Wiretap bill roils liberal base, turns focus to Sept.

[proud2BlibKansan]

By Elana Schor
August 08, 2007
Amid liberal anger over the Democrats’ eleventh-hour accession to the White House on expanded eavesdropping authority, civil liberties groups are pressing the majority to rectify the situation soon or face a political backlash.

The ire in the left-leaning blogosphere comes just days after Democratic presidential hopefuls courted the party’s “Netroots” at the YearlyKos convention. Whether the Democrats’ decision to allow a vote on broader wiretapping of suspected terrorists will significantly alienate their core supporters remains unclear, and may depend on whether the GOP-written fix to the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is revised before its six-month sunset.

“We’re going to push very hard for Congress to fix this in the fall. We’re going to have high expectations for them to realize the damage they have inflicted,” Caroline Fredrickson, Washington director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said. “For the Democratic leadership, the fact of the matter is, this isn’t going to die.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has asked her Judiciary and Intelligence panel chairmen to produce a new FISA bill “as soon as possible,” signaling a renewed battle over surveillance in September. But liberal pundits and activists already are showing Democrats the political consequences of giving ground to the Bush administration.

“In one fell swoop, have capitulated to a grossly unpopular president, justified his talking point that national security is on the line and given Republicans leverage,” liberal radio host Cenk Uygur wrote on the Huffington Post blog, where Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) posted a like-minded lament.

“Frankly, you epitomize weak. Your every pore exudes feebleness. You are surrender monkeys,” a blogger known as “Meteor Blades” wrote on the website Daily Kos, whose founder hosted last week’s Netroots convention. In an ironic twist, House leaders canceled plans to address the gathering to complete work on the White House’s FISA bill.

more . . . http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/wiretap-bill-roils-liberal-base-turns-focus-to-sept.-2007-08-08.html

[ananda]

1. liberal base?!!

Geez. This bile should roil everybody!

And I resent the words "liberal base" simply
because defending and protecting the
Constitution and rights of citizens is NOT a
partisan or philosophical issue... it's a duty
on the part of every supposedly elected
official who swore to uphold and defend
the Constitution!

Besides, I doubt if very many people in that
so-called "liberal base" are really liberal
anyway.

Sue

[EVDebs]

2. Common-sense 'base' is more like it. Where's Congressional oversight mentioned at ALL ?

Besides, domestic spying's history in the US is a history of abuse in the first place. Operation CHAOS, persecution of Dr MLK Jr and the military's wiretaps on him, Nixon's "enemies list" with Paul Newman fer chrissakes, the list is endless ...

Someone on the Dem side please pretty please just mention this to the M$M perchance. Oh, I forgot Operation Mockingbird.