With the collective power of the blogosphere, we won a cloture vote on the Senate's FISABOHICA bill yesterday.  

We have the momentum.  Maybe.

However, since Reid insisted on bringing the Intelligence Committee bill to the floor, it is likely we will not be able to prevail on amending it because there are several members of our party who will choose to destroy our Constitution rather than fight for the rights that thousands of Americans and the Founding Fathers died to preserve and protect.

It's sickening.

I say it's time to go on offense.

This week.  Right now.

Here's an idea to hit the Constitution hating telcos right where where it hurts.

The FISA cloture vote is coming in the next few hours.

Has everyone made calls to their Senators and those on the list?  Here is the link for the FP diary about Chris Dodd's heroic speech and the phone numbers to call to stop this Stasi-like bill from becoming law.

But I want to also talk about another aspect of the massive spying operation that I have not seen many people discuss, whether online or otherwise.  And it has to do with how many of the most utilized email and ISP providers have organized the transmission and delivery of email for their customers.

Follow me on the flip for a brief description...

As Bond dad will attest, this economy is fucked.  

But, it is much, much worse than that.

As we learned today, several large financial institutions have agreed to allow FOREIGN COUNTRIES to take large EQUITY positions in their own companies.  

Merrill Lynch and Singapore?

WTF?

This is just the beginning folks.  I have written before about the Rumsfeld redux.  But I will ask you to again recall history: what did Vietnam, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz beget?

That's right.  Stagflation.  Oil Shock.  Recession.  It's coming.  Are you and your family prepared?  More on the flip.

The Washington Post is reporting that our pal and yours Steny Hoyer is ready to make a deal to enable the continuation of the Iraq disaster in return for "more domestic spending."

Is this the most immoral and disgraceful thing that you have ever heard in your life?

George W. Bush kills 4,000 Americans and 100,000 Iraqis to enrich his daddy's friends and empower his sick dreams and now we are willing to strike a deal that legitimizes his sick fantasies and illegal murder?

It's a fucking disgrace.

I say fuck you Steny.  I hope everyone will fight this.  More on the flip.

George W. Bush, Dick "Darth" Cheney and David Addington are the gift that keeps on giving to our Democratic Presidential candidates when it comes to determining where they stand on bedrock American principles.

Torture?

Can anyone seriously be considering voting to confirm an Attorney General who will not declare waterboarding -- a technique considered to be torture by everyone since the 1800s -- illegal?

The answer is sadly yes.

The question is, who will be the Democratic Presidential candidate to both speak eloquently to demonstrate how out of the mainstream this position is, AND also exercise his/her power as a leader of the United States to stop it.

By that, I mean, a hold.  And then, a filibuster.  This Attorney General cannot be confirmed if we are to retain our respect among our fellow human beings and our forefathers and mothers.

The New York Times is reporting here that the Dems will cave on warrantless wiretapping.

I say, that is freakin' bullshit.

Why did we elect these people?

To STOP George Bush.

And now, they want to give him more, unlimited and unaccountable power to determine who he can target for wiretaps.

Have they totally lost their minds?  That's like giving Satan the keys to Heaven's Gate.

Article and discussion on the flip.

If it pursues half-measures on Iraq, the Democratic leadership is abdicating its responsibilities to the American people.

The American people want this war over, now.

The American people want the troops home, now.

Not just in time for Christmas.

Not next July.

Not Halloween 2008.

NOW.

Our party should abide the will of the American people, and do everything in their power to bring the troops home NOW.  The key to this is finding 41 Senators fully, completely and totally committed to this principle.  

Follow me on the flip.

As documented on today's front-page, Glenn Greenwald has done an absolutely masterful job of unmasking the media rollout of BushCult Surge Supporters that, but for his diligence and lawyerly skills, would have gone entirely unrecognized, and hence uninvestigated, by the MSM.

Through a combination of research, logic and common sense, Greenwald has utterly devastated the media rollout with his O'Hanlon interview.  If his work continues to be trumpeted, it could potentially form the basis for the rollout of a scorched earth counter-narrative by Dems next month.  I say potentially, because we have discovered that one lone voice of truth is not enough.  The Democrats must be willing, and able, to use such valuable insight to create their own media campaign and rollout.  As with Social Security, we know they can do it if they choose to.  To date, however, they seem to be unwilling to do it for the Iraq war.

In this diary, I'd like to be a little presumptuous and ask everyone to propose the next story for Glenn to go after.  My choice, which is detailed further on the flip, is another disaster of epic proportions: the FISA capitulation.

Circumstantial evidence of a criminal conspiracy to obstruct justice can include evidence of motive and opportunity, especially the timing of particular acts.

So, for instance, if the government is prosecuting an individual for money laundering or tax evasion, evidence concerning the timing of money tranfers can be quite significant, even if there is no direct proof that the money was used for an illegal purpose.

An article in this morning's NY Times discusses the legal basis of Bush's communtation of Scooter Libby.  As one expert said, "there is none."  In fact, as the article notes, the SCOTUS just decided a case on very similar facts against Victor A. Rita and upheld the sentence (33 months to Libby's 30 months).  In other words, they found that Rita's sentence was NOT excessive.

The article also discusses the timing of Bush's commutation.  Why now?  I believe the timing of this decision is good evidence that Libby and Bush made a deal.

Follow me on the flip for some further thoughts on this.

