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.