Gone Filibustin'
The FISA bill is moving, and the president has moved his political capital—which at this point looks like the stack of poker chips he'd have after playing Chris Ferguson—onto the table.
The Senate Intelligence Committee's bill contains many provisions that our intelligence officials say they need to protect our country. The bill would maintain the vital flow of intelligence on terrorist threats. It would protect the freedoms of Americans while making sure we do not extend those same protections to terrorists overseas. And it would provide liability protection to companies now facing billion dollar lawsuits only because they are believed to have assisted in efforts to defend our Nation following the Nine-Eleven attacks.
Please, won't somebody think of the companies?
Sen. Chris Dodd promised to filibuster and he's sticking by the promise.
If after debate, the Senate appears ready to pass legislation granting telecom providers retroactive immunity I will use any and all legislative tools at my disposal, including a filibuster, to prevent this deeply flawed bill from becoming law.
I haven't found much interest about this on the right, even on the libertarian right, but Daily Kos diarists and bloggers are collecting info here.
UPDATE 12:30: I've been watching on C-Span 2. Chris Dodd, who I admittedly didn't take seriously when he ran for president, gave a stirring speech about the permanence of changes that distort executive power.
UPDATE 12:39: Georgia Republican Saxby Chambliss: "If we don't grant immunity now, should we expect these companies to help us in the future?"