The Senate today — led by Jay Rockefeller, enabled by Harry Reid, and with the active support of at least 12 (and probably more) Democrats, in conjunction with an as-always lockstep GOP caucus — will vote to legalize warrantless spying on the telephone calls and emails of Americans, and will also provide full retroactive amnesty to lawbreaking telecoms, thus forever putting an end to any efforts to investigate and obtain a judicial ruling regarding the Bush administration’s years-long illegal spying programs aimed at Americans. The long, hard efforts by AT&T, Verizon and their all-star, bipartisan cast of lobbyists to grease the wheels of the Senate — led by former Bush 41 Attorney General William Barr and former Clinton Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick — are about to pay huge dividends, as such noble efforts invariably do with our political establishment.
What is interesting about this is the Silence of the Blogs. They’re running Obama-put-to-music clips as the real business of the Democratic Party goes on without notice.
Keep in mind too – this is always true – a vote is not a vote if it doesn’t change anything. A vote in favor of a bill they know will fail or be vetoed means nothing – only the vote to override a veto has substance, and that only if successful. Democrats are great at playing cat and mouse with us. With a few notable exceptions, it’s very hard to know where any of them really stand.
For instance, on the telecom bill, twelve of them are selling out. That’s the required number. But what if they needed thirteen? The thirteenth vote is most assuredly there, hiding in the bushes. It’s Bob Dole’s axiom of politics: You can never go wrong voting for a bill that fails or against one that passes.
UPDATE: Far more than the necessary 12 Democrats bolted and joined the president in granting immunity to the telecoms. Here’s a list of the deserters:
Bayh, Inouye, Johnson, Landrieu, McCaskill, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, Stabenow, Feinstein, Kohl, Pryor, Rockefeller, Salazar, Carper, Mikulski, Conrad, Webb, and Lincoln. Obama voted against immunity, and Hillary Clinton was the only Senator not voting.
As always, Obama’s vote might mean something, might mean nothing. See the Bob Dole axiom above.
The bill can be stopped in the house. Go here to sign a petition urging them to stop it.
Piece of Mindful 
Here’s a helpful reminder come November.
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Have to say, the only name here that surprised me was Jim Webb’s. Other than that…these folks have shown themselves all too eager to flop for cash.
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Oh, and Ben Nelson hearts the Bush anti-terror program. He’s a True Believer. So that’s scary.
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By my count, the Democrats need to pick up 27 seats to get to the 60 mark, counting Republicans and sympathizers.
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Yes, but do note that neither of our democratic senators are on that list. You have pointed out that Baucus *is* a famous vote counter, but still, they deserve some credit on this.
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That’s just it, Shane – they don’t deserve credit until they actually stop/pass something. They are supposed to be leading us. That implies that they know how to get things done, rather than just casting a useless vote now and then.
And, by golly, if these guys want something bad enough, they know how to get it. But they are caught in the middle right now – how to placate their constituencies and at the same time not give them what they want. Meaningless votes is one way.
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