I'm sure that Kos and digby and all of the other progressive bloggers have been launching emails back and forth trying to figure out what we might be able to do together to stop this abomination with its preemptive immunity for all telecommunication companies that cooperated with the Bush/Cheney WH in illegally spying on Americans. So Kos et. al, for what it's worth, here is my idea, my 2 cents worth on how we can let our "leaders" (a term used loosely in this reference) know how we feel about this.
I have been against this bill from the beginning. This is the third or fourth revision of the original FISA legislation. Is anybody else concerned that we keep making changes to this law and always in such a god awful rush each time? Is there some reason we can't take a thoughtful and thorough approach to any real problems that might exist? but that's really a question for another day. The issue at hand is what to do with the pending situation.
Now, this is a pretty well informed community and we are fortunate to have many talented individuals who offer their time to help explain the important points of issues such as this. A perfect example is Telecom Immunity gives Bush Immunity. I would have never picked up on such a subtle point without this kind of through reading and thoughtful analysis. I was against the idea of giving immunity just because it was wrong to do so. I thought we were a nation of laws, silly me. Existing statues already protect the telecoms anyway and the bleating cries of the WH & rethugs are just more of the same smoke and mirrors we've been getting for the last 7 years. The day that Chris Dodd stood up and said he would put a hold on the bill and would filibuster as long as necessary I immediatly went to his website and made a donation to his campaign. It surely didn't match the kind of contributions the telecoms have handed out to lawmakers but if money talks, then I was gonna shout as loud as I could.
But after reading this most excellent entry by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse I'm not willing to let this bill go through without a fight to the death. Whatever it takes, I'm willing to do. Whatever kos and digby and Josh and the rest come up with, count me in. You want me to call and email congressional and senate leaders, consider it done. You want to march on D.C. just let me know the day and time.
But being as how we are the netroots, I'm guessing that it will be e-something like filling up the inboxes of congress or jamming the phone lines with calls. And I'm good with that. I've done it before on issues like SCHIP and I'll do it again. But the whole country maybe isn't as internet savvy as some of the rest of us. And while we all know what a pain in the ass a full inbox of emails can be to wade through, there is no graphic or visual image for the MSM to latch onto. The talking heads need some kind of footage running in the background or under the voice over. The ether is, well ethereal! There is a time for running around in the internet tubes and a time to be in the real world. This might be one those times we need to use the power of our numbers and the force of the internet to project ourselves into the real world.
This past December I watched a program on PBS called An Unreasonable Man about Ralph Nader. It was a really well done documentary tracing his career and I highly recommend it to everyone. His total list of accomplishments is really astounding. Near the end it includes a discussion of his presidential run and whether or not it hurt Al Gore and resulted in the election of idiot Bush. But in the middle of the film, when they were talking about his push to pass the legislation that would become the Consumer Protection Safety Commission (which initially failed). Someone had said that should that legislation become law, the resulting regulations would add a nickel for every man, woman, and child to the cost of products. People started sending in letters with a nickel taped on saying "Here's my nickel, now pass the legislation". There was a great visual of cartons of mail being brought in to congressional offices.
So here is my idea. We take the same approach. We can't match the kind of money that the telecoms have given to congress, and that they could throw up in ad campaign. So we just put in our 2 cents. We tape two pennys to each letter expressing our disgust with this legislation and demanding that no immunity be given retroactively to any party and mail them in. I would suggest that everyone sends at least one letter to Harry Reid. We may also want to single out Sen. Jay Rockefeller since he has totally caved in to Cheney/Bush on this issue. But we should also send letters to all of the congressional and senate leadership. Everyone should also send letters to both of their congresspersons. And I think that we should send letters to both Sen. Obama and Clinton so that our voices get heard loud and clear in the middle of this presidential campaign. Its time for a great deal more leadership on this issue. Chris Dodd should not be standing out there alone. I'm strongly in the Edwards camp of supporters at this site, but am I the only one who believes that either Obama or Clinton taking a stand on this issue would score some points with me?
Somebody in the netroots surely has the talent to set up a simple website with a canned letter we could all print out. My preference would be for digby to author the body of the letter, but I'm sure those guys could work up something strong enough but still suitable for publication in the MSM and newspapers. There would be all of the capitol office addresses of Reid, Pelosi, Rockefeller, Obama, and Clinton and others as necessary. A simple checkbox selection for these names would fill out the letter properly and then we just hit the print button as many times as letters we wish to send. We could then use the supplied address on the outside of our envelops. A drop down box to select our state could likewise supply the names and office addresses for our senators. I would also be willing to kick in a few bucks for a campaign to run identical letter sized ads in newspapers around the country where people could cut out the letter and xerox it at work and mail in or find the website.
If I send in six letters (Reid, Pelosi, Clinton, Obama,& 2 senators), it costs me less than $3. You can't beat that with the dollar menu a Micky D's. With the help of simple website, I'm done in about 10 minutes. And I'm thinking we could generate a photo op like Miracle on 34th Street where during the court hearing to determine whether Kris Kringle is really Santa Claus, the local post office brings in all of the mail that they've received addressed to Santa Claus and deliver it to Kris on the stand. The MSM should eat this up!
So there it is. If you have something else in mind, let me know because this is where I'm drawing the line. No excuses, no prisoners, no retreat, no surrender. No immunity. Not for the telecoms and not for the Bush cabal. We demand accountability from our leaders on this issue both from those leaders who have broken the laws for 7 years and from those who are supposed to represent us or wish to lead us now. I'm sick of this shit. No immunity. Not now, not ever. Whatever it takes.