BernieHund: The Political Watchdog

Barack Obama stopped by the Capitol today to vote for the reconditioned FISA bill.  Regardless of his explanation and the defense he offered for his vote to give the telecoms immunity from prosecution, it was a sad day for those of us who still believe in civil liberties.

Only 28 senators voted against the FISA bill that passed the Senate today.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who was Mr. Obama’s rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, voted against the bill.

Senator Dodd fought a valiant fight right down to the end.  And, if I may interject one single thought, it is that among the Democrats in Congress Chris Dodd has been one among the few who have continually fought for citizen rights.  Senator Patrick Leahy commented that the passing of the FISA bill slammed the courthouse door on American citizens.

There were some powerful comments before the final vote, including a final attempt to urge the Democrats to stand their ground.

“I urge my colleagues to stand up for the rule of law and defeat this bill,” Senator Russell D. Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, said in closing arguments.

The battle had dragged on for months and when it seemed that the Democrats had reached their stride in Congress, once again they failed us.

The arrogance of the Republicans showed in the following comment:

But Senator Christopher S. Bond, the Missouri Republican who is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said there was nothing to fear in the bill “unless you have Al Qaeda on your speed dial.”

My personal opinion is that Christopher Bond made the dumbest comment of the day.  The FISA bill is not limited to Al Qaeda surveillance.  For Senator Bond to provide us with so smug a comment is ridiculous.  We all know that given an inch the White House will take a mile and more if possible.  Unfortunately, that does not only apply to the Bush White House.  We have seen it happen time and again.

While Barack Obama offered his opinion on the FISA vote to his constituents and likely voters, I am still uncomfortable that he didn’t join the 28 who stood up for the rights of the American citizens.

However, John McCain didn’t find the vote sufficiently important to return to Washington to cast his vote for it.  Perhaps, his vote was not necessary, since the overwhelming majority voted to support it.  He had said he would vote for the bill if present, but he wasn’t present.  That says something.

Perhaps we should all check our phones to make sure we don’t “have Al Qaeda on your speed dial.”  (How insane a comment!)