Well, those bad old Republicans have held the Democratic Majority in the House and Senates feet to the fire and have them cowering in the corner once again!
The Spineless Party has agreed to allow the ban on offshore drilling to expire next week, opening up the ability for those bastions of good old American profiteering to go forth and make profit.
Damn the torpedos, boys, full drilling speed ahead!
Word to the wise, Keith: don't get into a war of words with Glenn Greenwald; he'll kick your ass every time. Take the Salon.com blogger's response to the Countdown host's snipefest at the Mediocre Orange Hype.
[The civil immunity provision] doesn't seem to be through sloppiness or neglect -- but rather through deliberate intent -- that the bill only immunizes telecoms from civil, not criminal, liability (the key telecom section, 802(a), provides that "a civil action may not lie or be maintained against any person providing assistance to the intelligence community" where the bill's conditions are met). There are likely many reasons for confining immunity to civil liability -- including the heightened difficulty of proving criminal intent and, most importantly, the fact that Bush, on his way out, can pardon telecoms from criminal but not civil liability. So it's far from certain that Obama -- even if he did have a Secret Plan criminally to prosecute telecoms once in office -- would even be able to do so. If Bush pardons everyone connected to his illegal spying program, as many have speculated he might, then Obama's Secret Plan -- even if it existed -- would be instantaneously extinguished. That's why these telecom lawsuits are the only real avenue left to ensure accountability and obtain a legal ruling on what was done.
But beyond all that, to give Obama a pass on his support for such a heinous bill -- one which Dean himself describes as a grave assault on the Constitution -- based on this imagined secret plan for the Good that Obama is harboring is to illustrate exactly the sort of blind faith in political leaders that is so dangerous.
In short, because the shrub can and most certainly will issue pardons to all those who helped him break the law -- thus preventing any and all legal hope of prosecuting the telecommunications companies that helped the shrub spy on Americans illegally -- Obama's support for immunity from civil suits is what almost every reasonable person is saying it is: a craven and cynical capitulation to the shrub for the sake of political convenience.
That Olbermann continues to make excuses for Obama on this matter, even going so far as to try to spin his way out of it -- the very thing he regularly chastises the likes of Bill O'Lielly for -- is particularly saddening. He has sold his soul to the Obama cult at Daily Kos, and with it his journalistic principles and ethics.
We must not let this stand. Glenn Greenwald is correct: Keith Olbermann is making excuses for Obama over something he would blast any other coward for. The host of Countdown must be reminded that he is above all else a journalist, and because he has chosen to be the voice of the left he has an obligation to represent us even if it means criticizing Barack Obama. Send him an e-mail and voice your outrage.
countdown@msnbc.com
Be polite, but make it clear to Olbermann that he screwed up and that it's not too late for him to redeem himself.
Well, by now we all know that the House passed the shameful (and inherently unconstitutional by just about any study of the Constitution) disgrace that is the current FISA bill with a whopping 105 Democrats supporting its passage. This is the bill that makes the warrantless wiretapping legal as well as provides immunity for the telecom companies who knowingly provided the Bush Administration with our conversations illegally.
Many of us know that a filibuster is the surest way to kill a bill in the Senate and that there are 49 Democratic Senators, nine more than are needed to sustain a filibuster. By now, many of us also know that Obama intends to vote for the bill, as of course does head capitulator Harry Reid and other assorted Senators including some Democrats. And we are starting to hear the gurgling forth of excuses from a few of them, much of it akin to what we heard in the House last Friday.
Seeing that there may, in fact, not be enough Constitution-loving Democrats to filibuster this stain of a bill, and given that "not enough votes to filibuster" should never be an excuse for something this odious to pass in the Senate, I offer (or rather educate and/or remind) the Senators of not only the meaning of the FISA bill but also ways to block a bill that exist in the Senate in addition to a filibuster.
It's B.S. like this that makes me seriously consider leaving the Democratic Party now, instead of after November. Once again, the Democrats have caved in to the terrorists occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on FISA. Not only did Pelosi, Hoyer, and a crapload of other Democrats side with the terrorists, but the party's presidential candidate has done likewise.
To hell with the Democrats as an organized opposition party. We need genuine Progressives in office. We need people who will fulfill their oaths of office -- consistently -- instead of vermin who constantly violate them (and in the process, our Constitution). Pelosi, Hoyer, Emanuel, Conyers, Reid, each and every Democratic "leader" needs to be sent packing. None of them are fit to remain in public office.
Shirley Golub is challenging the traitor Pelosi in the California 8th primary. She needs all the volunteers, money, and votes she can get in order to throw the House speaker out of office. We all know Cindy Sheehan is running to unseat the House's chief enabler of the shrub. Let's help her out by donating, volunteering, and voting. Let's send a strong message that giving aid and comfort to America's true enemies will not be tolerated.
We also need to get Conyers out. If you think for one moment that his cowardly acquiescence to Pelosi and the others isn't worthy of voting his weak behind out of office, then I'm sorry, but you're fooling yourselves. He has a Constitutional duty to impeach the shrub, the gargoyle, and the rest of the regime. If he won't obey orders from his constituents to begin impeachment, then he is a traitor and needs to go.
I know, harsh words for Democrats on a Democratic blog. So what? We need to face facts: the tyrants occupying the White House are guilty of numerous high crimes including treason, and anyone who gives aid and comfort to these traitors is likewise guilty of the crime. We need to start thinking like this, and more importantly, start doing something about it. We cannot rely on anyone else to do what must be done.
Speaking of people we can't count on...
What the hell does Obama think he's doing supporting this unholy vomit? He is prepared to hand telecomm immunity to the shrub, knowing full well the ramifications. This fraud presumes to be leader of this nation as president, yet he won't show leadership when it really matters. To hell with him.
Yes, China still insists -- without any apparent proof -- that the Dalai Llama is tied to violence in Tibet. I want you to think about who the Chinese government is accusing of terrorism, for a moment, so that you reach the appropriate "WHAT THE F*** ARE THEY ON?!?" frame of mind.
Experts claim that cosmic rays are so dangerous as to prevent us from going to Mars. I'm a little fuzzy on how this is so, because when we sent men to the lunar surface they didn't suffer from any ill effects from radiation. If we could protect astronauts then, why not now? The answer to that question is a lack of funding to NASA.
And once again, Senate Democrats have caved to Republicans on drafting legislation on the housing crisis. Never forget, when news reports like this are presented, they leave out one thing: there is never a time when the GOP concedes on anything substantive. They get what they want, when they want, 99.99% of the time. Keep a close eye on this capitulation bill, for details on what it does or does not do to help average families.
