Hillary's Internet adviser posted her FISA statement at Daily Kos

[ProSense]

Hillary's statement on FISA

By Peter Daou
Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 01:52:49 PM PDT

NOTE: I am an Internet Adviser to Hillary

I wanted to share a statement Hillary just put out on her FISA 'no' vote:

"One of the great challenges before us as a nation is remaining steadfast in our fight against terrorism while preserving our commitment to the rule of law and individual liberty. As a senator from New York on September 11, I understand the importance of taking any and all necessary steps to protect our nation from those who would do us harm. I believe strongly that we must modernize our surveillance laws in order to provide intelligence professionals the tools needed to fight terrorism and make our country more secure. However, any surveillance program must contain safeguards to protect the rights of Americans against abuse, and to preserve clear lines of oversight and accountability over this administration. I applaud the efforts of my colleagues who negotiated this legislation, and I respect my colleagues who reached a different conclusion on today's vote. I do so because this is a difficult issue. Nonetheless, I could not vote for the legislation in its current form.

more

[high density]

1. I'm glad Hillary voted against it. However, Obama had to vote yes

or the Republicans were going to slaughter him as being weak on terrorism. Welcome to politics. I have full faith that he will fix any problems with FISA when he's president.

[judy]

5. I sure hope you are right HD...

I don't think the Repubs could attack anyone who defended the US Constitution because they swore in an oath to do so. They would try, of course, but it would place the discussion on a different plane altogether than the so called "War on Terror".

And, as we know, the eavesdropping started before Sept.11th, and that did nothing to stop the attack, so obviously the reason for it is not to fight terrorism, but some other agenda that we might yet discover.

:mad:

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. Problem is, even after he's elected he's going to use the same excuse.

[11cents]

11. Sadly true.

And I thought with Obama we were supposed to be getting away from The Politics of Cringe? He said himself recently that he "doesn't do cringing." Basically, his defenders on this are saying that fear of how the GOP/media might frame this (as a national security issue) trumps what the bill actually DOES for realsies (guts the Fourth Amendment and endorses the Nixon doctrine of "if the President does it it's not illegal"). A bad calculation, and not what we were supposed to be getting with this candidate.

I'm cool with most instances of "moving to the middle," but this FISA bill is in a different category from ordinary "positioning" and "triangulating." Truly disappointing.

[high density]

12. Nah the excuse goes away once he's president

And if this is something he tackles in the first year or two, it will be old news by 2012 whether the outcome is positive or negative for him. As president he will have more authority to frame the debate in his terms.

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. Or this will be one of a series of fascist moves which will define his presidency?

Think about it. If Bush does not face accountability for what he's done, then the next president won't either. Not unless the Republicans can be counted on to do to the Democratic president, what they did to Clinton.

[AntiFascist]

10. They could have worked harder pushing for one of the amendments...

compromising on or eliminating the telecom immunity, which is the real issue Clinton seems to be addressing. Even the Bingaman amendment stood a chance of being signed by Bush.

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/bingaman-amendment

[judy]

2. Good work Hillary!!

Great statement.
Why couldn't Obama come up with something similar, or even better?
GRRRRRR!!!

[beachmom]

3. Yup. I rec'd. People can flame me all they want, but she apparently

is attempting to follow in Kerry's footsteps, and keep her internet support. She has retained Peter Daou, and apparently has a sizeable e-mail list. She is now moving to the left, in line with the state she represents. Sounds good to me.

[sufrommich]

4. Great statement. And nowhere does she try to portray

Obama as being wrong on voting for it. Amazingly, she is not evil personified as some here like to believe.

[Alexander]

6. Kudos to Senator Clinton for doing the right thing.

And before anyone gets really pissed at Obama, remember that he voted for the Dodd Amendment.

[durrrty libby]

7. She is the Best .Bravo Senator Clinton.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. I'm thinking she's vying for a spot on the Supreme Court.

[DeepModem Mom]

14. K&R