The Political Chase

Dodd to continue FISA amnesty fight

Far too many in Congress are heavy on rhetoric and light — to put it mildly — on action. Sen Chris Dodd (D-CT) cannot be characterized as such. He has fought giving amnesty to Bush and his band of crooks through every step of the FISA revision process.

In spite of the heavy losses suffered today, Dodd intends to launch a counterattack to the extent possible, albeit against virtually all odds.

The following is from a press conference Dodd had with reporters today. TPM has the full story.

“We’ve lost every single battle we had on this bill [in the Senate]…. We’re not getting anywhere at all” he said. “The question now is can the House do better.” After the bill passes in the Senate, as is expected late today or tomorrow, the bill would head to a conference. There, conferees from both houses will try to hash out the significant differences between the House and Senate versions, the issue of retroactive immunity chief among them.

However, Dodd said, if the final bill emerging from that powwow does contain retroactive immunity, he said he’d “absolutely” filibuster that bill; he’d use “whatever vehicles we can” to stop it.

The Senate had “just sanctioned” the “single largest invasion of privacy in the history of the country,” he said.

Some questioned the motives of Dodd’s outspokenness against granting amnesty to the telecoms during his bid for the presidency. Suffice it to say, those questions cannot be raised today and were obviously without merit before. Unfortunately, they were just shining examples of too much rhetoric accompanied by no action.

The Democratic Senators — Jay Rockefeller, Dianne Feinstein, Evan Bayh, Claire McCaskill, Mary Landrieu, and Bill Nelson, too name a few — that gave aid and comfort to George Bush and the telecoms today, should strongly consider attending a Dodd-presented lecture on patriotism.