ReillyT
Senior Member
After years of lambasting the Bush administration for its use of warrantless wiretaps, the Democratic leadership of the House has pushed through a bill that legalizes the very activity that they have criticized and immunizes telecom companies who broke the law in facilitating this illegal activity.
Not only does this reflect badly on the Constitution and eviscerate the 4th Amendment, but it does so at the behest of the Democratic leadership (although the majority of Democrats in the House actually voted against the measure). I don't believe it reflects on anyone quite so badly as the Democratic nominee however, who just months ago promised to filibuster any bill that grants immunity to the telecom companies, but has since changed his position, indicating he will vote for the measure. Is there any weaker, more cowardly group of people in politics than the leadership of the Democratic party?
Glenn Greenwald - Salon.comCQ reports (sub. req.) that "a final deal has been reached" on FISA and telecom amnesty and "the House is likely to take up the legislation Friday." I've now just read a copy of the final "compromise" bill. It's even worse than expected. When you read it, it's actually hard to believe that the Congress is about to make this into our law. Then again, this is the same Congress that abolished habeas corpus with the Military Commissions Act, and legalized George Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program with the "Protect America Act," so it shouldn't be hard to believe at all...
That's the "compromise" Steny Hoyer negotiated and which he is now -- according to very credible reports -- pressuring every member of the Democratic caucus to support. It's full-scale, unconditional amnesty with no inquiry into whether anyone broke the law. In the U.S. now, thanks to the Democratic Congress, we'll have a new law based on the premise that the President has the power to order private actors to break the law, and when he issues such an order, the private actors will be protected from liability of any kind on the ground that the Leader told them to do it -- the very theory that the Nuremberg Trial rejected
Not only does this reflect badly on the Constitution and eviscerate the 4th Amendment, but it does so at the behest of the Democratic leadership (although the majority of Democrats in the House actually voted against the measure). I don't believe it reflects on anyone quite so badly as the Democratic nominee however, who just months ago promised to filibuster any bill that grants immunity to the telecom companies, but has since changed his position, indicating he will vote for the measure. Is there any weaker, more cowardly group of people in politics than the leadership of the Democratic party?