NEWS: Dear Democrats, Your Congressional Leaders Suck Balls

POLITICS: Dear Democrats, Your Congressional Leaders Suck Balls

A couple of days ago I wrote an amazing article about Nancy Pelosi being unworthy of her position as Speaker of the House. Today I will address why Harry Reid is an incompetent, spineless piece of shit who is unworthy of his position as Senate Majority Leader. Grow some balls Dems and kick spineless grandpa to the curb.

On Monday, the Nevada moron will bring a new FISA bill to the floor of the Senate that will help the Bush administration get the telecom industry immunity and surveillance oversight protections. At the same time he will be taking an action that he assured concerned Democrats that he would not take. Nice work, liar.

Harry could have brought two bills to the floor. One did not give the telecom companies a free pass for illegally spying on Americans. The other, written by Jay “I got millions from the telecoms” Rockefeller (horrible nickname) and Dick Cheney (horrible monster), gives the companies immunity from civil lawsuits for committing CRIMES.

Reid has pulled a fast one by making the Senate Intelligence Committee bill the "base bill." That means to remove amnesty and increase oversight would require 60 votes, which is impossible. Reid has been telling people for weeks that he would not bring the bill to the floor as a “base bill.” Every Democratic presidential candidate and 14 Senators have demanded that the other bill be the base bill. He is a fucking liar and no better than the Bush administration for pulling such a move.

But that is not even the most disgusting aspect of this move. Reid is screwing over Chris Dodd, who put a hold on the amnesty bill. He is refusing to honor that hold. Understand that Reid honors holds for Republicans constantly, like the Emmit Till Bill, which would authorize $10-million annually over 10 years to rejuvenate prosecutions of pre-1970 civil rights murders.

Now, that bill is not important enough to override a hold. But giving the telecoms immunity from their crimes is very important.

Dodd was forced to fly back to DC on Friday to filibuster. You may be wondering why, because I just wrote that the vote would take place on Monday. Well, Harry the devious made sure the filibuster would take place over the weekend with slimy schedule maneuvers. So, Dodd will filibuster in front of an empty chamber, when reporters are gone and other Senators are enjoying their weekend. Then when the Senate returns on Monday, Harry will push for a cloture vote. This is absolutely disgusting behavior from a Democratic leader.

Understand this Democrats: Your leadership is doing everything it can to give Bush and Cheney the FISA bill they want. It gives the telecoms total immunity for criminal acts and limits oversight on an illegal program. The Democrats are putting their energy into making sure their opponents win and The Constitution is used like toilet paper.

And for those tools out there, who think this is about keeping America safer, you are shockingly naïve.

Wow, what a surprise. The Bush administration was abusing their already abusive system. How completely in character of them.

Early 2001. When was 9/11 again? Why should I believe this program was not used against political opponents? Why should companies who aided this blatantly illegal program be spared from lawsuits? But most importantly, why the fuck is the Democratic Senate Majority Leader giving aid to people who have undermined The Constitution?

What is it about November 2006 that you did not understand, Harry? The American people quite simply handed the Democrats a stunning victory so they would curb the abuses by Bush and company. You have taken that mandate and turned it into a pile of shame. Please explain to me how those on the opposite side of the aisle would be doing this in any way differently. They would not. You are a coward and possibly the most useless Majority Leader I have ever seen. Your hideous acts demoralize your base and drive people from your party. In essence, Harry, you are the Democratic Karl Rove. You and your kind are why I am not and never will be a Democrat. Although, there is a guy who would make a great Senate Majority Leader. He's the guy who is filibustering this bill: Chris Dodd. You can send Chris Dodd a bit of support here.

And feel free to call or email your Senator Democrats and let them know where you stand on the Majority Leader’s actions.

Why does this surprise anyone. The Dems and Repubs are simply two faces of the same party - the ruling party. Any public differences between the parties are just window dressing. They all serve their corporate overloads.

You do realize that it is insanely easy to get a tap on somebody's phone based on current FISA laws. This is why they so desperately need to be updated. Getting a phone tap on everybody that calls latin countrys to control drug trafficking is perfectly legal under these laws. FISA laws are outdated and desperately need to be updated and changed and with all change there is generally a little give and take. If the only payment for this change is amnesty to phone companies, I support it all the way.

