FISA Fight: Republicans and the Protect AT&T Act

Yesterday, Harry Reid gave Republicans another chance to show their true colors in this fight, do they mean it when they say they want to protect America, or is it about protecting AT&T?

"On several occasions, I have proposed a 30-day retroactive extension of the law that expired in February, the so-called Protect America Act.  My purpose is to make sure there is no gap in our intelligence gathering capacity, and to set a deadline for final action on a longer-term bill.  But the President has threatened to veto such a bill and Republicans have blocked it.

"I will now again propose such an extension.  Republicans may again object.  But if they do, they bear responsibility for the fact that this law is not in place.  Eventually, the President and Republican leaders must come to the negotiating table, for the good of the country."

Three guesses what the Republicans did.

Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic attempt to revive a controversial wiretapping law for 30 days on Monday night, leading to a mini-squabble on the chamber floor over the Bush administration’s program.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had asked for unanimous consent for the month-long extension to allow more time for House-Senate negotiations....

"It’s time for us to get serious and protect the companies that protect us," McConnell said.

This was the law, the Protect America Act, that Republicans told us was necessary for preventing the end of the world. Until Democrats said "bullpuckey" and let it expire, after which the world did not end. Now that bill isn't enough, because the gaps in intelligence they insisted would cripple us if the law expired are not nearly as important as letting AT&T off the hook for illegally spying on us.

The Republicans are still playing politics with this bill, still using the threat of the apocalypse to scare their dwindling base into organized calling efforts against people like Dem Freshman Kirsten Gillibrand, who stood up to the pressure and voted for the sane, amnesty-free, House FISA bill. I wonder if all those callers know that they've been duped into trying to protect their phone company?