(for those who are still angry with Byrd for Bankruptcy bill and Alito confirmation...please go to the link and read what this is all about)
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Sen. Byrd yesterday introduced legislation to create an independent Commission to investigate, among other things, the law-breaking issues raised by the NSA scandal. He issued an extremely potent and on-point statement explaining why such an investigation was urgently needed.Comments from Senator Byrd:
"In a climate of fear, liberties have been sacrificed time and again under the guise of keeping the Nation from harm. Fear is a powerful tool for manipulation, useful for easing the American people out of their liberties and into submission. When the public is confronted with a situation, real or imagined, that inspires fear, they rightfully look to their leaders for protection from foreboding consequences. The claim of wartime necessity always strengthens a President. And often facts are sealed from the prying eyes of Congress by a purported need for secrecy."-snip-
Sen. Byrd is facing a tough re-election fight in a purple state. That fact has led him this year to take prominent stands which were popular in his state that he might not otherwise have taken -- such as his vigorous opposition to the Alito filibuster and ultimate support for Alito's ascension to the Court. And here, he has chosen to take a very principled and aggressive stand on the NSA issue. Democrats in Washington: does that tell you anything?
There are people, including many prominent conservatives and, increasingly, Democrats in Washington, who understand why this scandal constitutes such a profound threat to the principles on which our system of government is based. They are starting to be heard from more and more, and as I’ve said many times, the more stonewalling the Administration engages in, the more "strained and tenuous justifications, or claims of the dire need for secrecy" they make in order to impede investigations and conceal what they did, the more this scandal will grow.
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More about this and action we can take........
http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/03/more-conservatives-jump-ship-other.html