Jay Rockefeller on FISA: Bush is committing Political terrorism: Cloture vote fails
By John Amato Sunday Jan 27, 2008 7:41pm 
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Jay: Under the tortured logic of protecting America against terrorism, the WH has decided to exercise frankly its own form of political terrorism and has taken the FISA bill hostage.
Those are powerful words from a man that was helping the telecoms to get immunity. Cheney/Bush and McConnell's actions have even pushed him over the edge.
Cloture vote fails, 48-45, with Landrieu, Ben Nelson and Mark Pryor voting with the Republicans.
McCONNELL: Urges everyone to vote against 30 day extension. Said they may have to do a "short extension" but the President has said he will veto a 30 day.
REID: House will pass a 30 day extension tomorrow. People crying "wolf" here a bit too often.
Victories of any kind are so rare that I'm reluctant to dampen the enthusiasm -- and it is notable that, regardless of their motives, Senate Democrats did actually manage to do something different than the White House ordered them to do, so that's good. But it's important to emphasize what really happened here today, and what didn't happen...read on
Chris Dodd: "I Will Continue to Fight Retroactive Immunity with all the Strength Any One Senator Can Muster "
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"We must speak the truth about terror." -- George W. Bush
Amazing what happens when the Dems have unity and just say no.
I just don't trust Rockefeller. Telecom immunity wouldn't have made it out of committee if it was for the newly flush with Telecom cash Sen. Rockefeller. And I'm still waiting for part two of the report on how the Bush regime lied us into Iraq.
Landrieu, Ben Nelson and Mark Pryor voting with the Republicans.
Nice. Party loyalty? Naw, only if you are Republican I guess.
Dodd should be Majority Leader. ASAP.
Bush is playing chicken with the Dems, because every time he does, they fold. Maybe if they tried resisting FOR ONCE, they might surprise the little emperor and defeat him.
Which Ben Nelson ( the one from Nebraska??) if so he is no Democrat during the state elections he was MORE Republician than the republician
I think he wants to be a lieberman clone and just say he's a democrat
jay is a rockefeller looking out for the fambly bizniz. he is FOS, so fuck him.
so...in Greenwalds opinion.........the Senate voted to preserve Senate protocol....and that's it.
if bush wants telecom immunity, then let every single American citizen
stomp on bush's balls the same way he is the Constitution.
This is a small victory, but glad to have it anyhow.
The main value is that it denies Bush the victory today, for his SOTU strut.
The 30 day extension should get a veto, and then these conflicts are going to boil over, so all this is good for the Senate, which is in sad shape, and really won't change any time soon.
Dodd doesn't want to be the majority leader. Ask him. The caucus is split, and the two halves do not glue back together very often -- it shows how McConnell screwed the pooch with his attempt to play majority leader again. He brought the Dems together, and yet still doesn't control the agenda. What a loser.
A Rockefeller casting blame at Bush for crimes against the state???
now that's a riot.
faux outrage from controlled opposition.
If Boosh vetos the 30 day extension........he cancels out his own rhetoric(bs).but as usual....he'll blame it on the Dems.
Sorry everyone, we had to pull some features off of C&L for the time being...Let's hope it stays up tonight..
if you've been following this for the last 8 yrs., you know jay rockefeller's been on the fence for a while. kind of like mike mcconnell (not to be confused w/ that dip$#!+ senator from kentucky), general hayden and director mueller.
let's give jay a little support -let him know how ordinary, patriotic americans feel.
ConcernedCanuck @ 4:
Um. Please don't forget Specter.
ROM Spaceknight @ 16:
I think Preznit Booshs new budget will help him see the light.
In response to all the technical problems we've been having at C&L...
"We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nation will accept the New World Order." -- David Rockefeller
LOL. Are these Rockefeller's related. Peace.
Yah know, Mary Landrieu........it something about that hussy I never liked.
Shes as much of a traitor a freak Lieberman.
dadams @ 11:
What balls?
"Jay: Under the tortured logic of protecting America against terrorism, the WH has decided to exercise frankly its own form of political terrorism and has taken the FISA bill hostage".
I'm cynical enough to interpret that as Rockefeller telling the Telcom's that they'll have to pony up far more cash than either of them anticipated when he struck his devil's bargain with the "corporate patriots".
