It's about time they started growing some balls!

clinton and obama= handpicked puppets of the plutocracy. killing, robbing, plundering.

kucinich '08

Edit to comment 4: They all say they support HIM.

Now to get some coffee.

Too late for Hillary as far as I'm concerned. She should have already "studied it" and know where the hell she firmly stands. I'm sick of her fence sitting and for that matter Obama's too. Take a stand and then stick by it. Even if I don't agree with their decision, I will admire their dedication.

If they take the wrong stand and later realize it was wrong, all they have to do is explain why new facts or whatever caused them to change. I have no problem with human beings making mistakes. It's when they don't admit them and therefore don't learn from them, that aggravates me.

If what the telecoms did was illegal enough that they are trying to get blanket immunity then isn't the "government" guilty of something?

According to the ACLU survey of 1,000 likely voters, 59% were either opposed or strongly opposed to the idea of giving companies that sold such information to the government civil or criminal immunity, even if that information was used to “investigate terrorism.”

Great! All we need now is Majority Rule.

And the reich will say the 59%-ers want the country to be bombed by terrorists. Obviously. Because not wanting your privacy invaded by a fascist government is EXACTLY the same as hoping your country gets attacked by terrorists. Just ask the neocons. They'll tell you.

Hillary's response is especially pathetic.

They tell us if you have nothing to hide, don't worry about wiretaps. Using their own logic, if the telecoms have nothing to hide, why are they worried about obtaining immunity?

well great, but please adjust the video clip so that Senator Dodd is actually visible. I don't know who sets up the clips but it's kind of a letdown that on one of Dodd's more meaningful moments, his face isn't even visible in the main post.

petty? maybe. it just jumped out at me.

17 pissed off patricia Says: They tell us if you have nothing to hide, don’t worry about wiretaps. Using their own logic, if the telecoms have nothing to hide, why are they worried about obtaining immunity?

----------------

No, it is "If YOU have nothing to hide, don’t worry about wiretaps." Since there is no logic to begin with you can't extrapolate.

If there was nothing illegal involved in the transactions between the telecoms and BushCo., WHY is immunity
even being discussed?

If something illegal was involved in the transactions, WHY is immunity even being discussed?

You must also call turncoat Harry Reid. He's threatening to fight Chris Dodd. You must also call Jay Rockerfeller who received approximately $50K from AT&T and Verizon and is now supporting the FISA bill.

The telcos. were headed to certain defeat in the courts. So they dumped a truckload of cash on the Congress asking for retroactive immunity. Any judgement against them could be HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS or BILLIONS of $$$ in damages. Criminal prosecution is in play too.

The 4th Amendment is on the line. We must all call to save it.

If the telcos are able to BUY immunity from the congress for past (alleged) crimes WHERE WILL IT END?

These are FREE calls to the Capitol Hill Switchboard. Just ask the operator to connect you to any politician. Please give these numbers to your friends and post on other websites as well.

1 (800) 828 - 0498
1 (800) 459 - 1887
1 (800) 614 - 2803
1 (866) 340 - 9281
1 (866) 338 - 1015
1 (877) 851 - 6437

* aome= upon

nevermind...more coffee.

I think I have found my candidate. Dodd, you talk the talk, now walk the walk. I like the way he speaks plainly, stating what he will do and why. I also like the fact that he's angry. I like angry democrats. As the great John Lydon said, "Anger is an energy!"

Using a telephone to call long distance is what your telephone company wants!

$$$

"As matters stand now, I could not support it and I would support a filibuster absent additional information coming forward that would convince me differently."

HRC giving the telcoms what they need so they'll give her what she needs to turn on Dodd.

Been had?

Welcome to America.

well................lets give it a shot.What have we got to lose?....I hope something comes of this....but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Obama is a failed senator as well as a failed presidential candidate. As my representative he has failed to protect my liberties by letting the Bush administrator wiretap and suspend habeas corpus. Why didn't any senator put a hold on those bills? Why didn't Obama filibuster then. All these senators are a day late and a dollar short. Vote them all out and I hope they enjoy their reward in hell.

mudshark @ 39:

well................lets give it a shot.What have we got to lose?....I hope something comes of this....but I'm not getting my hopes up.

