Debate - Votes - Lies: FISA

Georgia10 at Daily Kos calls the media out for their irresponsible parroting of lies. [Does NOBODY edit or fact check what gets printed? These assholes wag their fingers at bloggers for not being responsible "journalists, mind you. Have they, at long last, no shame?]

One of georgia10's samples:

Bush opposes it in part because it doesn't provide full, retroactive legal protection to telecommunications companies that helped the government eavesdrop on their customers without court permission after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. (AP)

[Emphasis in georgia10's post]

Let's do a quick reality check.

The U.S. National Security Agency asked AT&T Inc. to help it set up a domestic call monitoring site seven months before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, lawyers claimed June 23 in court papers filed in New York federal court. [link]

In case this point is too subtle, let's repeat:
Domestic call monitoring was initiated seven months before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. BEFORE THE ATTACKS.

By the same crowd that failed to act appropriately to the warnings about impending attacks, thereby NOT protecting us.

Warrantless monitoring of communication is thus NOT inherently linked to protecting us from terrorists. But we will NEVER know just what it is all about if we grant immunity and never pursue hearings into the lawless behavior of the White House.

Breathe.

The Repugnicans in the House called for a secret session yesterday, a very rare event in the House of Reps, to discuss FISA. When this happens, the House is cleared and the reps cannot talk about the content later--in other words, it's basically "executive session." They probably thought the Dems would refuse and then they could accuse the Dems of all manner of stuff. But the Dems let it happen and afterward declared that nothing new was really brought up (surprise, surprise). Once again the GOP, like its emperor, had no clothes. All drama, no substance.

John Conyers made some comments (see emptywheel):

The more my colleagues know, the less they believe this Administration's rhetoric. As someone who has chaired classified hearings and reviewed classified materials on this subject, I believe the more information Members receive about this Administration's actions in the area of warrantless surveillance, the more likely they are to reject the Administration's scare tactics and threats. My colleagues who joined me in the hearings and reviewed the Administration's documents have walked away with an inescapable conclusion: the Administration has not made the case for unprecedented spying powers and blanket retroactive immunity for phone companies.

Debate continues in the House today on FISA and telcom immunity.

Kagro X had an article yesterday about maneuvers by Dem leadership that may have seemed counterproductive at first but was laying the groundwork to undercut the phony antics of the GOP on this issue. You will see good background there on the House and Senate bills, what is going on around the FISA issue.

Remember: if Bush's mouth is moving, he's lying.

Do not be afraid of the lying man.
--the BB