Everyone's in a tizzy about Olbermann, Dean and Greenwald, but lost in the turf-battles, credibility wars and personality conflicts is a rather large point.  

Dean's right, the FISA Bill does not preclude criminal prosecution of the telecoms, only civil prosecution. Whoopee!!!!! Obama does have a secret plan to fix it.  Oh, you faithless minions, you must be castigated.  

Um, what a minute. Not so fast, boys.  A criminal prosecution requires a crime doesn't it?  What crime did the telecoms allegedly commit?  Because I'm having a hard time seeing it. . . .

I was furious after reading Senator Obama's statement on the FISA Bill.  Righteously enraged, even.

I live in the desert.  It often makes me cranky, but when I get righteously enraged, and need to protect others from my presence, the desert serves that purpose well.  So, the dog and I headed for the desert.  The desert is blooming.  Moss roses in yellow, orange and red were everywhere.  Prickly pear, paintbrush, and carpets of tiny little purple, blue and white things whose names I've never known.   For a few short weeks each year, the desert is truly beautiful, awash in the colors of the rainbow, a vivid reminder that life goes on, even under the harshest of conditions.  A few short weeks - the rest of the year, the desert is just intent on killing you.

I'm still fuming, but I love Frank Herbert, the desert is blooming, and I've been thinking ...  

The American people are going to wake up tomorrow and be shocked  to hear that a member of Al Qaeda has the same constitutional rights as an American citizen" - Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)

Aaarrrrggghh!  It's not about rights, dammit!  It's about power!  #$%%^^#$!@!@  

Thursday, the Supreme Court released a truly landmark opinion (pdf link) on habeas corpus that has the Left breathing a little easier, and the Right foaming at the mouth and stomping their feet.  Reviewing the comments on both sides reveals a startling gap in our basic understanding of the Constitution.  Like the misuse of the CIC designation, our fundamental misconception of the Constitution pervades our thought and leads to ignorant conclusions of ever increasing magnitude.  

Morph with me into constitutional-wingnut mode to explore why so many are so wrong in their approach to constitutional issues . . .

With the passage of the Protect America Act (pdf file), Congress has failed to enforce the Separation of Powers required by our Constitution.  While the issue wends its way to the Supreme Court, and we wait to learn whether the failure of our Constitution is complete, there is one other avenue of relief that We The People can and should pursue.

Yesterday, a very important diary scrolled by with very little notice.  I'd like to invite you all to read New Report Finds Bush Banned Rights Before Military Tribunal Law Enacted by Congress by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse.

Forty-six Democrats (34 Representatives and 12 Senators) voted for the Torture Bill (.pdf). Among them, both of my democratic representatives. Yes, like some of you, I took a double hit. I waited to write this because I could not trust myself to be rational or coherent. I have stopped throwing things, so I guess that's progress. Like many of you, I am struggling with righteous anger, frustration and despair. I am, to borrow a phrase, hand-wringing.

Kos, annoyed by that very thing, made the point a few days ago that this is a long-term movement and requires long-term commitment. The sentiment that we must get over it, hold our noses and vote a straight Democratic ticket in November has been echoed throughout this site. We are, after all, here to build the Democratic Party and regain a majority in Congress.  We are all about electing Democrats. In most any other context, I would agree. But not this time. My tent is not so big.

I've had it with the uber-patriotism of the right-wing, their sneers, their derision, their accusations, their claim to exclusive ownership of our common birthright.  I've absolutely had it.  Today is the Fourth of July and it is as much my holiday as theirs, and I have every bit as much to celebrate.  This year, to combat my grief, my anger, my outrage overload -- I want to focus on the examples I can find of the enduring commitment of the American People to the ideals contained in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  I want to renew my commitment to the egalitarian ideals that identify me as American.  I want to strengthen the ties that bind us together as a Nation.  Please join me below the fold.

To his credit Ken Salazar has survived red state politics in Colorado by reaching across the aisle and engaging in bipartisan consensus building.  I respect him for it, although I frequently dislike the results.

It is a basic tenet of politics that you can't have it all.  You have to compromise, and half a loaf is better than none.  But there is a point beyond which compromise takes on a life of its own.  It becomes less about settling for a smaller gain, and more about continuing to feed the egos of those in power.  At some point, you will be expected to compromise in exchange for nothing more than the luxury of being able to come back and compromise again tomorrow.  Battered wives understand this concept.

At some point you have to ask when is enough, enough?

Was Race An Issue In the Lack of a Timely Response to Katrina?

The fight is fully engaged.  Did we as a Nation abandon the people of NOLA because they are "poor" or because they are "Black?"  Please take a moment to consider what this fight says about us as a society.  In focusing debate on whether this is a "race" or "class" issue, we necessarily admit the underlying premise - we abandoned our own to die.  Period.  If you can face that simple fact without being completely overcome with guilt and the need to physically spew technicolor dream cookies all over your Persian carpets, then, by all means, read on . . .

After an evening stroll through dailykos, I went surfing.  I got smashed against this little coral reef:

http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/archives/dispatches/000196.php#more