What have we got to lose? More of our Constitutional freedoms.

I'm hearing lots of promises (not even good promises, at that) ... but all the lies and illegal behaviors of the Bush Administration just keep getting a free pass.

What in the hell are they waiting for?

DaveTheAngryRhodeIslander @ 40:

xoites defends Constitution @ 34:

DaveTheAngryRhodeIslander @ 32:

xoites defends Constitution @ 30:

I guess you don't recognize sarcasm when it bites...

Actually i thought i was giving excellent sarcasm some well founded attention. :)

I thought you were saying PoP was dim. I'm dim...

Having reread what i wrote i can see why. Inflection is difficult in the printed word.

Jesus, I was supporting his cause even before watching the video but DAMN! this is an impressive statement from Dodd.

Clinton and Obama need "Action Alerts" to do the right thing on this??? Maybe a study group or quick poll would help too.

God, who in their right mind supports these two hacks????

I made the calls for what it's worth? The fact that Hillary and Obama alluded to the fact that troops would be in Iraq until 2013 makes me sure I won't vote for either of them.

The Dem's better get a spine now or forever give up a lot of Dem's support when they refuse to stand for what the people in the Dem. party really want and not because of their fear of Dumbya and DickHead.

Boy, if the 90%+ CrazyChristian Fundamentalist Evangelical US public is turning against immunizing the telecom supporters of the 100%+ CrazyChristian Fundamentalist Evangelical Bush administration, the telecoms better increase their tithings. Maybe they can slip in a last-minute, 'midnight' ear-mark addendum to one of the Republican bills to 'Fu*k the Children and the Rest of the US', to provide a faith-based 'Bridge to Nowhere', so the famous 'Son (AKA Dick) of a Preacher Man (AKA Oral)' and his gullible flock can escape the IRS by fleeing to 'Heaven'.
That should sway the CrazyChristian Fundamentalist Evangelical American public (and the Popish Pedophilic Putzy Priests), to protect the Telecoms from any repercussions for their having deliberately and repeatedly ignored and defied the Constitution by violating the rights of the few rational citizens of the US, who happen to care about and cherish the rights granted them by the founders of this once-great nation, now so viciously under attack by the current administration, their Congressional cohorts, and the dupicitous and mendacious neocon zionist coup leaders.

So Sayeth Preacher Boob, 'His' TRUE voice.

When everyone goes to vote during your primaries, please remember who it was that had the guts to take a stand to preserve our rights. It was Chris Dodd. It wasn't Hillary or Obama. They both sat around waiting for the polls to come out before making thier usual weak declarations. They are both nothing but tools for the status quo.

Nixon @ 10:

Swanny @ 9:

If what the telecoms did was illegal enough that they are trying to get blanket immunity then isn't the "government" guilty of something?

The government is guilty of aiding and abetting. Or at the very least, guilty of attempting to shred all the documents before someone finds out that I screwed up.

The government is the criminal. The telcoms are the aiders and abbetors.

As the alleged leaders in the corporate media polls, Clinton and Obama should have been the ones leading the charge that Dodd has been leading. Instead they are doing their trademark triangulation routines. When you lift the hood to see what's inside, there's nothing there.

No corporatist is getting my vote.

DXWOODS @ 58:

How come even this forum ignores the question of what Edwards, Kucinich, Gravel, Richardson, Hunter, Paul, etc think about this issue? I want to know what how each and every declared candidate thinks. On my own I really don't care what Clinton thinks because I won't vote for her. Obama seems to be turn into the same type of poll-driven decision making animal. I'm feed up with the MSM focus on 4 candidates — 2 from each party — and the horse race mentality of it all. There's still over a year to go before we vote. At least C&L is reporting on Senator Dodd's stance. Thanks for that much.