I'm glad you wrote this article FearTheReaper. You can also take some action through the Electronic Frontier Foundation here:



If you care about electronic privacy now and in the future, please take a few minutes to do something about it.

This is depressing

Excellent article FTR. It does manage to fit several lifetimes worth of nightmares into a few paragraphs. I used to think this might be over next November but now...

Yes.

Yeah, I emailed a few Senators today. Hopefully it'll do something. But I'm not sanguine.

The flaw with that argument is that telecom immunity will undermine any notions of privacy in the electronic realm. We're talking about setting a legal precedent here, more so important than any potential monetary damages.

I'm not suffering from delusions of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington either; but the more people throwing these figurative rocks, the greater the chance it's going to wang a Senator or three in the head.

I don't think we have any privacy right now. I don't entirely support the immunity, but think that it may just give us a clean slat to work with. I don't think I am clear on the laws broken by the telecom companies. Phone taps being so easy to get, were they still just applying them where they were not suppose to?

There is no clean slate possible, telecom immunity now set the stage for telecoms to claim this legislation as a defense against any future potential lawsuits. Which is why this particular piece of legislation is crucial.

And we're talking about more than phone taps here; e-mail, VoIP, the web sites you visit, forum posts, etc... Any packet of data sent by you, me and everybody over the telecom's networks is at stake here. I don't think I could improve upon how the EFF has summed it up here:

I work in the telecom industry. This is dangerous legislation. It's possible to literally record and store every piece of communication that leaves your home. Phone, Internet access - all of it. Who you called, when you called them, what you talked about, what websites you visit, when you visit them, what you downloaded, what you submitted.

Even I can do that to a limited degree with the tools I carry, but thanks to legislation, that's illegal. And it should stay that way.

I'm going to write my local representatives, and I urge all of you to do the same.

Against any future potential lawsuits concerning a past offence? I can't imagine it referring to the possibility that this law will protect them if they break the law again.
I also think that your link about EFF just shows why we need these FISA law to be more strict as well as making warrants for wiretaps a little less accessible.

This is the TRUTH! Demopublicans and Republicrats are one and the same. They are lap dogs kneeling at the feet of their corporate overlords.

RON PAUL '08!

I think if the bill is turned down, it shows America and the Government does not support amnesty for companies committing these acts... thus, support could help provide evidence in a judicial hearing regarding this subject, no?

or did I miss something?

I think you hit it right on, punk. It's not only unconstitutional, but the prospect of the government spying on our EVERY move is also extremely unsettling and scary....

and I, for one, think that this sort of legislation is hardly going to do a damn thing anyhow, except alienating Americans.

I don't say this to be a dick, as I fear that most people don't really understand the issue here, but...

This post shows an fundamental misunderstanding of what I have said, the argument, and a understanding of our legal system. To adequately respond, it would involve a lot of typing, and frankly, I'm not even sure you would completely comprehend it. In fact, I initially suspected you haven't either throughly read or comprehended the article, because there are two FISA bills (one without the immunity), which flies in the face of this earlier post:

And hell, if I really had the time today to type it all out, with proper references, I would. Maybe somebody else here would be willing to tackle it.

Agreed. But you must realize that it is part of FTR's job here to make sure we don't think too far outside the box.

There is no box. Move along.

Of course they want the ability to wiretap anyone at any time.


They are sure that their candidate will be the one in charge next year so why wouldn't they want to have that control over the lowly plebes?


Democrats are no different than Republicans, all either one cares about it expanding and maintaining power for their own party.

Explain "base" bill. I don't really understand how it's different than any other bill. The cloture is what's going to fuck them assuming the majority of the Senate is going along with this (which is safe to assume?), but that's not really any different than the normal process. Does it mean it can't be amended or something? I've never heard that term before. Moreover, where is this in the House? Has it been passed already or is it starting in the Senate?

Also, people who use the phrase "think outside the box" are unequivocally the least likely people in the world to actually "think outside the box."

The base bill needs 60 votes to be amended, which means it is not going to happen. Had he used the bill without immunity, then 60 votes would be needed to INCLUDE immunity and oversight.

It is something you would expect a Republican to do.