I get a sick feeling when I see the lack of fight by congressional Democrats.

It literally scares me. We are in serious trouble in this country right now, and the congressional leaders don't seem to have the will to go to battle for us.

Yet we will be told we must elect Democrats, or we will not survive as a country. We were told that before, and we got a majority in 2006.

Now that majority so many of us worked so hard for is letting us down.

Looks like they will go against the vast majority of the Democrats and let the FISA bill through with immunity for telecoms. Harry Reid had the power to choose which bill to bring up for a vote.

He did not choose the House version without retroactive immunity, he chose the one with immunity. He did not have to do that. He could have kept it off the floor if necessary. He is going against the hundreds of thousands who wrote and called.

FISA Debate Lookin' Good for The Telecoms?



Why would Harry do that? It puzzles me.

Also we find that after great expectations of a big fight in the House to get the truth out....that we are let down again.

Who Has Time for Contempt?



Yes things got in the way, you know.

Now they are saying:



When our Democratic congress is fearful in the face of a battle...then I get just plain scared. I want to yell at them to stop using the word unity...just stop it.

You do not compromise with extremists. They will chew you up and spit you out.

this people are not fighting and doing what should be done. WHY NOT???????

.

It's definitely a thought.

I believe that this is the "other" secret program that was alluded to in the Ashcroft hospital bed discussions.

The corporations will be pissed at the Democrats and Republicans will say that they were tougher on terrorism. They are wrong, of course. The Democrats are stuck in poor strategy and groupthink.

This is why the DLC is dangerous. For all their claims of supposedly wanting to help Democrats, they employ people like Marshall Wittman who specifically try to undermine the Democratic Party, even if it means he has to publicly defecate out the most rank and easily-debunkable lies. They reguarly give credence to the right wing's agenda and its worst, most unsupportable lies. They are the real force that tries to make sure this country is a one party state and that Democrats never really challenge the Republicans in a serious way. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/why-the-dlc-is-so-dangero_b_13640.html

There may be a few being blackmailed, but I would be willing to bet there is a simpler and less sinister explanation. There needs to be a House cleaning, and don't forget to clean the Senate. Don't let that blackmail argument take over your thinking.

If this were not an election year, I can not imagine either Hillary or Obama objecting to the FISA bill. Both of them are just way too conservative for my taste.

A complete lack of leadership. Zero political courage. A willingness to turn a blind eye to criminal activity that has hurt America and her citizens. And, in too many instances, complicity in those very activities.

All Harry Reid wants is for the Democratic candidate to win the 2008 election. Sadly, he thinks the best way to do that is for the Dems to scream "bipartisan!" as often as possible, ignore all that Bush and Co. has done that is illegal, and keep their heads down until after the election. :eyes:

In doing so, Harry might win the battle, but, in the end, he may lose the war.

My official affiliation with the Democratic Party is hanging by a very slender thread. If a Dem gets into the Presidential office and proceeds to sweep the past 7+ years under the rug, then my scissors come out and a very sad but neccessary pruning will take place. :(

And so few solutions, thus far. Taking impeachment off the table is a big mistake. Pretty lame that Bill could nearly get impeached for basically getting caught with his pants around his ankles, but Chimp can do whatever the hell he wants and get away with it. Where's the justice here?

This is just amazing to me. It really is.

FISA: Hold your horses

Harry Reid yesterday warned about a filibuster...



He is warning Dodd and Feingold actually.

What in the world is going on with Harry Reid?

we could slip them some testosterone or something?!

things, the Democrats will be Pussy's.

Reid and Pelosi both act more like republicans than anything else. Both need to be fired.

Kucinich in for Pelosi

Dodd in for Reid.

The Dems will start to show some balls THEN.

The second she said impeachment was "off the table" I knew there was trouble.

Did we go through all that to get the Democrats in office? What was the point or did you just want us to waste our time? We wanted Change and you left us with: Bush lite, Now with 60% less bullshit.

I don't get it and it really pisses me off.

When things don't make sense or seem complicated, all you have to do is follow the money and things become remarkably clear.

(Something like that.)

