC request to vote today.

Anyone have a list of No votes on Feingold & Dodd amendment?

I’m waiting for the list of Democrats who pull off the (well, it’s not a trifecta, since there are three amendments and the main bill, but you get what I mean) of voting against all amendments and for the main bill.

I’m thinking Landrieu, Lieberman, Rockefeller, Nelsons, ….

The Holographic DiFi votes no.

Another No vote from good ole Diane Feinstein. I’m sure she will make it 3 for 3 on the amendments and then wrap it up with a big Yes vote on the bill.

– Anyone have a list of No votes on Feingold & Dodd amendment? –

More names to add, but this is what I got: Conrad, Nelson (FL), Bayh, Rockefeller, Mikulski, Pryor, Johnson, Inouye, Carper, Webb, Nelson (NE), Kohl, McCaskill, Salazar, Landrieu, Lieberman (I know), Feinstein

37 NO
61 Yes

the FISA crime is being committed right out in public and right now.
I am starting to believe that the only difference between the GOP and the Dems is that you know when talking to a Republican that he/she is lying to you. About half of the Democrats will tell you the truth; some of them only some of the time.

I am sorry to see that is where we are, but I think it is so.

For OB, I am concerned that he has folded on FISA and does not want to actively join other Democrats in the Casey, Bingaman, Specter Amendment that would put on hold the Telco immunity.
The amendment is sponsored by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (co-sponsored by GOP Sen. Arlen Specter and Democratic Sen. Bob Casey). The Bingaman amendment would merely postpone the granting of telecom immunity until 90 days after Congress receives the Inspector General’s audits of the President’s NSA spying program which the new FISA bill mandates, and would freeze the telecom lawsuits in place until then.

as greenwald puts it:
These are just facts about … the FISA bill … which the Democratic Congress will approve today. Recall that James Comey testified last year that what he and other DOJ officials learned in 2004 about Bush’s spying activities for the several years prior was so extreme, so unconscionable, so patently illegal that they all — including even John Ashcroft — threatened to resign en masse unless it stopped immediately. We still have no idea what those spying activities were. We know, though, that even the right-wing DOJ ideologues who approved of the illegal ”Terrorist Surveillance Programs” that we know about found those activities indisputably illegal and wrong. But Barack Obama and the Democratic-led Congress will today enact a bill to immunize all of that, to protect the lawbreakers who were responsible.

And these schmuks think they deserve our votes.

37-61 on Spectre.

Strange behavior by our sweetheart Dem Senators. I am reminded of the scene in Pink Floyd’s ‘Wall’ were children followed the nice path into a meat grinder. Bill Richardson once complained about having possibly listened to in his transactions to dissuade pyongyang. Were there other DEM officials apart from Richardson whose conversations were listened to? Were there improprieties found in the recording of those DEM’s private lives? What is the meaning of this nazi-lockstep behavior among the DEM Senators and House Reps? Is this a sign of the times? Do the GOPrs have an unbroken vice grip on the nation that no election can break?

Was the real reason behind the TSP to collect information about DEM lawmakers to use in muscling them into submission? Was that why it was necessary to keep TSP out of the prying eyes of the FISC?

Is there any way to break the evil vice-grip W has over the nation?

Will our new President’s mandate of the people mean anything in light of this DEM nazi-lockstep behavior?

37 yea, who cares against.

Sigh.

This is a government that is no longer representative of the people but rather special interests and corporations. This is the context in which revolutions are born.

“Are Feingold and Dodd going to filibuster?”

They can’t - they gave away that right when they agreed with the UC request to vote today.

So they go back on the agreement. Honestly, they should just stand down there on the Senate floor and make a spectacle of themselves until dragged off.

Children, children, STFU! Geez …

Shock…Feinstein is co-sponsoring Bingamans amendment.