Because the topic is Chris Dodd and his efforts on the Telecom Bill. Watch the video.

m @ 8:

frankly, who wants hillary or obama on the bus? i don't. i'm glad their showing thier true colors.

Me too. It's time for a new driver on that bus, and how about Dodd since he stuck out his neck? It seems to be that he is a leader and the other two cautious followers.

I've been looking for a leader with intelligence, compassion, and a fire in his belly. Chris Dodd is the one! And good for Joe Biden and Feingold joining in. Clinton and Obama are completely of my list of favored people now. We need leaders, not weenies.

Another astounding point--Hillary says she hasn't read the bill yet? Then either her mind is already made up, or she doesn't care about our civil liberties, or she is incompetent. Enough with those reps who don't read the bills! That's how we got the PATRIOT Act (allegedly...I believe they had most of it ready to go, even back in the Clinton Administration.)

Candidates whose aim is to become president and take the oath to protect and defend the Constitution had better start living that promise NOW. In fact, if they haven't already taken that oath as their supreme duty, they shouldn't be running at all.

To find out more about what is included in the FISA bill--and you will be even more angry and shocked--see this diary by Kagro X on DailyKos.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/23/14286/394

changeit @ 69:

Another astounding point--Hillary says she hasn't read the bill yet? Then either her mind is already made up, or she doesn't care about our civil liberties, or she is incompetent. Enough with those reps who don't read the bills! That's how we got the PATRIOT Act (allegedly...I believe they had most of it ready to go, even back in the Clinton Administration.)

Candidates whose aim is to become president and take the oath to protect and defend the Constitution had better start living that promise NOW. In fact, if they haven't already taken that oath as their supreme duty, they shouldn't be running at all.

To find out more about what is included in the FISA bill--and you will be even more angry and shocked--see this diary by Kagro X on DailyKos.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/10/23/14286/394

The fact that Congress does not read the bills is a real peeve of mine.

I'm of the opinion that members of Congress should not pass a bill if they have not read it.

Passing bills without reading them is akin to driving with your eyes closed. This policy of voting for bills without knowing what is in them, is wrecking our country and killing millions of people.

Too bad. So sad. It's the CFR which determines who the plebs will have as a choice for president. As always, it will come down to CFR candidate A vs. CFR candidate B. Heads they win, tails you lose. As far as the left-wing of the Corporate/War party goes, the CFR has chosen Shrillary with Obama as a backup.

If Obama and Hillary won't support the law, can we expect them to obey the law if elected? Vote Kucinich and Dodd.

Actually an Edwards with Dodd as VP would be a killer ticket. I think even 70% of republicans would vote for that. Even the paulanistas...

Matt Stoller: Clinton and Obama Running for Caveat-in-Chief‘

I don’t want to diminish the utility of Obama and Clinton coming out against this bill. But at certain moments in history, principled clarity is what’s required in a political leader. America is in a bad situation, and it’s problematic that our leaders have and continue to betray us at all levels.

that's putting it nicely.

I hope we don't see Dodd crying through an apology soon.

ScrewBush @ 56:

The only real fight is to take the money out of the election process. Folks you can call and call and call but until you can contribute like a corporation, politicians will only pay you lip service while paying corporations with earmarks and legal protections like this telecom bill.

We're going to have to keep fighting on every issue forever because we are fighting against the interests and financial power of corporations. Freedom is a constant struggle when we the people rarely even have a seat at the table. Take the corporate dollars out of the system and watch crappy bills like this just go away.

Dems are in line to get contributions from the same folks that GOPers are wanting to get contributions from. How different, how really different, do you thing electing a Dem supported by the telecom and oil industry is from electing a GOPer supported by the telecom and oil industry?

So true. Right now, we have some alligators to kill. In time, public financing-until then, we're lost.

