the fisa bill will be back in the spotlight today, under the consent agreement terms agreed to by reid and mcconnell, and it’s imperative that the heat is kept on the senate, especially regarding the teleCON amesty provision.
CREDO action, part of the Working Assets, is making it easy to contact your senators and urging them to support the Dodd-Feingold amendment stripping the retroactive amensty from the bill under consideration. click the link above to send this message, or one of your own:
I’m writing you today to urge you to vote for the Dodd-Feingold amendment to pull retroactive amnesty for the telecom companies out of the wiretapping legislation currently under consideration. If that amendment is not approved, I ask that you vote against the entire bill.
The rule of law is important to me, and I hope it is to you as well. Both the Bush Administration and the big telecom companies knew that FISA was the law of the land when they started eavesdropping without the warrants required under FISA. Retroactively granting amnesty for these violations would make a mockery of the principle that no one is above the law…
additional contact information for the other senators, such as reid, feinstein, HERE, that includes phone, fax and web contact info.
free fax services, if you so choose are available at FreeFax, eFax, and faxzero.
for more options and details see Christy Hardin Smith’s (fdl)
article at alternet, and BooMan’s excellent FISA: What to Ask of Your Senators.
let’s light those phone lines and fill up the inboxes, shall we.
please take a few minutes and contact you senator.
thanks
lTMF’sA
great minds…
l don’t know where clinton or obama are today, but l’ve requested that they suspend their campaigning and show some leadership by supporting Dodd and Feingold with their votes, not just rhetoric.
you may encourage them to do the right thing, via their senate e/m’s, here:
Obama
Clinton
lTMF’sA
Why would someone be campaigning when the first priority should be to the rule of law. It`s not enough to use this issue as a reason someone should be elected so they can change the situation. They would have a better chance of being elected if they fought now. There is no excuse to not be in the thick of battle.
we shall see.
lTMF’sA
Here’s my response to Obama. I’ll spare you the rest to Clinton, Dodd, Feingold or Harkin. Lest you wonder, my response to HRC is less charitable, but you know that already from my emails tonight.
Dear Senator Obama,
As a leading (and now my) candidate for the presidency of this country, I’m confident that you appreciate the importance of the approaching Senate vote on the F.I.S.A. legislation. This is a crucial and important opportunity for you to demonstrate just the kind of courageous leadership and thoughtfulness you will bring to that office by returning to Washington to actively support the Dodd-Feingold amendment. Please do whatever you can to defeat the Intelligence Committee’s version of the bill. And again, I urge you to throw all the support you may have behind Senators Dodd and Feingold’s amendment to the Judiciary Committee’s version.
Telecom retroactive amnesty/immunity must be challenged and defeated. In support of that goal, I strongly urge you to vote for the Dodd-Feingold amendment, and if that amendment fails to pass, to vote against the bill. No matter which avenue must be taken, this bill must be defeated.
And with regard to a potential filibuster, I sincerely hope that you will support Senators Dodd and Feingold –two of our most courageous constitutional defenders– should it come to that. I can imagine little more inspiring than to see you on the Senate floor live, participating by debating actively to defeat Telecom amnesty, immunity or whatever label it has assumed during the vote.
I also would like to request that you encourage your democratic colleagues in the Senate to do the same. I know that my Senator, Senator Tom Harkin will vote for the amendment and I urge you to join him and other courageous Senators to quash these invasions of privacy currently being perpetrated against American citizens.
The constitutional concept of the “Rule of Law” is important, indeed vital, to me, and constitutes one of the bedrock cornerstones of our constitution and democracy. To say that the Republicans, led by George Bush, have trampled and flouted the rule of law is, sir, putting it in the most euphemistic of terms. We are in danger of losing even more of our constitutional rights every day this administration is allowed to continue its lawlessness unchecked. It’s way past time that Democrats united and stand up to further perversions of justice by this administration.
I was deeply disappointed that you did not return to vote against the Kyl-Lieberman Act, which truly constituted war mongering at its most naked and aggressive. Alas, Hillary Clinton did return and supported that execrable act.
Enough is enough, I’ve heard you say before, and no truer words have been spoken with regard to this issue, as well as many others currently pending in the Senate and the House.
I fully understand the incredible exigencies of your campaign, however that non-vote truly disturbed me. The timing of this bill is critical and understand that though you are fighting a tough battle on the campaign trail, your ultimate responsibility to the American people also resides in fulfilling your duties on crucial issues such as this one.
I look forward to your active participation and support in this historic moment.
Respectfully yours,
Some insignificant dude in Iowa who supported John Edwards.
The least of qualifiers for someone who takes the time to write a letter like this would never approach insignificant.
This is excellent & I hope it encourages others out there to press their representatives in any capacity, to act similarly. I`ve seen so many Obama supporters, on so many diaries, that I `d be surprised if he didn`t jump on this moment to show them what he means by change.