Greenwald: Dodd's courageous stand against FISA retroactive immunity shines a ray of hope

[99th_Monkey]

This is a great and inspiring read, and shines a ray of hope that we the people may yet take back America from the criminals in the WH and their congressional enablers. Greenwald points out how this ongoing conflict in the Senate underscores the importance of citizen activism and advocacy: "Those who insist that defeat is inevitable and All is Lost are relieved of the burdensome task of trying. But defeat occurs because the right strategy isn’t found, not because it is inevitable."


***********************************
Published on Saturday, January 26, 2008 by Salon.com
More Disruptions to The Cheney/Rockefeller FISA Plan
by Glenn Greenwald

Regardless of the ultimate outcome of the FISA and telecom immunity conflict, there is something quite unique about how things have proceeded that I think is worth noting. Telecom immunity and warrantless eavesdropping powers are exactly the types of issues that normally generate very little controversy or debate. Identically, the bill advocated by Dick Cheney, Jay Rockefeller and Mitch McConnell is the type of bill that is normally passed, quickly and quietly, by Congress without any trouble. That isn’t happening this time, and it’s worth looking at why that is.

The establishment media has virtually ignored these matters from the beginning. Most establishment-serving pundits who have paid any attention — the David Ignatiuses and Joe Kleins and Fred Hiatts — have done so by advocating, as usual, the Establishment position: retroactive immunity and warrantless eavesdropping powers are the right thing to do. Although there is no citizen-constituency whatsoever crying out for telecom immunity or new warrantless eavesdropping powers, the forces behind those provisions are the ones which typically dictate what Congress does: namely, the largest corporations and their lobbyists, who have been working, as always, in the dark to ensure that the law they want is enacted.

That’s typically the way Washington works — the most significant laws are seamlessly enacted with little real debate or attention, driven by corporations and lobbyists working in secret with Senators, cheered on by the Serious media pundits, with bipartisan pools of lawmakers silently and obediently on board. And once those forces line up behind any measure, it is normally almost impossible to stop it — not just stop it, but even disrupt it at all. That’s the insulated Beltway parlor, virtually impervious to outside influences, least of all the opinions of the citizen-rabble.

* * * * *

All of those standard Beltway forces are squarely lined up behind telecom immunity and new eavesdropping powers, and yet, things are not proceeding smoothly for them at all. Back in December, Harry Reid, Jay Rockefeller and Mitch McConnell scheduled just a couple of days for the FISA debate because they assumed that was all that would be needed to deliver quickly and quietly to the President everything he demanded.

But when Chris Dodd and others impeded that plan by obstructing and filibustering, Reid just cynically assumed that once Dodd was out of the presidential race, he would cease with the “grandstanding” and allow the Senate to function the way it is supposed to: collegially delivering to the Establishment what it wants, without disruption.

But Dodd’s commitment to impede these corrupt and lawless measures is clearly authentic and was not grounded in cynical political concerns — as was obvious to anyone uninfected by the jaded Beltway Virus. Dodd’s willingness to join Russ Feingold in single-mindedly pursuing what are considered extreme and alienating steps in the Senate to stop this bill — holds, filibusters and withholding of unanimous consent agreements — along with Dodd’s increasingly eloquent and relentless advocacy on behalf of the Constitution and the rule of law, has disrupted the Cheney/Reid/Rockefeller plan just enough so that it may now unravel altogether.

Dodd has been in the Senate for 24 years. As he will the first to acknowledge, engaging in filibusters and obstruction and defiance of his party’s leadership are things he has almost never done. Dodd isn’t Russ Feingold. He has been the picture of the establishment Senator in the party’s “liberal” wing, rarely deviating and almost never standing alone to oppose the party leadership. So what has changed? Why has he been so willing so tenaciously to pursue this fight — even in the face of overt though anonymous threats that he could alienate his party’s leadership and lose influence as Banking Committee Chairman if he persists?

Dodd himself provided the answer in his Senate floor speech (h/t Kitt):

I’ve promised to fight those scare tactics with all the power any one senator can muster. And I’m here today to keep that promise. For several months now, I’ve listened to the building frustration over this immunity and this administration’s campaign of lawlessness. I’ve seen it in person, in mail, online — the passion and eloquence of citizens who are just fed up. They’ve inspired me more than they know.

read rest of this short article here:
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/25/6635/

[gateley]

1. I'm dismayed to hear many of the Dems are irritated by Dodd rocking the

boat.

We need to DELUGE our reps over the weekend so on Monday morning, they'll KNOW where we stand.

We need more people to filibuster WITH him, not just "support him". He needs HELP.