The Power of One

On Monday, Senator Chris Dodd simply and forcefully showed what one principled man can do in America. Just when the rest of the Democratic Party was on the verge of the one billionth collapse to George W. Bush in a row, Dodd stepped in to stop the cave-in.

The issue at hand was giving retroactive immunity to the telecommunication companies for breaking the FISA law. First of all, think about that, why would you need immunity if you haven't broken the law? And if you broke the law, why should Congress let you get away with it? But of course, they were going to.

Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid planned to bring up the version of the new FISA bill that the Republicans supported. He favored the approach supported by Dick Cheney rather than the other version put together by Democratic Senator Pat Leahy. Why he did that is an open question, to say the least.

And, of course, our so-called Democratic leaders who are running for president, with the obvious exception of Sen. Dodd, were missing in action. I thought Fox News might devote their whole coverage to Senator Clinton today since she was a missing blond.

Meanwhile, Senator Obama made his bid for the Profiles in Courage Hall of Fame by issuing a press release saying since he didn't have to be there for the fight (because they would only counting votes against Dodd and he would be voting with Dodd), he wouldn't. In essence, he was saying -- since I don't have to be there, I won't. Inspiring!

But despite the fact that his Majority Leader sided with the Bush administration and none of the Democratic leading candidates for president showed up, Senator Dodd pressed on anyway. Because, maybe just one person could make a difference.

The first vote was 76-10 against Senator Dodd. It didn't look good. Trying to get forty Democrats to stand up to President Bush is a Herculean task. They're using to giving up without a fight. In fact, in his first speech of the morning Senator Dodd mentioned that the Democrats had said over and over that they would fight the next time against the next Bush administration abuse, but never did. And he said the time had come to draw the line. He said why not here, why not now?

Then when he began the fight a curious thing happened. It turned out the Republicans and the Bush folks weren't as mean and tough as advertised. The filibuster could have lasted 108 hours in all to get through all the cloture motions and the Senate would have gotten nothing done the week before Christmas break. They couldn't countenance that, so voila, victory!

Just that simple. Harry Reid came out and said they were going to table immunity for the telecoms and consider it after the break. The bill didn't pass and Bush and the people who helped him break the law were not given retroactive immunity for the crimes they might have committed.

Good guys win, bad guys lose. All it took was one Senator and an afternoon. And we stopped them cold in their tracks. Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?

Now, imagine if the Democrats all united to fight the Bush administration together. Then, they just might be able to beat the most unpopular president of all time every once in awhile.

Will other Democrats learn anything from this? Will they get the message that it doesn't take that much to fight these guys and that just one person can make a difference, let alone all of them fighting together? I hope so. I'd like to ask Senator Clinton if she got the message, but I couldn't find her.

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Comments

[ShanghaiGuy]

Hooray for Senator Dodd! And hooray for you, Cenk!

[davedave]

with a 20% favorable rating thats not exactly headed north, what have the senators got to lose?

spoiled children (the goofy administration) have to be told simply and firmly "NO!".

the democrats have to understand that being an adult under these circumstances has no downside. the emperor has no clothes...

d

[IYouWe]

I think Dodd is a true believer, but I also think it's obvious that he threatened the veto in order to get more attention paid to his campaign. Which is fine by me. It seems a bit sad and convoluted that a candidate who has not much to lose but everything to gain by standing up for the rule of law is the only one with the gravitas to break out from the pack. Perhaps this shows us that our political system still has some links to the people is serves. Or maybe it shows us that we are in deep shit. Go Dodd Squad!

[clevelandchick]

"I thought Fox News might devote their whole coverage to Senator Clinton today since she was a missing blond."

Cenk...you kick ass.

[aznurse]

This post has been up since this morning, with only 80 replies, Clinton and Bush has been up a little while and has over 200 replies. This has been the closest thing weve had to a victory and such an important issue, but its not getting attention. Maybe if Dodd was seen at a dog fight, with britney spears, without undies it might get attention. blah

[joebaggadonuts]

Whew! Someone noticed!

[heckleNjeckle]

Lone Senator makes a difference?
OMG! Does this mean Gravel is not a crazy old nut?
Any Senator care to end the war?

[milo9]

Cenk, I'm not one of your biggest fans, but I'm forced to say you did good yesterday! You're a real patriot. Thanks! Great Show!