I’ve got to say, for me, that the most remarkable moment wasn’t meeting the President and handing over the letter. It was everything that had gone before that, the talking about it, the realizing that across the country there are all these people who are so invested in what’s going on and really are committed to making a difference and that once you give people data, they’re likely to stand up and join you.

Leah Anthony Libresco is a High School Presidential Scholar from New York.   Today on Democracy NOW! she appeared to discuss her recent decision to use her achievement to full effect by speaking the truth to George W. Bush during an award ceremony with him.

She was joined in her courageous action by her fellow Scholar Mari Oye, and by almost 50 other Presidential Scholars.

Excerpts and exposition follow on the flip, but I encourage you to go to the link and read what these American patriots did.  (h/t to Amy Goodman and Democracy NOW! for telling this story).

Today it was announced that an Atlanta man was recently arrested, detained and flown to Atlanta because he refused to follow doctors orders and insisted on flying with a drug-resistant form of TB.  

However, the head of the CDC, Julie Gerberding, confirmed after testing that the man had "relatively little TB in his phlegm."

The sub-title of the WaPo report on this interesting story reads: "He ignored orders, Traveled Extensively."

Will we be hearing and/or reading about other Americans who are arrested for "Traveling Extensively" as we approach the 2008 elections?

In my opinion, at no time since World War I have our civil liberties been weaker.  It is time to do something about it.  Will we put our candidates up and down the ballot to the test?

Follow me on the flip to learn more.

Yo people opposed to this war...I'm callin' you out.

Russ!

John!

Obama!!

Hillary!!!

I start with a simple Constitutional premise: the Congress appropriates funds.

Therefore, if the Congress does not appriopriate funds for this war, then it deprives the Executive of the power to conduct this war.

What does that call for?  Filibuster.  Follow me on the flip to learn how to put pressure on your Senators to support a filibuster of this Supplemental and every attempt to fund this war that follows it.

GEORGE W. BUSH IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.  HE ACTS LIKE A KING.

...Trouble in the heartland
Got a head-on collision
Smashin' in my guts man
I'm caught in a crossfire
That I don't understand
I don't give a damn
For the same old played out scenes...

EVERY YEAR.  SAME WAR.  HOW MANY ARE FEELING THE HEAD-ON COLLISON.  THE SMASH IN THE GUTS.  THE CROSSFIRE.  THE SAME OLD PLAYED OUT SCENES.

ONCE BEFORE, A KING THOUGHT HE COULD RULE AMERICANS.  ONCE BEFORE.  THIS SHALL NOT STAND.

MilitaryTracy has hit upon a great idea while helping clean up after the tornadoes down South.

It's called Tuesdays for Fully-Funded Withdrawal.

Building on the power of each individual person, from the beginning it can show solidarity with our Congresspeople who are taking a stand to fully-fund the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq, as well as those we all seek to help: our troops!  Over time, it also may become a powerful economic message for the powers that be in DC: BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!!

The people have spoken at the ballot box.  Independently, a majority of Americans, and also a majority of Iraqis, want us to leave Iraq NOW!  Now it is time for all of us to up the ante and speak with a clear economic message.  We will sacrifice our spending for our families on TUESDAYS so that we can FULLY-FUND a WITHDRAWAL!

More specifics below.

This morning I was reading this article about another fatherless child Bush and Cheney have created.  They are truly the destroyers of men and nations.

Then, I read SteinL's excellent diary about Ret. U.S. CJCS Bill Odom's editorial today in Wapo.

Then, I got to thinking about Rummy, Cheney, Wolfowitz and all the others who lied our nation into invading and occupying Iraq.  And I realized they are the same crew that kept us in Vietnam for years after they knew we were defeated.

And I asked, "Why?"

A recent diary by neoperiapt has called into question what I would call a consensus here at DKos that Alberto Gonzales, the current Attorney General of the United States, made an outrageous attack on our fundamental right to Habeas Corpus when he stated in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, under oath, that Habeas was not a universal right of all Americans under our Constitution.

I will show below that our consensus is right, and Gonzales did make such an outrageous attack, and that he should continue to be called on it.    

***NOTE to neoperiapt and his supporters: This is not a "call-out" diary, and the following is offered in the interest of fully-informed debate here in the community.

Today I watched the testimony of the Attorney General of the United States before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Then, I went to read about how it was being portrayed in the media.

Along the way, I stopped at the nytimes.com and clicked on the video of Gonzales' testimony.

In my opinion, the video amounted to propaganda.  So, I wrote a letter to the public editor at the Times, Byron Calame.  It is printed in full on the flip.  I invite you to also view the video, compare it with your understanding of Gonzales' testimony and submit a similar letter to the Times if you feel I am correct.

Tomorrow, Alberto Gonzales, the Torturer's Apprentice, will appear before the Judiciary Committee.

As Greenwald has noted, Gonzales stays true-to-form with this last-minute disclosure.  As with the Padilla case and his previous appearances before the Committee, Gonzales now has dropped what is being billed as another return-to-sanity bombshell, with the usual shock-and-awe publicity.

Wow.  A sudden respect for the rule of United States law by its Attorney General and President?  Of course, this would be nothing to celebrate given the events of the past 6 years, although it would be a welcome change of course.  However, if you examine the  text of the letter from the Torturer's Apprentice, that is not what is going on here.

Join me...