This won't be much of a diary but I just ran across this video of Bernie Sanders from late last week. The man has an incredible gift for calling out the rhetorical hypocrisy of his opponents and also explaining complicated issues in terms of bedrock American values and not legalese. He never ceases to impress me.
He says this legislation "gives a get out of jail free card to companies that may well have violated the privacy and constitutional rights of millions of innocent Americans." He expresses his pride at cosponsoring the amendment that strikes title 2 of the intelligence bill that deals with retroactive immunity. Bernie then puts this bill in the context of this administration since 9/11-- a systematic attack on our Constitution by an imperial Presidency. Retroactive immunity says to future Presidents "I am the law because I'm the President."
Check out the whole thing if you have a few minutes. Bernie is great at defining the terms of the debate and not accepting the premises of this opponents. He also is quite the patriot and misses no opportunity to praise our Founders, the Constitution, and generations of Americans who have fought to protect it.
As a Vermonter, it is always a bit difficult to gauge what kind of rhetorical stance would fly in other parts of the country. Both left and right here tend to be civil liberties "extremists." So I must ask...