While no candidate is perfect, Sen. Chris Dodd does the right thing more often than not. On the issue of enforcing the FISA regulations and balancing our rights protected under the Constitution with the need to fight terrorism, he has been in front of the issues. He’s going to fight the retroactive telecom amnesty provisions in this telecom bill, and has already taken action by requesting a hold on the legislation. Now, he’s committed to filibustering if his own majority leader takes the unusual step of ignoring the hold request:
That’s what I want from a candidate, someone who cares enough about these issues to actually do something about them. The crazy thing is that Dodd’s position isn’t that radical. Yet, for some reason, we have a Congress stumbling over themselves to absolve the telecoms for something they claim they haven’t done…
On a related note, I’m truly disappointed in Sen. Harry Reid. This is preposterous what he’s doing, and it’s amazing that the first actual filibuster will have to be initiated by a Democrat. If there’s one sign about how screwed up the Senate Dems are, this is it. The Republicans say they plan to filibuster just to obstruct any bills popular with Democrats so Reid puts up one cloture vote, and withdraws the bill. When a senator of his own party takes a stand on principle, asks for debate and votes to move a bill forward, he threatens to ignore him. What ever happened to fighting for what you believe in?
As Atrios says, reward good behavior: Donate to Chris Dodd’s campaign now. This country needs Chris Dodd running for President and needs Chris Dodd in the White House. I really mean this. He is a smart, honest, decent man with good credentials and good ideas. He doesn’t have the buzz of Hillary or Obama, but he definitely has the substance. Go Chris Dodd!
October 20th, 2007 at 1:27 am
I have a quick question;
Which FISA regulations apply to any loyal citizen…yes, even a Libprog??
Answer, none. FISA is about terrorists and it’s our job to make sure no one abuses the authority we gave them.
You know, like directing the FBI to hand over personal files of political opponents. Yeah, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
October 20th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Considering how much the Clintons were investigated, it’s pretty clear that those FBI file accusations are bogus.
It’s unclear to me who you mean by “our” when you say “it’s our job to make sure no one abuses” the intelligence powers our modern government has.
Assuming you mean citizens, how do you propose people make sure that the government isn’t abusing their power? How do you know that the government isn’t watching you or reading your emails or private calls?
Saying that you have nothing to hide doesn’t answer the question… it’s a dodge
Sujal