You know it's bad when ROCKERFELLER is calling Bush a terrorist.
I don't have to remind people that his grandfather was a Hitler supporter before 1945, both on an economic level & a eugenics level.
When you lose the support of white power nazi sympathizers, it's over Johnny.
Too bad Pelosi will still keep impeachment off the table. I wish every Gold Star family would show up at her house every time a lost soldier's birthday would roll around.
the center for public integrity did what the congress, the courts, and the corporate media would not do. go to their website and read the report on the lies leading to war in iraq. it is an indictment of the bush administration's war crimes.
Orangutan. @ 19:
david's a sack of $#!+ with a spot on the bench in hell waiting for him but with jay there's hope. just because they're related doesn't mean they're equally evil.
Orangutan. @ 19:
and yes, all rockefellers are related, and they're all related to the rothschilds. or should i say, the ROTTEN CHILDS.
Orangutan. @ 19:
That "quotation" is a standalone guide to every conspiracy website on the planet.
None of which document its source.
John Amato @ 15:
its a great site . . . thanks for your efforts John . . . I had trouble earlier but just waited awhile . . . nothing is perfect.
paging lord rotten child, paging lord rotten child. adam weishaupt wants his enlightenment revolution back...
I watched the debate (pepto and barf bag in hand during the minority arguments) and then the vote on cloture. I was dumb-struck watching Mary Landrieu (LA) first vote no, then proceed to walk across the room from one side to the other till out of camera; return to "the well", go to the desk located in the front right of the President's desk then return to the woman taking votes and changed her vote to NO..... Hope the Louisiana electorate remember that when she's up for re-election.
motorfingaz @ 20:
Yes, it's important to focus on her gender instead of her character.
Anyone want to take a gentleman's bet that this was nothing more than a face-saving measure, perhaps even worked with McConnell? So the Dem senators could obtain at least partial political cover for supporting telecom immunity?
My guess is that the senate passes FISA with telecom immunity after all is said and done. And Rockefeller et al get the air time to pretend that they were tough on Bush.
Otay @ 32:
I don't buy it. I think that McConnell and Bond thought they'd pull this off. And, to be honest, I was quite worried that they would.
Otay @ 32:
That I agree with. Reid will cave and push the cutoff to 60 for amendments. None (that matter) will pass. Something close to the IC version will sit through a filibuster for a while, but finally come up for a vote and pass. Yes, this will be sometime in late Feb or March, but it will pass.
Most of all, however: it makes no fricken difference. Do you think the Admin won't do something because it isn't authorized? Do you think the SCOTUS will allow cases against the telecoms to move forward?
The Republicans have been framing the debate for the last 7 years. It's time for us to frame the issue.
Here's a start.
"Bush holds national security hostage to win immunity for his criminal conspirators"
JTM @ 33:
Any Senate bill offering immunity still has to survive the conference committee, and the House has steadily refused any such offer.
This is a key fight -- it doesn't matter as a practical matter (as you note), so much as a public-political engagement with the Senate, which is showing signs of helping rearrange sympathies, now that Bushco is collapsing under the weight of its crimes.
The Dem's have grown balls? Hmm. Well, will believe it when I see it.
ROM Spaceknight @ 16:
I agree. I called both my Senators Friday to encourage them to block cloture and then again today when they voted that way. I think it's important to praise them when they vote the correct way.
So Bush has taken the FISA bill hostage? Let's hope the Dems have the backbone to not pay ransom and let Bush shoot the hostage. The blood will be on his hands.
So much for that Democratic Majority.
We need 63 plus.
U.S. intelligence tapped the telephone calls of Lawrence Wright, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower, starting in 2002. Read about his confrontation with Mitch McConnell over the matter and the visit to his house by the FBI
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=hsnews-000002661145
Supporting telecom immunity will only set precedence for Bush and Cheney to seek immunity for them running a warrantless domestic spying program on us citizens for political gain and continued assault on the Constitution.
