While researching an entirely different story, I heard Amy Goodman’s headlines, including this depressing news about Feingold’s fight to corral the Patriot Act:
Senate Votes 96-3 to Reject Sen. Feingold’s Effort to Stall Patriot Act Renewal
In other news from Capitol Hill, the Senate is moving closer to renewing the Patriot Act. Democratic Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin is leading the effort to block renewal but he is receiving little support even from fellow Democrats. Feingold wants to set a four-year expiration date on provisions within the Act that allows government agents to force banks, libraries, Internet providers and others to hand over private records without a warrant. On Thursday, the Senate voted 96 to 3 to reject Feingold’s efforts to stall the legislation. Only independent Senator Jim Jeffords and Democrat Robert Byrd backed Feingold.
What can we do? Are we too late again? I find it shocking that every Democrat except two (Feingold and Byrd) and the independent Jeffords voted against Feingold’s fight. A Wisconsin radio station reports that Feingold claims that “he’s being prevented from offering amendments to the Patriot Act.”
… most supporters of a compromise seem to believe it makes improvements to the law’s civil liberties protections, which have always been Feingold’s principal concern. The Wisconsin Democrat made it clear; he doesn’t share that view. “No amount of cosmetics is going to make this beast look any prettier,” said Feingold.
Feingold said it appears Senate Republican leadership is blocking his attempts to offer amendments to the Patriot Act, and attempting to ram the bill through without amendment in what he called “a sham process.”
Adding insult to injury is the Senate’s defeat of a proper probe of domestic wiretapping. In the WaPo story, “Senate Rejects Wiretapping Probe”: “The Bush administration helped derail a Senate bid to investigate a warrantless eavesdropping program yesterday after signaling it would reject Congress’s request to have former attorney general John D. Ashcroft and other officials testify about the program’s legality …”
The perp? It’s the Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) — boy, Pat, what a paleolithic Web site, uh like circa 1994 style, I’d say, dude. (By the way, he has NO press releases up on the wiretap decisions this past week.) The Los Angeles Times has a great piece, “Spying Inquiry Blocked by GOP“: “The Senate intelligence chair buys time, saying the White House is open to legislation on Bush’s surveillance program. Many are doubtful.” And the New York Times editorial board reams Roberts good:
Is there any aspect of President Bush’s miserable record on intelligence that Senator Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is not willing to excuse and help to cover up?
Oh well. Nobody will pay much attention to that editorial.
And when one of the GOOD GUYS — like Sen. Russ Feingold — can’t get more than THREE votes, um, over a HOT issue like the Patriot Act that galvanized states, counties, and cities small and large to pass resolutions criticizing the act, something is deeply wrong in D.C.
Let’s see here. Searches brain for inspirational words. Hey, do you remember the story of my sister-in-law’s hobby? She collects swizzle sticks from all over the world. I think that would be a productive diversion for us. Don’t you?
Shall We Help Russ? Or, more pointedly focusing on the situation at hand, is there any way on god’s green earth that we CAN help Russ Feingold at this point?
There is a time for every purpose under heaven, except where democrats are involved. Susan, I feel that every call I’ve made to Salazar goes into a bucket of wasted life. I can’t think of one (out of hundreds of call) that has made any difference whatsoever.
Ah, hell.
Right on. It was expected Feingold’s amendment wouldn’t pass.
But wouldn’t a stand-up fellow Democrat vote WITH Russ to give him something less than an utterly humiliating defeat?
And why on earth NOT vote with him? Do only Robert Byrd* and Jeffords still care a little bit?
…
*for a moment discarding the Alito debacle … but Byrd has been great on many other key measures
The cynic in me is coming out, but I suspect that many of the Dem leaders would prefer to see Russ fail right now. I can’t imagine that they are nearly as excited about a possible Russ run for the presidency as many of us in the blogoshere are. If he comes across as too effective, it would not be a good thing for Clinton, or Biden, or whatever other DLC type they’d like to shove down our throats.
Oh, and if the rights of citizens get trampled in order to achieve their political ends, so be it.
When you care enough to send the very best, send it when someone rises up on their hind legs and takes a stand:
https://ssl14.pair.com/feingold/contrib/contribute.php?refer=web
If you can post a note, tell him why.
If you can’t go to his general site and let them know you just contributed and tell them why.
Don’t talk, act.
And if that one does not work go here:
http://www.russfeingold.org/#top
I mentioned this, with a link, the other day but it went by unnoticed. I’m not sure anything will make a difference these days.
Dammit, I’m so sorry I missed it.
Will you please clobber us over the head with these diaries? Shamelessly self-promote your work! We all love what you write … it’s just that sometimes it’s hard to get to everything here when I’m reading five other web sites simultaneously … nuts.
It was in one of the fairly recent diaries about the decisions whether to create a third party movement or try to rebuild the democrat party. I used that Feingold P/A issue as an example of the type of a uniform content that could be distributed in an organized system of a coalition network. I mentioned it was getting little attention but I think it’s the one that was also a Feingold diary over at the orange place. I still think that issues and their developments would get better recognition to force awareness in a system of uniform issue content like this one, on a limited basis.
Hey, thanks for the good words…;)
Yet more confirmation that there is no opposition party. BTW, Russ for President.
I suspect Feingold knows he is fighting a hopeless battle. I’m more concerned with Democrats possibly rubber-stamping changes in FISA laws to retroactively legalize bushcrimes.
I listened to a good part of his filibuster attempt yesterday. He’s one politician that does stand on principle most of the time. It was disheartening to watch Leahy squabble with Byrd over who got to speak first and for how long. I know that’s part of the Senate process but Damn! They exert more energy at bullshit like that then they do against a president who is shredding the (goddamn piece of paper)Constitution.
