Our leaders let us down on the FISA mess

[dsc]

Note I didn't say FISA vote, I said FISA mess. One of two things is true here. Either our leaders knew about the decision that led to this bill and sat idly by while no hearings were held or they weren't informed by the court decision. If the first is true, then they were lazy sloths. If the second is true they should have been screaming from the rafters that Bush didn't tell them this fix was needed. One of the primary roles of leadership and committees is to prevent what we saw yesterday. The rush to vote on this bill was both unseemly and terrible for our most vulnerable members. Of course the likes of Nelson and Shuler can't vote against a bill like this. They shouldn't have been voting at all. The intelligence committees in the House and Senate should have been holding hearings and reported a reasonable bill. Instead they sat on their hands and we got beat. This was either incompetence of message or incompetence of governence. Either way, shame on our leaders.

[ThomWV]

1. You know something? They Really Didn't

I'm sorry, I hit the wrong button.

I don't have the list in front of me now but last night I looked at the Democrats who voted against the damned thing. It knocked the wind out of me to see the names of the people I would call the Democratic leaders there - but not the rank and filed of the party.

So how in hell can they be the leaders if no body is following their lead?

[C_U_L8R]

2. Why do we have SECRET COURTS in the first place???

Why do Republicans feel so compelled to act like Commie Stooges ???

And Democrats too for that matter ??????? Geeeesh this is embarrassing!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. GREAT ANALYSIS!

sorry for screaming, but you hit it on the head with a 15 lb sledge.

[Robbien]

4. They knew about the court decision

One Dem even said so on the floor saying the only reason there is the rush for this bill is because of the court decision. That Bush was breaking the law and needed the change. GOPers whined and ordered him to remove his comments. The Dem caved and said he would remove his accurate and truthful comment from the record. The GOPer whined about that, but on that issue the Dem did not cave.

[dsc]

7. To clarify

Thanks to Boehner we all knew about the court decision at the time of the vote, but the decision was months old. I wonder if we knew about the court decision when it was handed down.

[Robbien]

9. So it is possible others besides Boner knew about it

and knew about it from the beginning? I can see GOPers telling the Blue Dogs about it when they met in secret behind closed doors with the Blue Dogs.

I still don't understand why Bush is so anxious to have this FISA change. No one in Congress has the balls to go after him for anything. Why now?

[dsc]

10. There is a gang of 8 who is supposed to hear about stuff like this

Pelosi, Reid, Boehner, McConnel, and the chair and ranking members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. Bush should have told them immediately when the decision was handed down. I don't know if he did or didn't.

[TahitiNut]

5. They're not "our leaders"; they're our employees!

:grr: When an employee is found stealing from an employer, they deserve to be FIRED at the very least!

[dkofos]

6. What leaders??

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[EST]

8. Your analysis is interesting.

I would add that what we have, mostly, is managers.
But what is it that we really want? Do we want leaders who take principled stands-principled by their own lights, of course-and do the best they can by those stands to better the country?

Or, when we note the constituency, whom that representative claims to be the voice of, is bitterly opposed to that stand, do we demand high paid secretaries to go to meetings and present our stands and argue our case?

Leaders or followers-what do we really want and in what mix-60% leader, 40% follower, and how do we tell that doggie when to bite somebody?
And, in light of that, how do we tell where stupid mistakes end and active malice begins?