[tbone99]

It was not the power of ONE but the effort of thousands:
[T]here was an email exchange between a relatively small group of bloggers and a couple of representatives from grass-roots organizations in which the same idea arose: finding a Senator who would be willing to place a "hold" on the Rockefeller immunity bill. Earlier that morning, Big Tent Democrat noted that Chris Dodd had issued a strongly worded statement against Jay Rockefeller's bill, and he urged Dodd to announce he would lead a filibuster against the bill. Based on all of that, it was quickly recognized, both in comments and in that email group, that the obvious choice to target for a "hold" was Dodd, who had made constitutional and oversight issues the centerpiece of his presidential campaign.

Within literally a matter of minutes, numerous blogs began urging their readers to contact the Dodd campaign to ask Dodd to place a "hold" on any bill containing immunity. Blog readers deluged the Dodd campaign by the thousands, tying up their telephones and overflowing their email boxes.

It was exclusively in response to that blog-based outpouring of citizen passion that Dodd -- within a matter of a few hours -- emphatically vowed that he would do something he has almost never done during his 24-year Senate career: place a "hold" on this bill and, if necessary, lead a filibuster against it on the floor of the Senate. Dodd's responsiveness, and the all-too-rare leadership he displayed, prompted an outpouring of support for his campaign from citizens hungry for any sort of Democratic leadership, as he raised $200,000 in small donations over the next 24 hours alone, exceeding the total he had raised for the preceding many months.
-From jane hamschers huffpost today

[EtOH]

I swear if it were not for the fact that all the sites I found after Googling "Impeach Harry Reid" were for right wing organizations, I would have contributed to one of them.

Can someone please explain to me why if the Democrats control what legislation is voted on and what isn't they keep whining about not having the votes to fight. They don't need votes, they need a backbone.

Well done Senator Dodd!!

[martinchill]

chris who?

~~

Senate puts off decision on wiretapping immunity

By Pamela Hess
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Senate late Monday delayed its consideration of a vote on a new government eavesdropping bill until January.

"Everyone feels it would be to the best interests of the Senate that we take a look at this when we come back after the 1st of the year," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who delayed the bill.

"With more than a dozen amendments to this complex and controversial bill, this legislation deserves time for thorough discussion on the floor," he said.

Senators clashed Monday in hours of debate over whether the government's need to eavesdrop on potential terrorists outweighs Americans' expectations that their private communications are protected.

The Senate was grappling with an update to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the law that dictates when federal agents must obtain court permission before tapping phone and computer lines inside the USA to gather intelligence on foreign threats. It may tap lines without court permission outside the country.

The central question before the Senate is what to do with telecommunications companies that helped the government tap American communications after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The surveillance was done without permission from the secret court created nearly 30 years ago to protect Americans from unwarranted government intrusions on their privacy.

About 40 civil lawsuits alleging violations of communications and wiretapping laws are pending against the companies.

The White House warns that if the cases go forward they could reveal information that would compromise national security. If they succeed, the companies could be bankrupted.

The White House has threatened to veto any bill that does not contain a retroactive immunity provision.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto expressed disappointment with the Senate's delay. "Each day of delay brings us closer to reopening a dangerous intelligence gap that we closed last summer" with a temporary eavesdropping law, he said. That law expires Feb. 1.

usatoday/AP

[TucsonEd]

https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1318/t/41/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=1892

Donate money to Dodd to thank him.

[echoes44442002]

The Government has THOUGHT READING TECHNOLOGY! Now they are trying to make having certain thoughts illegal!

They are legislating the legality and immunity of companies helping with the use of Thought Reading Technology before its existence is even known! See http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071218135946.bs66t179&show_article=1 for information on how easily available this technology is to develop. (This is a Drudge Report headline on 12/18/07 showing how tech is developed that broadcasts your thoughts from the vibrations of your ear drums).

[23000Days]

We all aplaud and thank Sen. Dodd. But to call the remainder of the Dem. congress spineless would be to overlook the fact that the House passed a FISA bill without retro immunity, which Sen. Dodd put a hold on because it was about to be scrubbed. The bill discussed was the Sen. Intel. Cmte. version of the bill, brought up by Harry Reid. Had it passed, the house would have had to vote on it again.
I have no idea why Reid decided to do this. Hopefully, it was a plan to have it go down just as it did to buy time. In all negotiations, time is a valuable asset. The alternative would have been to have the Thugs defeat the bill that had no retro immunity.
I Say credit where credit's due. There are a bunch of ball-less Dems, but there are also those doing their part.

[BerzerkleyEd]

Imagine a nominee you could vote for without holding your nose. Is a Dodd surge on the way? One can only hope.