*Breaking News* Majority leader Reid clears hurdle for Bush/Cheney spying bill

[mfqr]

Reid Clears Hurdle for Bush-Cheney Spying Bill - Yahoo! News



The Nation Thu Jan 24, 3:24 PM ET

The Nation -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid cleared a key hurdle for the FISA Amendments Act on Thursday, advancing President Bush's preferred version of the spying bill, a move opposed by the majority of Reid's Democratic colleagues. The vote, 60-34, sets the Senate on a course to validate more warrantless spying by the Bush administration and provide retroactive amnesty to telephone companies accused of breaking surveillance laws -- an unpopular approach.

The ACLU, which has collaborated with a network of constitutional activists and bloggers to oppose the administration's surveillance policies, condemned the Democratic leadership in unusually tough language after the vote. "Under Democratic leadership, the Senate will now continue its debate on surveillance with a bill that resembles something from the administration's playbook. Six months after being hoodwinked into passing the Protect America Act, Americans are still waiting for Congress to grow a spine," read an official statement released Thursday afternoon.

Glenn Greenwald, an attorney who has written extensively about surveillance issues as an author and blogger, blasted the Democrats' caving on the surveillance bill as part of a broader pattern. "Democrats have failed repeatedly to end or even limit one of the most unpopular wars in American history. They have failed to restore habeas corpus. They have failed to fulfill their promise of 'fixing' the hastily-passed Protect America Act," he wrote at Salon. "They don't feel the slightest bit ashamed or remorseful about any of that," he added.

The Senate floor battle also reflected that Democrats remain divided over whether to confront the Bush administration over constitutional rights. Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy's alternative bill, which would keep telephone companies accountable for potentially illegal or unconstitutional acts, drew the majority of Democratic Senators, including strong backing from Senators Russ Feingold and Chris Dodd. But Reid arranged floor votes to favor the Bush-Cheney version, introduced by Intelligence Chairman Jay Rockefeller, and announced that he would force Democratic opponents to openly filibuster it -- a hardball demand he has rarely made against Republican filibusters.

The fight is far from over. The Senate is considering several more amendments to the underlying bill, and it must reconcile the legislation with a House version that does not include retroactive amnesty. But with opponents like these, President Bush may have forgotten that Congress ever changed hands.

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Update: The vote tally is here.

Matt Browner-Hamlin, a former blogger for Chris Dodd, works as an organizer for Credo Mobile on the FISA fight, and he emailed The Nation with this observation about the presidential candidates: Senators Clinton and Obama rushed off the campaign trail to vote on the Farm Bill in November, ahead of the Iowa caucus. But with the Constitution on the line today for the second time in little more than a month, they both did absolutely nothing. No Democrat will mistake their inaction for leadership.


...of course, it's not breaking news on FOX News. Well, so who's going to be the first one to say, "you have nothing to worry about if you're doing nothing wrong." Oops, but I guess all of us here should be worried, because we all like to get stoned, and grow a special plant.

mfqr Reviewed by mfqr on 01-26-2008. *Breaking News* Majority leader Reid clears hurdle for Bush/Cheney spying bill Reid Clears Hurdle for Bush-Cheney Spying Bill - Yahoo! News The Nation Thu Jan 24, 3:24 PM ET The Nation -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid cleared a key hurdle for the FISA Amendments Act on Thursday, advancing President Bush's preferred version of the spying bill, a move opposed by the majority of Reid's Democratic colleagues. The vote, 60-34, sets the Senate on a course to validate more warrantless spying by the Bush administration and provide retroactive amnesty to telephone Rating: 5

[Mr. Clandestine]

...of course, it's not breaking news on FOX News. Well, so who's going to be the first one to say, "you have nothing to worry about if you're doing nothing wrong." Oops, but I guess all of us here should be worried, because we all like to get stoned, and grow a special plant.

Unless you're growing that special plant and, at the same time, happen to be consorting with terrorists overseas, you still have nothing to worry about. The U.S. government is doing what it can to prevent terrorist attacks, and to this date, it's still working. There are a lot of policies and actions by the Bush administration that I flat-out just don't agree with, but when it comes to tracking information coming into our nation that could be used to kill more of our people, I have little problem with it. With all the violence and hatred going on in the world, they finally have much larger problems on their hands than keeping tabs on peaceful growers.

I guess I'll be the first one to say it: Be a good citizen, don't rob banks, don't sell drugs, don't run your mouth about growing to anyone...and you'll have little to worry about. For the most part, you've done nothing wrong! :thumbsup:

[norkali]

....Be a good citizen...and you'll have little to worry about.

[Rusty Trichome]

Anyobody here (living in the United States) know anyone that was busted/investigated under the FISA Act?

Personally, I'm doubtful that any of us have to be too paranoid about this. My fight, especially when it comes to these cannabis boards, is with educating like-minded people how to properly grow cannabis, and ammending the cannabis laws. Not telling the government how I think they should protect me from foreign conspirators.
The constitution requires the government to protect my right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If this infringes on others, that think this 'passage' in the constitution allows them to have the right to plot against my family, my friends, my country, in an effort to subvert our government, our political process, and our way of life...tough shit.
Go get 'em Harry Reid, lol.

