Mr. Dodd Goes To Washington: Filibusters Telecom Immunity
Modern day Jimmy Stewart
Reminiscent of the fictional filibuster by Mr. Smith, Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd’s successful eight-hour pseudo-filibuster of FISA alterations shows what standing on principle is all about.
The Huffington Post reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid conceded to tabling the act until next month.
Senator Chris Dodd won a temporary victory today after his threats of a filibuster forced Democratic leadership to push back consideration of a measure that would grant immunity to telecom companies that were complicit in warrantless surveillance.
The measure was part of a greater bill to reorganize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Earlier on Monday, the Senate, agreed to address a bill that would have overhauled FISA, authorized the monitoring of people outside the United States, given secret courts the power to approve aspects of surveillance, and granted telecom companies retroactive immunity for past cooperation.
But the threat of Dodd’s filibuster, aimed primarily at the latter measure, persuaded Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, to table the act until January. A compromise on the immunity will ostensibly be worked out in the interim period.
His home State of Connecticut and the rest of America should be extremely proud.
Granting rapacious communication companies amnesty from illegal acts is absurd. Amazingly, the Republicans are all for granting amnesty to corporations but not to illegal aliens trying to make a better life for themselves. Huh. If you’re going to play the amnesty card, how about choosing people over products?
Dodd campaign blogger Matt Browner-Hamlin expressed his own appreciation on the Dodd website.
Without Senator Dodd’s leadership today, it is safe to assume that retroactive immunity would have passed…For now, the FISA debate is over. It will come up again down the road, but for now everyone who supported Senator Dodd’s leadership against retroactive immunity and supported his promise to filibuster should be proud of their work to defend the Constitution and the rule of law.
Chris Dodd displays the strong backbone we expect from our representatives, not the Bush buckling of other Democrats. He’s got principles and guts…if only he had that presidential sparkle.
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Update: Dodd commentary:
More Politics, Chris Dodd, 2008 Election, Democrats
http://www.afi.com/Images/tvevents/laa/archive/gal_Stewart_James_2.jpg
http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/images/08/28/t1home.dodd.ap.jpg
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