MoveOn.org not ready to: Calls for Obama to Filibuster FISA
As Terry Pratchett once said, it's like watching a wasp land on a nettle. *Something's* getting stung, and you don't care which.
By Moe Lane Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | FISA | Lets you and him fight | MoveOn.org — Comments (14) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
For the This Primary Is Made Out Of Awesome files: via the Huffington Post we see that MoveOn.org is absolutely adamant that Senator Obama filibuster the FISA bill this week. How awesome is it?
It's awesome enough that I'm reprinting the whole post after the fold. That's how awesome it is. You see, I want progressives to email the Senator and demand that he filibuster: he'll either not do so, and thus betray them further; or he'll cave to them, which will embarrass the Democratic Party at the very moment that they need to show Unity.
And either way, the FISA bill still passes. That's because the progressives don't have the votes to stop it, even if Harry Reid wasn't owned by Mitch McConnell (who looks increasingly likely to be keeping his seat, after all). As he is... well. This should be entertaining.
Well. At least for people who, you know, matter.
Moe Lane
Dear MoveOn member,
On Friday, House Democrats caved to the Bush administration and passed a bill giving a get-out-of-jail-free card to phone companies that helped Bush illegally spy on innocent Americans.1
This Monday, the fight moves to the Senate. Senator Russ Feingold says the "deal is not a compromise; it is a capitulation."2 Barack Obama announced his partial support for the bill, but said, "It does, however, grant retroactive immunity, and I will work in the Senate to remove this provision so that we can seek full accountability for past offenses."3
Last year, after phone calls from MoveOn members and others, Obama went so far as to vow to "support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies."4 We need him to honor that promise.
Can you call Senator Obama today and tell him you're counting on him to keep his word? Ask him to block any compromise that includes immunity for phone companies that helped Bush break the law.
Obama's presidential campaign: (866) 675-2008
Then, help us track our progress by clicking here:
http://pol.moveon.org/call?cp_id=758&tg=479
These companies helped the Bush Administration illegally spy on the emails and phone calls of innocent Americans. By giving "immunity" to these companies, all lawsuits brought against them by civil liberties groups would be thrown out of court. That means we may never find out how far Bush went in breaking the law. And once it's done, it can't be undone. That's why we need Obama to promise to block any bill that has immunity.
Supporters of today's deal say it doesn't guarantee immunity—it just kicks the issue to a court to decide. But that's deceptive. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) points out:
"It gives [Bush's] attorney general the power to decide if cases against telecommunications companies will proceed. The AG only has to certify to the FISA court that the company didn't spy or did so with a permission slip from the president. A note from the president is not a legal defense. Allowing phone companies to avoid litigation by simply presenting a 'permission slip' from the president is not court review."5The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit group working with the ACLU to hold these companies accountable, adds, "whatever gloss might be put on it, the so-called 'compromise' on immunity for phone companies that broke the law is anything but a compromise...no matter how they spin it, this is still immunity, period."6
President Bush and the phone companies know that the facts are against them. A judge appointed by President Bush's father already wrote one opinion finding that "AT&T cannot seriously contend that a reasonable entity in its position could have believed that the alleged domestic dragnet was legal."7
But we'll never know how far their illegal actions went unless we fight back now. Can you tell Barack Obama you're counting on him to keep his word and block any compromise that gives immunity to lawbreaking phone companies?Obama's presidential campaign: (866) 675-2008
Then, help us track our progress by clicking here:
http://pol.moveon.org/call?cp_id=758&tg=479
Thanks for all you do,
–Nita, Adam G., Patrick, Ilyse, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Saturday, June 21, 2008Sources:
1. "George Bush's latest powers, courtesy of the Democratic Congress," Glenn Greenwald on Salon.com, June 19, 2008
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/19/telecom/index.html2. "Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold On the FISA Deal," Statement of Senator Russ Feingold, June 19, 2008
http://feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/statements/08/06/20080619f.htm3. "Obama Backing FISA 'Compromise," Greg Sargent at TPM Election Central, June 20, 2008
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/obama_backing_fi...4. "Obama Camp Says It: He'll Support Filibuster Of Any Bill Containing Telecom Immunity," Greg Sargent at TPM Election Central, October 24, 2007
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2007/10/obama_camp_says_...5. "Facts on the Senator Kit Bond's (R-Mo.) FISA Proposal," June 13, 2008
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/spying/35652res20080613.html6. "Prepared Statement of Eff Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston on Immunity 'Compromise,'" Electronic Frontier Foundation, June 18, 2008
http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/EFF_bankston.pdf7. "Targeting Steny Hoyer for his contempt for the rule of law," Glenn Greenwald on Salon.com, June 17, 2008
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/17/hoyer/index.html
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MoveOn.org not ready to: Calls for Obama to Filibuster FISA 14 Comments (0 topical, 14 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
Let me say that if I'm the winner you guys won't be completely disappointed in my choice of beneficiary.
My one problem is I can't conceive of a situation where he could betray the netroots. He could murder Markos and they would forgive him. He could be lighting cigars with George Soros's money and using the embers to burn down Al Gore's house and they would forgive him.
But for the rest of us LOL.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
We don't need all of the nutroots to abandon the Obamessiah. We don't even need half of them to.
We just need enough to cool their ardor for him, that the "groundswell" of financial and voting support is notably diminished in enough battleground states, for McCain to win.
What if, say, 10-25% of the netroots were to grow dispirited enough with the Obamessiah to withhold their money and take a pass on voting for him in November? Might that make the difference in OH, PA, MI, CO, NM, NH?
If so, that's all we need. Let the CA and NY netroots stay all ga-ga for him. Those states are hopeless cases for us this November.
Just win, baby.
"Who will stand/On either hand/And guard this bridge with me?" (Macaulay)
Well, the leftys do seem to have that certain way of making fools of themselves. Hope of all hopes they get this to fruition.
____________________________
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
--Aristotle
The entertainment from the Dem primary is much funnier.
would require Obama to show up for, you know, his job - the one he's actually been elected too, in the Senate. The U.S. Senate. That one.
If I had his attendance record at work, I'd have been fired a long time ago.
acquiesce in Senator Obama retaining his seat until he comes up for re-election.
The free exchange of ideas inevitably yields both heat and light.
is good enough for slightly less than half the voting democrats in the country to be their next President, I suppose it's good enough for the citizens of Illinois to continue to be their Representative.
One good thing about Democrats in Congress that aren't ever there. They don't get anything done. That's the best you can hope for from them.
I hope they have nameplates.
The whole time he's been Senator, he's been running for president. What's he going to do if he gets elected, start running for god?
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1. We need an Obama Senate "report card" - how often he has attended, how many votes he has missed, the # of hearings he has failed to schedule, and any other pertinent measures. Maybe also include days since he was last in Iraq. He really should be fired based on performance, so let's make the case.
2. As to contacting Obama's office on this issue, follow the Chicago rule - Early and Often. I'll bet Moe is an especially good actor when it comes to issues of the heart like this.
...who won the last "Fake it" RedState photoshop contest? I never saw it announced.
If the results haven't been come up with yet, let me say I'm VERY CONCERNED about all the anti-Obama links offered here. Perhaps I'm even thinking of voting McCain! Who knows what result my being victorious in a photo-manipulation contest may bring!
New: (-1.50, -5.33)