Nay votes on Specter: Bayh, Inouye, Johnson, Landrieu, Lincoln, Mikulski, Nelson (FL), Nelson (NE), Pryor, Rockefeller, Lieberman, Feinstein (more to come)

thanks for the reminder. i just checked also and confirmed - whitehouse did vote for dodd’s amendment to S.2248 (S.AMDT.3907) in feb. btw, the vote then was 31-67.

however, whitehouse voted for immunity in committee.

DiFi cosponsoring whatever is being served up right now.

add Lincoln to that too.

I still cannot believe that thee amendments are being given only two freakin’ minutes of “debate” time before voting commences.

Democracy at its finest.

really? That’s something.

Is Bond or Jello Jay the chairman of the “intelligence” committee? /s

not disagreeing, but he or his press staff need to learn there’s life and gosh-darned voters north of Brooklyn Park….

funny. so is Kit Bond

the used car salesman just loves to use that word, “bipartisan” doesn’t he? And he can because our skunks give him the ammunition.

The SKUNK caucus:

Bayh, Inouye, Johnson, Landrieu, Lincoln, Mikulski, Nelson (FL), Nelson (NE), Pryor, Rockefeller, Lieberman, Feinstein (more to come)

is this a 60-vote majority on bingaman?

Final vote on bill delayed until later this afternoon starting around 2 p.m.

sighhhh - not quite up on legal issues but i know this is the end of the 4th amendment…. we can look forward to more shredding of the constitution as dems fold and repugs know how to manipulate spineless dems!! and What dem control? repugs are still running the show in DC imo

OK procedural experts, what did Hapless Harry just say?

They’ve had several days of discussion on the floor on it and discussion behind the scenes as well. This is the two minute recap time right before the vote.

They’re reliable Republican votes on a important issue.

Kit: the people who don’t like the Unitary Exec want to kick my corporate donors.

No, you dolt. We want to kick anyone who breaks the law and shreds the Constitution. Anyone.

only two freakin’ minutes of “debate” time before voting commences.

Democracy at its finest.

oh, no - the speaker pelosi’s house sets the standard:

1) less than 24 hours to read the bill
2) NO amendments allowed
3) total “debate” time limited to 1 hour

open government and democracy at its finest. the senate pales in comparison.

is this a 60-vote majority on bingaman?

does it really matter?

Did anyone catch how Obama voted on the Specter amendment? I missed it and don’t want to have to run my TIVO back again…

– the FISA crime is being committed right out in public and right now. –

I remember an old book, “The People’s Almanac.” It had a section where it described every country on the planet. Under each country were sections “Form of Government” and “Who Really Rules.”

The description of the US was interesting. At any rate, the FISA crime is mostly conducted in secret. That’s the point. The people are supposed to believe, with all their hearts, that their voices matter.

SUCKERS!

people voting against Bingaman amendment are Senators voting with a bag over their heads.
the greatest deliberative body in the world.
ha ha ha…

the laughs on us.

I hope everyone notices one point in particular, it’s the DLC Moderates who keep throwing clogs into the wheels of the Senate.

Bayh, Carper, Pryor, Salazar, Mikulski - the same gang also responsible for the complete castration of the Democratic party over the last decade.

They refuse now to even support Spectors’ bill - proving how far Right those Democrats have shifted.

Thank Reid and Schumer for that.

Harold Ford Jr. and those same members of the DLC, once boasted of Obama on their membership lists. That’s about the time Clinton was trying to make nice with KOs and disassociated herself from them, only months earlier having been on the homepage of their website as it’s reigning queen.

Obama, back then, came out publicly to vehemently deny any association with the DLC, and demanded they remove him from their list.

Welcome back Senator Obama.

Bingamon => Bingaman

Thanks for the liveblog, great to have it

– Did anyone catch how Obama voted on the Specter amendment? –

I assume AYE. I would have caught it if it’d been a NAY vote.

This is a government that is no longer representative of the people but rather special interests and corporations. This is the context in which revolutions are born.

It is government of the some by the some for the some. Lincoln would weep.

I suspect part of the spying is to squash any organized movements toward revolution.