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Time To Get To Work On FISA
It's my hope that this post won't lead to a lot of discussion, but rather to a few recs and a lot of action. As you know, the FISA vote has been delayed until after the July 4th recess. The bill will be taken up again on July 8th. If you care about FISA, here's what you need to do before the Senate reconvenes:
Write or call Senator Obama's office and your U.S. Senators' offices (Democrat and Republican). Ask them to support the Dodd-Feingold amendment to strip telecom immunity from the bill. Also, ask them to support the Bingaman amendment, which would stay pending cases against the telecoms until 90 days after Congress receives a report on the warrantless surveillance program from the Inspector General's office. This amendment would effectively kill the immunity provision until our new president takes office, since there is little chance of an investigation under the Bush administration.
Also, it wouldn't be a bad idea to call or write Senators Feingold and Dodd to thank them for the good work they're doing. A few other links worth checking out:
Potential Feingold amendments to FISA
Operation Read The Bill
A message from Senator Feingold
Like I said, I hope this post will lead more to action than discussion. I think everyone who regularly reads these posts is completely familiar with where every other poster on this site stands on FISA (some more than others). Now's the time to act.
Comments (23)
Not meaning to stifle productive discussion on this. I'm just hoping to cut down on redundant carping. I think we've all heard it all by now. If you have suggestions for other things that can/should be done, by all means, post away.
July 2, 2008 8:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
I posted this in Logico's "FISA Status 101" post (highly recommended - lots of good info). Please excuse the cross post but its relevant here as well and is another thing (admittedly small but very easy) that readers opposed to retroactive immunity can do:
Another thing you can do is support Sen. Dodd and Feingold in their opposition to retroactive immunity. I received this from Sen. Dodd today via email.
http://advomatic.bm23.com/public/?q=landingpage&fn=Mail_LandingPage_Link&id=1c1sal9lif76e2hlphhjcjllpc0d9&page=subadd&type=p&ssid=9531
It's basically an online petition that allows you to become a "Citizen Co-Sponsor" of the Dodd/Feingold Amendment to stop retroactive immunity.
July 2, 2008 9:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the info. Got a link to Logico's post?
July 2, 2008 9:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yea, I guess it would have been a good idea for me to include that link as well. I guess the morning caffeine hasn't kicked in yet. Here's the link to Logico's post:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/07/fisa-status-101-before-we-dont.php
July 2, 2008 9:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Found it:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/07/fisa-status-101-before-we-dont.php
July 2, 2008 9:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Rec'd and acted upon - thanks!
July 2, 2008 8:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, dijamo. :) This is such a long shot, but well worth the effort, I think.
July 2, 2008 8:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
I would recommend faxing your concerns and recommendations to your senators instead of writing, phoning, or emailing. I read (forget where) that faxes get more attention.
You can fax free right from your computer keyboard by googling "free fax"
Be sure to contact both of your senators no matter how useless you think it might be.
July 2, 2008 10:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
When I called my Republican Senator (Norm Coleman) about this issue, the snotty little Republican prick who answered the phone laughed at me when I urged Coleman to back the Dodd-Feingold amendment.
Tough shit for me, I guess. But it's not going to make me quit calling.
July 2, 2008 10:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
Did Senator Amy's office laugh at you? She's not much more progressive than Norm.
July 2, 2008 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
OMG, we agree on something.
The speed with which she threw Franken under the bus during the bogus controversy about his old jokes was sickening.
July 2, 2008 7:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I don't know who bought her but you'd think she was a Democrat in the middle of a re-election campaign in Mississippi the way she votes. When I compare her to Wellstone and his courageous vote against the Iraq War when he was up for re-election....oh, my.
She should have Franken's back. If anything she should be moving to his left to give him cover.
July 2, 2008 8:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
By the way, chophouse, sending a fax is probably a good suggestion. I usually try to write a letter if I think it will get there in time. It always seems to me a piece of paper gets taken more seriously (especially by our older Senators). Of course if John McCain is your Senator, you'd absolutely need to send paper because he'd never see it otherwise. He doesn't know how to use a computer.
