Chris Dodd may not be blowing the top out of the polls, but he’s a principled man. I respect that tremendously, especially on this day when Dodd is being forced to filibuster because his own Senate Democratic "leadership" is bringing the wrong bill to a vote. The bill Reid is bringing forward includes retroactive immunity for the telephone companies who helped Bush spy on us.
This is one of the most important days in politics in years for two reasons:
1) The Bush administration, according to a front-page NYT article yesterday, asked companies for help to spy on domestic phone calls in February of 2001, well before, clearly, Sept. 11. This is an attempt to hide such misdeeds, not to mention the true scope of the spying. Bush and his fellow criminals wish to keep this from the notice of the American people. Telco immunity is a huge part of that. If the current lawsuits go forward, Bush and the boys are in real trouble.
2) If the Senate accedes to aiding this Bush crime, the administration will have successfully kept the lid on the prosecution they so richly deserve. Fascism has almost fully arrived. Will we ever stop this? Or we will have to go through the full cycle of fascism’s excesses before we can eradicate this un-American evil? I’m afraid it’s the latter. Still, call John Kerry’s office at (202) 224-2742 –though Kennedy has pledged to help Dodd filibuster, Kerry seems to be quite likely to support the wrong bill. His spokesperson merely asked how I wished Kerry to vote, and didn’t say how he will vote.
