Illegal Spying

Can we revisit FISA now?

Verizon Wireless said on Thursday that some employees had gained unauthorized access and viewed a personal cell phone account held by President-elect Barack Obama that is now inactive.

An Obama aide said his voice-mail messages and e-mails were not breached in the incident.

"We were notified yesterday that employees had accessed the records of an old cell phone no longer in use," the Obama aide said. "No voice or e-mails were listened to or read."

Obama's FISA Vote

Obama voted for the awful FISA bill, which is some egg on his face, and although some on the left are up in arms, let's think about his vote in a political context. Obama will most likely become president with a sitting Democratic Congress with the same Speaker and majority leader. Whether you love or hate the FISA bill - I hate it - it was Steny Hoyer's - ugly, mentally-impaired, kitten-killing - baby. If Obama publicly came out against the bill this late in the game he would only antagonize Hoyer, with whom he has to work come 2009. I see the same logic behind his support of Blue Dog John Barrow in GA-12 against a progressive, black candidate. If Congressional incumbents feel threatened they will circle the wagons and thwart Obama's plans.

Obama needs to get along with the 111th Congress in order to get legislation passed. Although I disagree with his FISA vote, I abide by it.

69 Senators Unfit for Their Jobs

The Senate has approved a bill overhauling the rules on secret government eavesdropping and granting immunity to telecom companies that helped listen in on Americans after Sept. 11.

The Senate passed the bill Wednesday, 69-28. It turned back three amendments that would have watered down, delayed or stripped away the immunity provision demanded by President Bush.

Silence.

FISA Leadership

The Dodd:



Contact your Senators and talk to them about the need to strip retroactive immunity out of the FISA bill.

House Passes FISA Bill

Steny Hoyer is pathetic:

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Friday that could shield phone companies that participated in President George W. Bush's warrantless surveillance program begun after the September 11 attacks from billions of dollars in privacy lawsuits.

Drafted by Democratic and Republican negotiators, the White House-backed measure would also overhaul of U.S. spy powers. The Senate is expected to give the bill final approval next week, clearing the way for Bush to sign it into law.

Way to cave. Way to cave.

FISA Fight Aint Over

Go House Dems!

Telcos Get Retroactive Immunity

69 Senators hate accountability:

Let there be no doubt: a majority of senators, and a large number of Democrats, think the telecoms should not suffer the hazard of accountability for cooperating with the administration's warrantless wiretapping program. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) took to the floor last night to give a speech asking, "This is our defining question, the question that confronts every generation: The rule of law, or the rule of men?" The resounding answer: the rule of men.

Let's see if the final bill is filibustered. This is outrageous.

(note: Obama voted for the amendment. Kudos)

FISA

Our leadership done alright for change. McJoan has the details.

Now we need to win these votes! Call, write, or bake a cake for your congresscritter!

Dodd Makes a Speech

FISA Telecom Immunity:

So I am left to conclude that, to the president, this isn’t about security. It’s about power: power in itself, power for itself.

I make that point not to change the subject, but because I believe it solves a mystery. That is: Why is retroactive immunity so vital to this president? The answer, I believe, is that immunity means secrecy; and secrecy, to this administration, means power.

We need more leadership like this.

I Think We Just Got a New Primary Target

Rockefeller:

The Democratic-led U.S. Senate will approve President George W. Bush's demand that telephone companies that participated in his warrantless domestic spying program receive retroactive immunity from lawsuits, a top lawmaker predicted on Wednesday.

"I think we will prevail," Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman John Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat and a chief sponsor of the bill, told reporters.

Completely unacceptable. I want senators who will lead the country by honest and progressive principles, not Cheney's twisted version of reality.

Dodd for majority leader '08!

No Pay, No Play

We've gone from the ridiculous to the sublime:

Telephone companies cut off FBI wiretaps used to eavesdrop on suspected criminals because of the bureau's repeated failures to pay phone bills on time, according to a Justice Department audit released Thursday.

The faulty bookkeeping is part of what the audit, by the Justice Department's inspector general, described as the FBI's lax oversight of money used in undercover investigations. Poor supervision of the program also allowed one agent to steal $25,000, the audit said.

More than half of 990 bills to pay for telecommunication surveillance in five unidentified FBI field offices were not paid on time, the report shows. In one office alone, unpaid costs for wiretaps from one phone company totaled $66,000.

And at least once, a wiretap used in a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act investigation — the highly secretive and sensitive cases that allow eavesdropping on suspected terrorists or spies — "was halted due to untimely payment."

David Kurtz sums up:

Supporters of telecom immunity argue that the telecoms were doing their patriotic duty by caving to Administration requests for illegal wiretapping. That patriotism apparently has its limits: like when the government fails to pay the wiretapping phone bills.

Where's my Rapture when I need it.

Move Over, FISA

Chertoff's in town:

After delaying a domestic satellite-surveillance program for more than two months, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff expects to finalize a new charter for it this week, a move that attempts to quell civil-liberties concerns and get the program back on track.

