Friday, June 27, 2008

Feingold excoriates new FISA bill, threatens filibuster


Last week I wrote about the FISA "compromise" that just passed the house. Two days ago Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) gave an interview to Amy Goodman of Democracy Now on that same topic, and spoke with the clarity and moral conviction that Democratic Party leaders and Presidential candidates are so desperately lacking.

The full transcript is available from Democracy Now, but here are some of the more devastating quotes:

"This is one of the greatest intrusions, potentially, on the rights of Americans protected under the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution in the history of our country.

And unfortunately, it’s going to go through with the help of some Democrats. So this is a very, very sad day for our Constitution and for our rights, and it’s not justified by the terrorism issue, because we do not have any problem at all with going after anybody that we have reasonable suspicions about."
"The President takes the position that under Article II of the Constitution he can ignore the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. We believe that that’s absolutely wrong. I have pointed out that I think it is not only against the law, but I think it’s a pretty plain impeachable offense that the President created this program, and yet this immunity provision may have the effect not only of giving immunity to the telephone companies, but it may also allow the administration to block legal accountability for this crime, which I believe it is."
"[Democrats] are doing nothing. They’re giving in. Senator Kit Bond, a Republican from Missouri, is basically giggling at the fact that the Republicans and the administration got essentially everything they want on this. It’s sadly a great failure on the part of the Democratic majority that was elected in 2006 primarily to get us out of Iraq, but also significantly to protect the Constitution of the United States. This is not a proud moment."
As of this morning, Chris Dodd and Feingold have succeeded in delaying the vote until after the July 4th weekend, but long term prospects remain dim. Feingold has pledged to do everything in his power, but his tone is more than a little resigned.
"We are going to resist this bill. We are going to make sure that the procedural votes are gone through. In other words, a filibuster is requiring sixty votes to proceed to the bill, sixty votes to get cloture on the legislation. We will also—Senator Dodd and I and others will be taking some time to talk about this on the floor. We’re not just going to let it be rubberstamped."
Not only can the Democrats not get 51 votes to strip telecom amnesty from the bill, they likely can't even get 40 votes to sustain a filibuster. The Democrats are the nominal majority party, but they divide so often that Republicans get virtually whatever they want. At this point the idea that Reid and Pelosi are opposition leaders doesn't even pass the straight face test. Reid even honors holds (a procedural measure) from Republicans while ignoring multiple holds from Senate Democrats. It's no wonder that the Democratic congress now has a higher approval rating among Republicans than Democrats.

Still, the Democratic party is the only game in town for pragmatists like Dodd and Feingold, which is no doubt why Dodd is kowtowing to Reid, even as Reid undermines him. This is what he had to say about Reid today:
"I want the record to reflect the deep appreciation I have for the majority leader -- I know others do as well -- for the way in which he and his office have allowed us to achieve the results we have up to this point,"
It's pretty disturbing that Dodd feels he has to thank the majority leader for allowing him to take a few ineffective measures. These are steps the Democratic majority should be taking, except more forcefully. Even sadder, I don't see this changing anytime soon. If a majority in both houses can't do anything against the least popular President in history, what hope is there? Barack Obama, Democratic wunderkind and star of many liberal fantasies, once promised to filibuster any bill containing telecom amnesty. He's now singing Harry Reid's tune ("Happy Birthday, Mr. President") and looking less inspiring by the day.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

David Sedaris at Amazon

One of the perks of working at Amazon is this thing called "Amazon Fishbowl." Basically, visiting authors and musicians come by to talk or perform and sign stuff. A lot of people come through but so far I've only seen They Might Be Giants, and Lewis Black. (Also, Russell Simmons.) Today was David Sedaris. The line to the big conference room was out the door , around the lobby, and down the hall. Jenny and I were near the front of the line, and we barely got seats.

Seeing him in person was a bit surreal. I've heard his voice so many times on NPR that it's impossible to imagine him as an actual person, and having him there didn't help that much. Surreal or not, he was hilarious. A lot of his humor is in the delivery, and it's even better in person.

I've never been sure how much to believe of his stories, so when he told us that he works with a charity that provides helper monkeys to quadriplegics I was skeptical, but maybe it's for real. Anyway, this is what he looks like:Some of the authors who speak at Fishbowl are very effusive about how great Amazon has been for them, but not David Sedaris:

"I have never been on Amazon. I have no idea what it looks like. I know that people order stuff on there but I have no idea how."
He also mocked authors who are obsessed with their Amazon ranking, and who write reviews of their own books. He offered up this review of his latest:
"The type is so small. I coudln't hardly read it! The author's picture is so ugly!"
Then he took questions from the audience. There was a lull so I asked about the promo for his interview on KUOW this morning, which described him as "one of the most humane writers alive." He hadn't heard it, and he was kind of puzzled. He said I must have misheard.

A better question was about writing about his family, and whether that causes problems. His response,
"People will come up to [my older sister] and say 'I know all about you.' They don't know anything about her. Except she has a parrot... and she had her first period on a golf course."
Hopefully that's funny to someone reading this who wasn't there. Like most of his writing, you have to picture him saying it.

By the way, this is my first post where I explicitly mention my employer, Amazon.com. This means I'm now operating under the External Communications guidelines which state that I must:
make it clear to your readers that the views you express are yours alone and that they do not necessarily reflect the views of Amazon.com.
Since I have to do that, I might as well express an opinion which does not necessarily reflect that of Amazon.com. Hmm... let's see here... Okay, here goes:
  • The title of Russel Simmons' new book, Do You!, sounds kinda filthy.
Please note that Amazon.com does not necessarily agree with the above--but they might!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Obama supports compromise FISA bill

Hey, I know it's been a while since I posted here, but something happened today that made me sick. The house passed a bill that includes amnesty for telecoms that illegally spied on Americans. If you haven't been following the issue, this means that there will be no investigation into illegal acts committed by and on behalf of this administration, much less punishment.

The bill was supported by Democratic House leadership and, in an after-the-fact announcement, by Barack Obama. Obama basically concedes to every spurious Republican argument for passing the bill. He doesn't even address the issue of telecom amnesty:

Given the grave threats that we face, our national security agencies must have the capability to gather intelligence and track down terrorists before they strike, while respecting the rule of law and the privacy and civil liberties of the American people. . . .

After months of negotiation, the House today passed a compromise that, while far from perfect, is a marked improvement over last year's Protect America Act. . . .It is not all that I would want. But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as President, I will carefully monitor the program, review the report by the Inspectors General, and work with the Congress to take any additional steps I deem necessary to protect the lives -– and the liberty –- of the American people.

Not that I'm terribly surprised. I've been arguing for a long time with people who think that Obama is somehow different from other politicians when he plainly isn't. Still, I would be lying if I said that I'm not sad that the Democratic nominee for President would support such odious legislation.

I don't want to be sour grapes about this, but right now the thought of voting for Obama isn't particularly appealing. Luckily for me, it's winner-take-all, and Seattle is about 95% Democratic, so I can do whatever I want on November 3rd without possibly affecting the outcome of the Presidential election. Way to go, Democracy.