I had such high hopes a year ago although I was not happy about the impeachment is off of the table crap. IMHO, it's an assault on the constitution not have have brought charges against Bush and Cheney. Our constitution has been under attack ever since the SCOTUS interfered in the election.

Silly me. I thought a child's health program would be passed and some of our rights would be restored. Nope. I was expecting the rethugiscum's obstructionism would be exploited. Nope. The leadership just walked around dazed and confused. Not one of them said anything about the loyalty oaths rethugiscums signed.

Reaching across the aisle has failed miserably. Bipartisanship is nonexistent. It seems as if their fear of being called weak on terror rules every action. I sincerely hope leadership positions change with the next congress and someone with more spine than Pelosi and Reid will be elected.

and speak out, but they are being silenced quickly.

Kucinich touched on this in his recent interview.

http://www.alternet.org/story/74268/

"Hedges: Have we evolved into a corporate state?

Kucinich: I Look at it as the political equivalent of genetic engineering. That we've taken the gene of corporate America and shot it into both political parties. So they both now are growing with that essence within. So what does that mean? It means oil runs our politics. Corrupt Wall Street interests run our politics. Insurance companies run our politics. Arms manufacturers run our politics. And the public interest is being strangled. Fulfilling the practical aspirations of people should be our mission...

NAFTA, GAT, the WTO, China Trade, and every other trade agreement that's passed in Congress has been passed with the help of either the leadership of or with the help of the Democratic Party, knowing that each and every one of those agreements was devoid of protections for workers, knowing that if you don't have workers' rights put into a trade agreement then workers here in the United States are going to see their own bargaining position undermined because corporations can move jobs out of the country to places where workers don't have any rights. They don't have the right to organize, the right to collective bargaining, the right to strike. So what I see is that the Democratic Party abandoned working people, and paradoxically they're the ones who hoist the flag of workers every two and four years only to engender excitement, and then to turn around and abandon their constituency. This is now on the level of a practiced ritual..."

Why are they so concerned about passing this terrible legislation? Why did they vote down a bill that would have given the FISA court oversight over the administration's spying? What is wrong with these people? Don't they understand why we elected them? Does anybody here understand this? I'm scared at how easily the Democrats are willing to give away our constitutional rights without a fight, a fuss, or even a whimper. :banghead: :scared: :cry:

which is worse?

perhaps a combination of all 4?

are they ALL on the payroll? or are they all scared for their lives?

Good God, I hope the Repiglicans are messed up enough to lose to this bunch.

I hope Chris Dodd keeps his nerve....

corporate and otherwise are pretty indifferent about killing people to further their causes.

the Dem leaders today with smarmy looks on their faces sitting around a table with Bush. It's just sickening.

They're not going to fight for me. They don't really want to represent me. They sure want my campaign donations, but they don't want to listen to me. And they don't want to think REALLY longterm - like how will we function when we've left, ON THE BOOKS, INTACT, UNCHALLENGED, UNOPPOSED, and UNCHECKED, this dictatorial president shit with all the high crimes and misdemeanors and lies about why we have to go to war, and torture and illegal spying and wire-tapping, and wholesale reckless piracy on parade. They somehow don't think it's worth it to pursue that.

So I just shake my head. AND I do not donate anymore. I don't give ANY money to ANYBODY who's not for IMPEACHMENT. NONE. House OR Senate (because even though the House IMPEACHES, everybody (AND THEIR STAFFERS) hangs out together and runs into each other in the Capitol Hill cafeterias and elevators and parking lots and airport terminals and Georgetown cocktail parties and so forth. And they ALL talk, and they ALL gossip and they ALL compare notes, so I think it's fair game to bring it up with ANY of them.

And they aren't moving on IMPEACHMENT - which is Priority ONE, I think. The signal it sends to history and to future presidents (and would-be unitary executive dictators and kings - if we let bush/cheney get away with it, and if we let their hundreds, if not thousands, of high crimes and misdemeanors stand without ANY action taken - is one I don't even want to contemplate.

And I still can't believe they're so eager to let this go. WTF????????

(I hope my picture posting will work - crossing my fingers now LOL)