The People-Powered Dodd Filibuster

Nothing I could say (4.00 / 2)

would be as relevant or interesting as reading aloud the Constitution, so my vote is for that.

birch, finch, beech

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by: Dean Barker @ Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 20:03:56 PM CST

This is the one time that reading a city telephone book (4.00 / 6)

Would be surprisingly pertinent.

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by: Mike Caulfield @ Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 20:25:20 PM CST

My nomination for comment of the week, right here. n/t (0.00 / 0)

birch, finch, beech

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by: Dean Barker @ Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 20:29:09 PM CST

[ Parent ]

That Jim McDermott transcript (4.00 / 2)

The liberal Congressman from Washington state.

Republicans were discussing the ethics case against Gingrich years ago on cell phones, and someone heard - and taped - the whole thing. The person who heard the call gave McDermott the tape and he released it.

Republicans have been outraged at this "violation of privacy." They sued him and won.

Since the federal government is illegally tapping all of our phones and Internet conversations today - at least according to the retired AT&T engineer who is familiar with the network wiring - a golden oldie of McDermott's transcript in the Congressional Record would be fitting.

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by: elwood @ Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 20:34:48 PM CST

[ Parent ]

The seminal case on the underlying issue (4.00 / 2)

Is  KATZ v. UNITED STATES, 389 U.S. 347 (1967), in which the Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment protects against wiretaps.  I'd suggest that the Senator read the majority opinion by Justice Stewart, as well as the concurrence by Justice Douglas (joined by Brennan), in which he makes clear that there is no special "national security" exception for the prohibition on warrantless wiretaps.

The case can be found here:  http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/...

Go Dodd!  I hope your brethren and sistren come out to support you.

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by: District 5 @ Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 20:26:11 PM CST

Here's one comment (4.00 / 2)

There's a place where people decide if laws have been broken, and if reparations must be made. It's called a court.

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by: Mike Caulfield @ Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 20:39:44 PM CST

So seriously, his staff may compile some stuff we say here into the remarks, right (0.00 / 0)

Is there a way we could work "gopher-moat politics" into an actual Senate transcript?

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by: Mike Caulfield @ Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 20:44:38 PM CST

The Pentagon Papers n/t (4.00 / 1)

SGS is Jack Mitchell of Lowell, MA. The symbolism of the "sleeping giant" is based on my HOPE for America.

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by: Sleeping Giant Stirs @ Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 20:49:45 PM CST

"We can't go higher than $32 a share. (0.00 / 0)

Tell them that, but be prepared to go up to $35."

"The Lipidrex tests - we may have to stop them early. We're seeing cardiovascular problems."

"Boehner's staying away from that race. There are rumors about him and the page program. He's on his own."

All just the sort of stuff we can comfortably entrust to a low-level federal employee.

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by: elwood @ Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 20:58:35 PM CST

As I suggested on Crooks and Liars, (4.00 / 1)

The Federalist Papers, Orwell's 1984, Locke, Paine, Jefferson.

--
"Act as if ye have faith and faith shall be given to you." -Aaron Sorkin

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 21:17:12 PM CST

Dodd and his show of conscience (0.00 / 0)

I applaud Senator Dodd for his stand on this issue.  I hope that the other Senate members who are running for Prez will take the stand and not show up after someone else has done the dirty work.

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by: mbrennanwhite @ Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 22:45:10 PM CST

Read the fine print (4.00 / 4)

...terms and conditions in an AT&T contract.

It's time we steer by the stars, and not the lights of every passing ship

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by: Andy Edwards @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 03:56:52 AM CST

How about the Magna Carta (4.00 / 2)

if team Cheney hasnt't shredded it yet.

...the Doo Dah Man once told me you've got to play your hand. Sometimes the cards ain't worth a dime if you don't lay 'em down.

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by: rambler american @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 04:18:40 AM CST

A chapter or two from (0.00 / 0)

It Can't Happen Here.

birch, finch, beech

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by: Dean Barker @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 04:37:06 AM CST

Left this at Dodd blog already--composed for an IOWA DFA blog (0.00 / 0)

As you've probably heard, Senator Dodd is leaving the campaign trail to head off the proposal in the Senate to issue a blanket pardon for the telephone companies which helped federal agents spy on American households. Why would he do that?  Why is that so important?

Well, if you think back just a little, you'll remember that one of the main objections to communist and socialist governments was that government ownership of the means of communication would let the people in charge of a country's arsenal of weapons control every aspect of their citizens lives.  Instead of censoring the written and spoken word, when something unpleasant was said, they could shut down virtually every avenue of communication by which the word gets around, except for person to person chatter over the back fence.

Clearly, our Constitution prohibits that kind of interference and, even when they have reason to suspect criminal behavior is going on, our agents of government are required to demonstrate to a judge that an inspection of records or the interception of any communication is warranted.  In other words, in addition to being limited to doing only those things specifically permitted to them in the law, our agents of government have to get a special permit for exceptional situations and emergencies. You could say the privacy of our communications is protected by a double fire wall.  We rely on private, non-governmental corporations to deliver our electronic communications and we prohibit our agents of government from snooping, unless they have a really good reason.

On the other hand, in large part because we are confident that the private corporations from whom we buy our services will keep private whatever records and information they collect in the course of doing business, Americans have been willing to hand over all kinds of information about themselves, including their banking and commercial and medical relationships.  