Sorry I missed it. Was on the phone too much …
Did you get any inkling of why we have to be in a RUSH to get this act passed, and we can’t debate it more thoroughly, inspecting it more closely for civil rights violations?
Oddly enough, my cable system had an audio problem that muted the entire proceeding.
That would be hard for me to explain because I have a “pre 911 mindset”. To tell you the truth I turned down the volume when the Grassleys of the Senate took their turn. Basically it was the same old, same old. While we squabble over little things like access to library and internet records, the terrorists are plotting to blow us all up, democrats are weak on terrorists, blah, blah, blah.
Fiengold never wavered. I respect that about him and he never seemed flustered or agitated really because I think he knows what he’s dealing with. Having said that, I could see that it could be seen as a political move designed to help his cred with the left but that’s not the sense I get from him. He has integrity. Like Wellstone. But we all know how that ended up.
I don’t think he’d have voted for Clinton’s impeachment or for Gonzales, among other things. Feingold is his own guy, whatever else. I don’t want to believe the “hobbling his prez ambitions” theory, but that’s the one that makes the most sense right now.
It’s a fait accompli. You, we, are witnessing the death of Democracy in this country and the D’s are as complicit in it’s destruction as the R’s.
For all who are pleading: stay with the D’s, they’re the only chance we’ve got…good luck. Working within the party has not worked for the 40 years that I’ve tried it.
Based upon the (in)actions of the D’s since 2000, I predict that there will be some ‘moderation’ as a result of the coming elections but no change of any significance in regards to the continuing decline and ultimate fall of the empire, formerly known as the United States of America. DT is very close to the truth in his observations that there really is but one Corporate Party with two wings separated by mere rhetoric.
Peace
Well, I for one am not saying “stay with the Democrats, they’re the only chance we’ve got.” I’m saying “Infiltrate the party, take it over from the bottom up, and fill out the hollow shell and turn it into something that will actually put up a fight.” They’re not the same thing.
The same old party is not the only chance we have, but neither is a third party. Not unless you can get about forty million people to sign on to it.
I just saw the headlines in the papers at lunch… this wasn’t even on the radio this morning (instead we got to hear Bush saying how good a man Cheney is and how distressed he was over shooting his friend…).
Was there some kind of Dem party edict that said We got a compromise, we have to keep the deal… or something? Why only Feingold, Byrd and Jeffords? Where were the other usually reliable stalwarts?
Or are they just afraid to be labeled as “soft on terrorism” or unwilling to “do what it takes to protect American lives…”?
This was only the cloture vote, though, IIRC. But like the Alito vote — what good does a vote against the Act itself do, once the chance for a filibuster has gone? I’ll be interested to see the final vote tally — do you think it will be any different?
Susan, I think that was a great point you made about the widespread strong resistance to the PA among localities, counties, and states while the national pols who supposedly represent them buckle as usual. I think this is an important symptom of what America’s come to. The decline and fall of empires ALWAYS follows a total disconnect between the head and the body.
I’ve periodically ranted here and elsewhere that it’s time to look seriously at devolving this country into smaller, workable, entities. We are so far along the path of abject cowardice, power-worship, and militarism — neofascism — that there may be no pulling away anymore, anymore than we can easily reverse the effects of climate change at this point. Maybe the big question is forming more perfect unions rationally or letting bloody disaster do it for us.
I need to call up Ellen Patrie, the local woman here who spearheaded a remarkable effort that brought together people — in this small rural county — of all political stripes. True conservatives, as you know, hate the Patriot Act.
Ellen put together an incredible event at the public library’s very large meeting room. It was packed to the gills, and spilled out into the halls and library. Some people never got in.
She had the local newspaper publisher, a former prosecutor, and a representative of the ACLU lead a forum and discussion. They were all terrific.
The anti-Patriot Act resolutions passed both the local city council and the county council! BY BIG MARGINS.
And didn’t the state legislature in Alaska also condemn the Patriot Act last year?
So all of these cities, counties, states — who came out in huuge numbers — are all being ignored completely.
But, if I call up Ellen and ask her if she wants to take it on again, what can she realistically do? They don’t listen to us. So?
I forgot to mention that my daughter Darcy worked like a dog on Ellen’s committee, and went to Ellen’s home every week for meetings … Ellen wanted to adopt Darcy (haruuumph) … Darcy helped with everything from editing the proposal to press releases to setting up chairs
Read Feingold’s truly compelling case against the Patriot Act reauthorization deal here.
The minor cosmetic changes offered by the White House deal are providing what Feingold called a “fig leaf” to allow senators to bow to ferocious White House pressure and reauthorize almost all of the controversial provisions of PATRIOT, as well as new and disturbing ones like
the expansion of anti-protest “exclusion zones” to become permissible at any event of “national interest.” This means that protesters will now be able to be barred from confronting not only the President, but virtually any federal official or prominent leader.
Most discouragingly, not only are Republican senators bowing to White House pressure, but so are almost every Democrat. Feingold has two allies in his filibuster — Byrd and the independent Jeffords — and that’s it. Every other Democrat is going for the deal.
And, so, once again, most Democrats — terrified of being accused of being soft on terrorism — are rolling over and playing dead, this time on a measure that only two months ago they claimed to have strong principled objections to. Feingold deserves all the credit in the world for his futile, lonely stand. But it shouldn’t have been lonely, and it shouuldn’t have been futile.
Excuse me, but aren’t your articles some that harp on the great constant threat and the need to be ever vigilant in this eternal struggle? That contributes to the fearmongering that the elected officials bow down to.