Comments on Props to Sen. Cantwell

hooray for cantwell!

why isnt murray on that list? good for maria, she is in good company with boxer and harkin. its her center left side coming out. props indeed.

This could be Exhibit No. 1 in an impeachment trial.

They want legislation to let private companies off the hook, because the administration knew it was breaking the law.

Democrats like Reid are giving "enabling legislation" a new meaning.

Well, that almost makes up for her cloture vote on Alito. Almost.

I still think that we need to send the Public Intern to stand near AT&T stores and ask customers as they leave if they are cool with Bush and Cheny listening to their phone calls.

It's a little-known fact that AT&T is ALREADY giving NSA complete access to all communications they handle - voice, email, data, you name it. And that info is being used for non-terrorism purposes, such as drug enforcement. It's also a fact that, when NSA approached Qwest about a similar arrangement, Qwest told them to fuck off.

Kudos, Maria!

Very cool!

Besides, if you get Windows Vista SP1, they can listen to your computer info directly ... (on this slashdot article) ... so it may not matter.

It isn't as simple as it seems. The morning's vote was for cloture of the motion to proceed. The real battle comes when there's a cloture vote to end debate on the final resolution. You can find a detailed flowchart of the relevant Senate procedures here.

Likely ETA for the showdown is Friday, though there will be lots of debate and stalling tactics from here on out.

@6: Chris Dodd mentioned the details of the AT&T/NSA spying network. It consist(s/ed) of splitters at major points in the internet fiberoptic backbone that divert all communications to secret rooms for NSA processing with advanced search technology. This includes the major West Coast access point known as Mae West. Bottom line: they spied on every bit of internet traffic going out in this country, and for all we know are still doing it.

That might only be one of several surveillance programs, too, as administration officials like Alberto Gonzalez when questioned about all this used very careful language talking about specific programs rather than surveillance in general.

Keep in mind, Obama and Clinton effectively voted no by not showing up.

No, it's 60 percent, so not showing up doesn't change the vote, John.

But Will they aren't making an issue of it even as the national media focuses on them in endless trivial detail.

They could do more to spotlight this abuse of power than any other two Senators.

Are they really for change?

what about "president cantwell"? (kidding)