Now it turns out that the agents of government have done an end run around the laws that limit and restrict their access to personal information and relationships by persuading some private corporations to let them waltz right in and take whatever it suits their fancy to inspect.  If the telephone companies were banks, you'd say the theft of your valuables was an inside job.  And now Congress wants to say that it's all OK because the agents' intentions were good.  To which it only seems logical to respond why, if their intentions were good, didn't they follow the law?

That's the question Senator Dodd is asking.  And, it's a very valid question considering that he's a great champion of the Constitution and a firm believer in "limited government" (which means that government can only do those things that are permitted and nothing more).  But, it's my guess that Senator Dodd has another reason for his concern.  You see, as the current Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Dodd has to be seriously distressed at the prospect of our nation's commercial and financial transactions with their partners in other nations being monitored and perhaps even being taken out of service by "well-intentioned" government agents. If our corporations can't be sure that their communications and transactions are secure from government intervention, then the credibility on which a free market economy relies is shot and our foreign partners will have every reason to shun us.

It's been traditionally assumed that Republicans are the party of business, despite the fact that the historical record show us that business does better when Democrats are in charge.  Now it seems we might have a clue as to the reason--Republican reliance on government to run interference and secure preferential treatment for some special  interests, thereby creating resentment and distrust in competitors and partners.  Which, among other things, might lead us to the conclusion that the faltering American economy isn't the result of some "natural business cycle" or "the invisible hand of the market," but rather it's the natural consequence of a climate of distrust that's been created by the secret manipulations of the Bush/Cheney Administration.

Putting a stamp of approval on these violations of trust by issuing a pardon to the participants is a disasterous response to an already bad situation.  No presidential candidate is going to be able to argue for a better relationship with our global partners, if governmental interference in our communications systems isn't brought to a halt.  So, I hope Iowa caucus-goers won't hold it against Chris Dodd, if he decamps back to Washington to take care of this presssing matter.

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by: hannah @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 06:34:56 AM CST

"I have a dream that one day my cell phone, and your cell phone, may interact in peace." (0.00 / 0)

-The articles of impeachment served to Andrew Johnson (for violating a law that was later overturned by the court) and Bill Clinton (for lying under oath about something that was none of their damn business), for the irony of the fact that those two are the only Presidents ever to be impeached, and didn't deserve to be, but the current President deserves to be, and everybody knows it, but it won't happen.

-Such Nixon gems as "I'm not a crook" and "If the President does it, it's not illegal!"

-Madison's speech proposing the Bill of Rights

-The Bill of Rights

-The Declaration of Independence

-Article II of the Constitution of the United States (the one that defines the Presidency)

-Stephen Colbert's speech at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.

-Explain John McCain's secret black baby and John Kerry's false military service.

-Eisenhower's farewell address (the Military+Industrial Complex speech)

-The transcript of his father's speech from when he gave Ted Kennedy an award like a month before the war started.

-The rubble speech, in which he promised to get Osama.

-Any economics textbook's chapter on fiscal policy.

-All the President's Men

and of course,

-Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, which so captures the essence of this Administration.

--
"Act as if ye have faith and faith shall be given to you." -Aaron Sorkin

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 07:06:13 AM CST

MA update (0.00 / 0)

the Dodd site doesn't seem to be updating the graphic (and I'm confused by the 95 senator total), but Senator Kennedy is firmly on-board (and has been for a month and half), Senator Obama's staff didn't know when I called (but I take him at his word he'll be there to support today), and I left a message at Senator Kerry's office.

Go 'Bama!

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by: alexwill @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 09:01:53 AM CST

Dodd da man! (0.00 / 0)

Watch history being made on C-SPAN.

http://www.c-span.org/watch/cs...

Goodbye Harry Reid!

SGS is Jack Mitchell of Lowell, MA. The symbolism of the "sleeping giant" is based on my HOPE for America.

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by: Sleeping Giant Stirs @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 10:18:51 AM CST

The Gore speech from '06 (0.00 / 0)

That Digby linked to would be a nice way to kill some time.
http://www.commondreams.org/vi...

What we do know about this pervasive wiretapping virtually compels the conclusion that the President of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and persistently.

A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government. Our Founding Fathers were adamant that they had established a government of laws and not men. Indeed, they recognized that the structure of government they had enshrined in our Constitution - our system of checks and balances - was designed with a central purpose of ensuring that it would govern through the rule of law. As John Adams said: "The executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either of them, to the end that it may be a government of laws and not of men."

An executive who arrogates to himself the power to ignore the legitimate legislative directives of the Congress or to act free of the check of the judiciary becomes the central threat that the Founders sought to nullify in the Constitution - an all-powerful executive too reminiscent of the King from whom they had broken free. In the words of James Madison, "the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny."

Cube-farm drone by day, Obama volunteer organizer by night.

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by: 2632 @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 11:14:28 AM CST

Sen Boxer: (0.00 / 0)

"to give it up for politics or sound-bites or 30-second commercials on television would be a dereliction of our duty."

Where do we go from here?

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by: Gavin @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 12:25:43 PM CST

How about '1984' n/t (0.00 / 0)

standing on the sidelines looking for a reason to enter the fray.

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by: smucci @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 13:29:02 PM CST

Update: FISA tabled until Jan. (0.00 / 0)

Thanks, Senator Dodd!

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by: elwood @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 18:45:24 PM CST