Mr. Chertoff also plans soon to unveil a cyber-security strategy, part of an estimated $15 billion, multiyear program designed to protect the nation's Internet infrastructure. The program has been shrouded in secrecy for months and has also prompted privacy concerns on Capitol Hill because it involves government protection of domestic computer networks.

Both areas put Homeland Security in the middle of a public debate over domestic spy powers, kicked off by the revelation two years ago that the National Security Agency had been eavesdropping on some conversations in the U.S. without a warrant. In the fall, the department put the satellite program on hold after an outcry on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers have also asked Mr. Chertoff to delay the introduction of the cyber-security initiative. "One lesson I've learned is it's not enough to say we know what we're doing is going to be OK," Mr. Chertoff said in an interview. "We've got to really make it clear to the public that we're doing this, but we're not doing that."

...

The charter will clarify that the satellite program will follow all current U.S. legal restrictions on technical surveillance. Where a warrant is required for collection, one will be obtained before that activity is approved. Under the charter, the program won't use technology to intercept verbal communications.

Can't... hold... back... any... longer....

BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

If you don't comply, zombie Chertoff will eat your brains

That's Not How Things Work

How many times have you heard that line from people who work in politics? To them, everyone on the outside who actually stands for an ideal is a naive, clueless hillbilly.

Dodd's FISA victory yesterday proved that that's now how things work.

On a somewhat related note, Atrios:

One of my pet peeves has long been a certain strain of defeatism. Understandably we all feel defeated at times, but there's a certain kind of defeatist out there on the internets, people who spend most of their time chastising others for thinking it's possible to have any influence and attacking the "stupidity" of those who even bother to try. Maybe those people are right. Maybe there never is anything to be done. But if that's the case, get a new goddamn hobby.

Idealism, passion courage and keeping a level head will win the day, every day.

Reid Pulls FISA Bill

Dodd won this round, but let's be clear about what's at stake: he's only delayed the bill for a couple weeks until after New Year's. While we hope that McConnell will release enough information on the administration's program that Senators will be able to make an informed decision, I wouldn't bet on it.

Let's keep up the pressure to strip telco immunity out of the FISA bill.

Filibuster Telecom Immunity

More Dodd:

It's time to see the Senate stand up for the rule of law.

You don't demonstrate leadership in the footnotes of a press release, or parroting responses from focus groups.

Leadership is demonstrated through action.

That's not so hard, is it?

Support Dodd, pay a visit to the site, email or call your Senators. The fight for telecom immunity is about being able to unlock the door to many of Bush's abuses - even pre-9/11 abuses - over the years. Granting the telcos immunity now means letting everyone off the hook forever.

Quick! Somebody Fire TIME Magazine!

We've gone from the ridiculous to the sublime.

Quick! Somebody Fire Joe Klein!

He can't read, and therefore should shut the fuck up.

FISA Bill Moving Along

It's out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and immunity has yet to be debated on the Senate floor. Christy says:

What all of this means is that the fight on immunity gets saved for the floor of the Senate, at least that is how I’m reading all of this. Which means that it is time for the Presidential candidates to put their leadership on the table. And I don’t mean just Sen. Chris Dodd with everyone else trying to coast along on his coattails. I mean really standing up for the constitution and the rule of law out front and out loud – because real patriots stand up when their nation needs them.

While we’re at it, Sen. Dodd has asked for a hold on this bill. Please take a little time to call Sen. Harry Reid and tell him to respect the hold. You can reach Sen. Reid’s office at (202) 224-3542.

Call. Please. This one's really important.

No Immunity for Telcos

Because it's not like they spied on us or anything:

AT&T Inc plans on Wednesday to introduce a nationwide program giving owners of small- and medium-size businesses some of the same tools big security firms offer for remotely monitoring employees, customers and operations, the New York Times said in its online edition.

Under AT&T's Remote Monitor program, a business owner could install adjustable cameras, door sensors and other gadgets at up to five different company locations across the country, the newspaper reported.

Too profitable for their own good.

Leadership

Dodd:

Contrast Dodd's leadership and conviction on this matter with the complete passivity and invisibility of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Both candidates finally issued statements last night purporting to set forth their views on telecom amnesty and the FISA bill -- but did so only because they were forced to, after they learned that several blogs, in conjunction with MoveOn, intended to launch efforts today to pressure their campaigns finally to say where they stood on the Dodd filibuster.

Whatever that is, it's the opposite of "leadership." And it is this passivity and amorphous, shapeless, inspiration-free invisibility that has come increasingly to characterize both of their campaigns, along with the leadership of their party. That is why Dodd's relatively mild actions have generated such intense enthusaism and support -- a drop of water to someone stranded in the desert will seem like a royal feast.

I've pointed out his leadership before, but I think my mind is settled now: I'm voting for Chris Dodd in the primary.