FISA

So there were two FISA bills in the Senate. One bill included retroactive immunity for the telecommunications industry, granting them carte blanche for any laws they might have broken without the knowledge of what they actually did or what those laws they may (or may not) have broken are. In fact, this first bill gives the Bush administration basically everything it wants, with little to no oversight. The other bill does not contain telecom immunity and actually imposes some limits on the surveillance powers of the government. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has said he opposes telecom immunity, and has said all year long that this Congress would bring accountability to the Executive Branch. So which bill does Harry Reid choose to bring to the floor? The first one. The one his opposes. Harry Reid could have chosen either of a bill he agrees with or one he doesn't to bring to the floor, and he chooses the one he opposes.

Fortunately we have Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT). He has been more strongly and outspokenly opposed to telecom immunity from the beginning than anyone else, and today he showed the leadership and integrity that has been so much missing from the so-called Democratic "leadership." Dodd took the Senate floor today and promised to fillibuster the FISA bill as long as he was physically capable of doing so. With the promise of assistance of Senators Feingold (D-WI) and Kennedy (D-MA) asking long, rambling questions to give him breaks, Dodd was able to force Harry Reid to pull FISA from the floor until January. Huzzah!

It's this contrast between Dodd's actions and Reid's actions over this FISA bill which demonstrates the complete cowardice and lack of integrity on the part of Democratic leaders in Congress. Harry Reid could have killed telecom immunity trivially by choosing to bring the version of the bill without it to the floor. Instead, he did what Republicans wanted him to do. Dodd, on the other hand, despite not having the power of the Majority Leader, stood up for his beliefs and did absolutely everything he was capable of to block this bill and succeeded (for the time being).

Can there be any more doubt that Harry Reid is not fit to lead the Democratic Caucus? Rather than acting like a Democratic leader, interested in restoring the integrity of the federal government and bringing accountability to the White House, he acted like a Republican leader, striving to enable the worst excesses of the Bush administration. Does he even know what party he's in anymore? What the Democratic Caucus needs is someone like Chris Dodd, with the integrity and courage to do whatever it takes to accomplish the goals of the American people.

Lieberman

Today Sen. Joe Lieberman (CFL-CT) endorsed Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for President. Back in his 2006 campaign, Holy Joe said he wanted to elect a Democratic President in 2008. Either I missed some big news regarding Sen. McCain, or Joe Lieberman is a liar.

-David Kleppinger, Morons.org Legislative Analyst