(this outta get interesting...oh, and also...nice propoganda posters)

[midlifecrisis]

Anyobody here (living in the United States) know anyone that was busted/investigated under the FISA Act?

Well, just last year I sprouted a few hundred strawberry cough girls, just in time I finished tinkering with my electric meter, so I could rip off the electric company, I was a happy person (non descript wording may be used because of feds searching these boards).

So as I am waiting to harvest I call up my buddy in Argentina, who then conference calls our friend in Indonesia so we could talk to a guy named Amahedia about buying some guns and maybe a few hundred pounds of explosives. (completely harmless background info not related to this story)

Well a few days later the Feds come knocking on my door with a warrant. They "say' because of some phone call i made, yeah right, They say I may be a terrorist, then stumble onto my personal garden. My lawyer got thee terrorist charges dropped, because everyone knows you need a lot of guns and explosives to blast a tree stump out of the ground.

The charges for cultivation however stuck and I now will be serving time, and for some reason I owe the electric company 1000's of dollars. Damn the Man!

So don't be fooled the government will spend millions to get the little guy any way they can....


This is really true............really it is.








No, Really. :jointsmile:

[wickerbill]

Mr C, you are so naive.

[Rusty Trichome]

just in time I finished tinkering with my electric meter, so I could rip off the electric company,...

...so we could talk to a guy named Amahedia about buying some guns and maybe a few hundred pounds of explosives. (completely harmless background info not related to this story)

Well a few days later the Feds come knocking on my door with a warrant. They "say' because of some phone call i made, yeah right, They say I may be a terrorist, then stumble onto my personal garden. My lawyer got thee terrorist charges dropped, because everyone knows you need a lot of guns and explosives to blast a tree stump out of the ground...
So don't be fooled the government will spend millions to get the little guy any way they can....

You prove my point...not yours. Had your 'buddy' not made the conference call, perhaps you could have flown under the radar.
The mindset you present, the overseas conversations about guns and explosives to folks whom may themselves be what the feds are looking for, put you in this situation.
Importing weapons and explosives from overseas is obviously illegal, as is tinkering with the meter.
If this fable is true...you were setting yourself up to be busted. Not because of FISA laws, but because you you have a mindset to act foolishly.

[midlifecrisis]

You prove my point...not yours. Had your 'buddy' not made the conference call, perhaps you could have flown under the radar.
The mindset you present, the overseas conversations about guns and explosives to folks whom may themselves be what the feds are looking for, put you in this situation.
Importing weapons and explosives from overseas is obviously illegal, as is tinkering with the meter.
If this fable is true...you were setting yourself up to be busted. Not because of FISA laws, but because you you have a mindset to act foolishly.

I was actually backing up your point, and I thought I had laid the sarcasm on quite heavily.....Besides I have neither the need or the patience to sprout a "few hundred".

[mfqr]

Interesting replies, to say the least. My opinion on this matter is that we are getting closer and closer to a Big Brother-like government. Oh, wait a second! They can already spy on you and watch whatever you do.

For anyone that thinks that this bill is in our (citizens) best interests, how can you think that? That it's in your best interest to possibly be spied on? Maybe we, as adults, do not know what is best for ourselves, right? Maybe oppression is the answer to a war that we cannot win, and that never has an objective of completion. Therefore, when the hell is this going to stop? Oooooh, that's right. It won't stop, because the War on Terror doesn't either. Obviously, nobody wants to give up their power. This bill, including many others (yes, even The Patriot Act, and the Homeland Security Act, and the Violent Radicalization and Homgrown Terrorism Act (has not passed yet, thank GOD!)), do not have our best interests in mind. They have the government's best interests in mind, and already in hand! You know, I cannot believe how some of you can justify these things in the name of a war that will never end, or at least has no end in sight. Do some of you actually think that it's hard to topple over a democracy when the methods used are ones that do not stage a coup, but pass bills in secrecy, and gain the support of the citizens? Those of you who support this stuff... you're actually supporting the ending of our democracy. Or at least the attempted ending of our democracy. It's in plain sight. This bill shows it very clearly... these kind of bills have absolutely no place in a free and open society.

By the way, Norkali, nice propaganda posters. I love readin' them things .

[Rusty Trichome]

I was actually backing up your point, and I thought I had laid the sarcasm on quite heavily.....Besides I have neither the need or the patience to sprout a "few hundred".

I know...that's why I prefaced it with...

If this fable is true...

I did, however, edit-out some choice words before posting, just in case, lol.

mfqr:
It's soooo easy to blast an issue and side-step responsibility of ones own actions, and the effects of those actions on others'. Especially when in many circles, facts and alternative solutions are considered not necessary and thusly not offered.
If any of us have a better solution...I'd love to hear it.

I justify nothing, except to say that my freedoms stop at the tip of my nose, just like everyone else. But if someone in my neighborhood is plotting to blow-up my childs day care center...you better believe I'll support tapping their phone, watching their every move, and would bend over backwards to help "big brother' catch their ass.
And yes...I offer God's blessings to you for having the right to propogandize everything your government does, rather than seeking the truth. Friends don't let their friends get the 'news' from Bill Maher.

Problems are easy to find...solutions and truth are a bit more difficult, tho.