According to this New York Times article, congressional democrats are on the verge of approving a permanent "fix" to the FISA law, that is nearly identical to the 6 month extension they passed in late July. This is beyond belief. They are so afraid of 30 second ads calling them weak on terrorism that they are going to rape the constitution in the name of political strategy??? What good are they? If they are so scared, in this environment, of being called weak on terrorism, then why the hell did we elect them in the first place???
Administration officials say they are confident they will win approval of the broadened authority that they secured temporarily in August as Congress rushed toward recess. Some Democratic officials concede that they may not come up with enough votes to stop approval.
A Democratic bill to be proposed on Tuesday in the House would maintain for several years the type of broad, blanket authority for N.S.A. eavesdropping that the administration secured in August for six months.
So they are going to rubber stamp this dictatorship just as easily as the last congress rubberstamped it. What did we elect them for if they are going to shread the constitution just like republicans? And shread the constitution in the name of political calculation? All to avoid a 30 second ad??
Bush wants to secure an authoritarian legal structure before he leaves office so that future presidents (as in republican) have an easier time at trashing the constitution than he has had. We can't let this happen. Democrats have to stop this. This shouldn't even be coming to the floor for a vote. Pelosi alone can stop this (to say nothing of Reid). Why the hell are they letting this happen?