July 2, 2008 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
It was Clearthinker who recommended faxes.
July 2, 2008 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama does not have a fax number for his campaign itself (from what I can find. If anyone has one, please let me know), but he does have a fax for his Senator's office.
From Obama's U.S. Senator Website.
Washington D.C. Office
713 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2854
(202) 228-4260 fax
(202 228-1404 TDD
Chicago Office
John C. Kluczynski Federal Office Building
230 South Dearborn St.
Suite 3900 (39th floor)
Chicago, Illinois 60604
(312) 886-3506
(312) 886-3514 fax
Toll free: (866) 445-2520
(for IL residents only)
Springfield Office
607 East Adams Street
Springfield, Illinois 62701
(217) 492-5089
(217) 492-5099 fax
Marion Office
701 North Court Street
Marion, Illinois 62959
(618) 997-2402
(618) 997-2850 fax
Moline Office
1911 52nd Avenue
Moline, Illinois 61265
(309)736-1217
(309)736-1233 fax
I'm not sure about his smaller offices, but his Chicago office, and especially his DC office, would probably be good.
July 2, 2008 2:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do you know what happens when a non-constituent sends a fax to his Senate office? I know he's not legally supposed to reply, but is there any other downside to sending it there, as opposed to his campaign headquarters?
July 2, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
There is no legal reason he cannot reply to non-constituents. It has become customary to ignore non-constituent mail and/or not reply because the level of correspondence has mushroomed with email and internet advocacy.
This is Senate business, not campaign business, and could and should be sent to his Senate office. This means that the money and staff time dealing with it come from his office expenses, not from his campaign coffers. Why spend his campaign's resources on this when we, as taxpayers, have the right to pay for it.
I would much rather my tax money pay for that than for abstinence education. : )
July 2, 2008 5:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ya know, I don't really have a problem with the faith-based initiatives Obama supports, but what the heck is abstinence education, anyway?
"Guys, keep your zipper up!"
"Ladies, keep your panties on!"
Maybe they throw a little masturbation technique in ...
Jeez!
July 2, 2008 7:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Eeek! He said masturbation!!! It's Onanism and a sin!!!
lol, sadly, abstinence education does NOT include masturbation. Joyceln Elders, Surgeon General, was fired for suggesting masturbation as a method of controlling pre-marital urges.
What it does include is fear-mongering about condoms and the false information that condoms frequently fail and do not protect people from STDs. It also includes some guidance in how to Just Say No. It includes stigmatizing and shaming. Waxman, I believe, commissioned a review of abstinence education programs and found the rife with falsehoods including the infamous lie our Magical Doctor/Senator Trent Lott agreed iwth on national television that you could get AIDS from tears.
July 2, 2008 9:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the reminders hrebendorf - and to everyone else for the other links,
This is just a reminder to folks that Senator Dodd still has campaign debts to retire, last I heard. I've sent a few bucks his way as a thank you and anyone else reading this might want to consider going to his website and helping out.
July 3, 2008 1:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Late to the party, hrb. Those of us who have actually been paying attention to the issue have been working for weeks already. In fact, we also worked when this came up last December and in February/March of this year. Daily Kos, Firedoglake, and your very own favorite "fucking pussy", Glenn Greenwald, have been organizing while you've been sitting here throwing shitbombs at them.
As for your suggestions -- already been there, already done that. Well before your post. Where have you been?
July 4, 2008 5:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, I even forgot, because unlike hrb, I've actually been working on this instead of defending the Dear Leader, and then belatedly posting a distracting "now get to work" post when it looked like the shit was going to hit the fan...
But hey, guess what, hrb? I posted about this a full nine days before you.
But you weren't paying attention, nor working. Then.
I'm not surprised.
July 8, 2008 2:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Whatever. You rock. I suck. But where are you, you arrogant fuck?
August 14, 2008 10:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
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