Limp-Dick Blimpaugh @ 53:

The Dem's better get a spine now or forever give up a lot of Dem's support when they refuse to stand for what the people in the Dem. party really want and not because of their fear of Dumbya and DickHead.

The hive mind on the left needs to quit parroting this moronic meme. The Dems don't fear the Repubs. They fear the corporate and foreign lobbies that own them. Please get a clue.

Clinton considers giving up some powers

NEW YORK - If elected president in 2008, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton would consider giving up some of the executive powers President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have assumed since taking office.

In an interview published Tuesday in Guardian America,...Clinton denounced the Bush Administration's push to concentrate more power in the White House as a "power grab" not supported by the Constitution.

Asked if she would consider giving up some of those powers if she were president, Clinton replied, "Oh, absolutely ... I mean, that has to be part of the review that I undertake when I get to the White House, and I intend to do that."

**Excuse me??!! She's going to review which illegal powers to give back when she's in the White House?? She's unable to tell us NOW which powers are illegal and will be conceded? She plans on keeping, or trying to keep, some of these unConstitutional powers?? And the reporter didn't press her and ask which illegal powers she desires to retain? And none of the "news" programs have mentioned any of this??

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071023/ap_on_el_pr/clinton_executive_power;...

New bumper sticker:
It's the Constitution, Stupid
Vote ------------- '08
Dodd, and Biden are on board anyone else?
No stones necessary on this one.

plane @ 36:

And where is Harry Reid on the issue? As usual he's not leading and is willing to cave.

Reid is a stealth prostitute for the 1%.
I'm beginning to wonder if Dick Durbin will develop a conscience and distinguish himself from the "Reid Cabal".

Don't know if anyone caught an error Sen. Dodd made in his presentation (at 10:00 in the video). He said that the president makes an oath to "protect our country from enemies foreign and domestic and to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." The actual Oath of Office as defined by the Constitution is as follows:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

By stating that the president takes an oath to protect our country from "enemies...." isn't Dodd falling into Bush-speak?

Diogenes @ 76:

Chris Dodd's reputation has gone way, way, way up, imo. He is acting like a statesman, damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead. If he filibusters, I think we can guarantee his ratings amongst us liberals are going sky high. He is looking better and better to me every day. As to Hillary and Obama, they are going to get run over if they don't get on the bus NOW. Let's for once see their consciences ruling them, rather than political calculation.

Well look, I don't want to put down Dodd too much because he's the only one doing what's right, but let's be fair, he almost certainly wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for two things: 1) he's running for president, and 2) he has very little support right now and needs publicity and support from people like C&Lers. Nothing to lose, and plenty to gain. How often did you hear him take strong, public stands before he started running? He's mostly voted on "our" side, but has always been pretty quiet about it, especially compared with Our Pal Joe.

I am not fully informed on the methods of establishing procedure in the Senate, but it seems to me like this could be a perfect opportunity for the Democrats to establish a much-needed change in procedural rules, as well as accomplishing their filibuster.

The filibuster move must go back to its literal roots, requiring actual presence and talking on the floor by participants throughout its execution. Allowing Republicans to use this tool simply by stating their intent to filibuster has allowed them to become the most obstructionist minority in history, without extracting any price at all. If Democrats tried to change this in the face of an impending Republican filibuster, they could easily be charged with playing partisan politics with non-partisan rules. If they institute the change with their own filibuster impending, then that argument melts away.

So, while showing the world they are serious about protecting the people and seeing that the law is enforced, they should also show their commitment to ending Republican obstructionism of their agenda, or at least making it a lot harder on those who oppose America's will.

You need to publish the people that are writing these foolish bills as well as the supporters of said bill. They need to anticipate the lost votes for their foolishness of protecting the corporate interests rather than their constituents' interests. They took office and promised to uphold the Constitution, not the bottom line of their donor companies. Shine a light on these turncoats please.

And will Obama sit in the back of the bus?

GonzoD @ 1:

It's about time they started growing some balls!

And will Obama sit in the back of the bus?

Hillary too?