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FISA Hits the Senate. Again. Sigh.

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June 25, 2008

That whistling you’re hearing is the slow release of air from the ACLU’s tires. As the moments tick by, the grim reality is we’re headed towards a total capitulation on FISA and telecom immunity. Well, I hope you weren’t too attached to the Fourth Amendment. Or really any sense of justice at all.

As the debate moves forward today, we’ll keep you up to speed on the latest from our nation’s capitol. I wanted to point out a few hotttt stories, though.

  • First up, MapLight also did a great job at tracking the money telecom companies invested in trying to sway votes on immunity. Politico has a great rundown.
  • Next, not sure if you caught Pelosi’s irritatingness yesterday. So. Irritating. Ms. Pelosi, a request: Please do not schedule bills for a vote if you a) do not want to vote for them and b) plan on encouraging your colleagues in the Senate to stand up so you don’t have to. Love the necklace, btw.
  • Then we have Madison Powers, writing for CQ. If I was a better writer, I would have written something as lovely and intellectually satisfying as he did with today’s column. A taste:

Democrats want to remove the issue from the fall campaign, and Republicans rarely miss an opportunity to hyperventilate over scary things, for which fewer civil liberties seems to be the prescription. Democrats, including ones who should know better, capitulated in fear of being blamed for not doing enough to stop a terrorist attack because of an overly developed concern for civil libertarian niceties.

Finally, did you know I’m in love with Russell Feingold? He’s a senator from Wisconsin. He’s constitutionally dreamy. And he’s my homeboy.

The ACLU WLO will be glued to C-SPAN all day so I encourage you to head back here for surly commentary, highlights and a post-game wrap-up.

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