Reid can suck my big fat hairy conscience :) someone please drop this guy a copy of "Reality-A soldiers story" ;)
get ready! all a big lead up to another false-flag terror attack that will be blamed on the dems for not passing the "spy" bill --- then bush/cheney will do as pervez musharraf and declare martial law, suspend constitution and elections . . .
go ahead... roll your eyes and snick-snick ------ you've been warned.
mudkitty @ 39:
We should have 55 by next January.
2fargone @ 42:
It's a pathetic thing, Chicken Little.
They do NOT have the manpower for martial law.
They steal elections, they do not have the power to suspend them.
Lets hope that finally they leave bush sucking the uncut, limp dick this time.
Come'on bushie, you've got to be good for something, grab the balls and say "retroactive immunity'!
Its sad that Chris Dodd took the lead on this issue and not Clinton or Obama.
I just have a bad feeling they will cave again before its all over.
Though it seems pretty clear that this was not a vote about the FISA travesty so much as a party vs party standoff over Senate authority (too close to a perfect split to be anything but), I'll take some minute measure of satisfaction that Bush got nothing out of this for his SOTU address. Of course, the Dems will roll over when the amendments come around and Dodd will be relegated to filibuster obscurity as seems Reid's intent, but it's something. Just barely. I'm still curious how this measure will pass any sort of Constitutional challenge, but that's for the future, which, sadly, is ruled by a corporatist SCOTUS that favors big business every time.
Well, we have 12 Dem targets to unseat over the next few years, clearly. Time to start taking aim at the ripest fruit.
I just hope that the coming economic turmoil doesn't result in a "Carter Part Deux," and all that that implies.
Wait when did he quit bowing down to AT&T? Didnt he change his stance to supporting this garbage?
Good for them.... it's a shame that most people who are unhappy with Bush.. somewhat still don't know 'ALL' the reason why they should be unhappy. I don't enjoy demonizing people.. but what do you do when it's true?
Impeach, fine, and imprison the war criminal terrorists Cheney then Bush because they do not defend and protect the U.S. Constitution. It has been proved that they have lied to the congress, the people, have committed acts of terror to the Iraqi people, limited our rights as Americans, the economy is tanking on their watch, and this administration is wanting to maintain power by more reign of terror. Because they are the most despicable people to steal an election this is what sleeping U.S. populous gets. Pelosi needs to wake up and get impeachment for the House vote, Reid needs a better spine, the media needs to stop being corporate lackeys, and the people of the U.S. need to wake up speak out if we want a decent government.
motorfingaz @ 20:
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Well, I don't know about the hussy part, but what was interesting was that she had
actually voted nay, and after a vote count, she changed her vote to yay.
Jay came in to WV a long time ago and took on big coal. He tried to stop the strip mining. He lost. He learned to play the game with the powers-that-be and he became governor. I am a liberal and I have voted for him EVERY time because he really has been supportive of most liberal issues. My understanding is that he never took a dime from the telecommunications companies…..until right before he came out with the bill to give immunity to the telecommunication companies. Hmmm, some coincidence. I have been so angry over this and I have written and called him many many times. I hope the rest of the country does the same. Call him:
202-224-6472
I just sent a letter to my senator, John Cornyn (cough, cough) concerning something that Glenn Greenwald noted that he had stated yesterday. The text of the letter is as follows:
Is it true that sometime in yesterday's (Jan 28, 2008) discussions on telecom immunity you and Saxby Chambliss claimed that companies should never "second-guess" the "judgment of the President regarding what's legal"?
If so, then I guess you will not have any problem if President Hillary Clinton asks those same companies to wiretap someone without a valid warrant because, after all, they should never second guess the judgement of the President regarding what is legal, right?
This is what it is all about, isn't it? Allowing companies that may have broken the law to get away with it just because the President said it was legal. Those same companies probably have hundreds of lawyers that could have advised them as to the legality of these requests but they chose to either not get that advise or to ignore it. And you believe those companies should should not be held accountable even though they may have broken the law.
What's the point of having laws at all if it comes down to whatever the President says is the law? Sounds pretty darn close to being a dictatorship don't you think?
Wonder what kind of response I'll get?
Rockefeller has blown his credibility with me.
Were Obamma and Clinton present for the vote?
Rockefeller is a traitor to this county and to mankind in general. His family is responsible in one way or another many of the woes that we as country face to today and in the coming future.
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