FISA: We Win A Round

A very, very interesting turn of events. (8.00 / 1)

Indeed, this is a (temporary) victory for everyone in the progressive movement who has been applying pressure on the process.

Nico Pitney chimes in as well at HuffPo, with comments nearly verbatim from the floor:

"We have tried to work through this process and it appears quite clear at this stage on this bill that we're not going to be able to do that," said Reid. "We are at the last few hours of the last few days of this year's session of Congress... I think its very clear we're not going to be able to move into the amendments.... I've spoken with a number of Senators and we feel it would be in the best interest of the Senate to take at look at this when we come back next year."

A smile on his reddened face, Dodd was at once gracious and joyful by the turn of events. He had been arguing his case for approximately eight hours.

"I want to thank the leader [Sen. Reid]," he said. "This is an awkward time. We want to get the bill done. My longstanding concerns were over retroactive immunity. Look forward to coming back in January. And hopefully between then and January a suggestion can be made to compromise without granting full immunity...I appreciate the fact that we will not have to pursue this further."

Disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign. These opinions are my own and are not necessarily those of my employer.  

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by: Eden James @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 18:56:02 PM CST

3 cheers for Dodd and Feingold (8.00 / 1)

It was the people-powered pressure (how's that for triple alliteration) that pushed Reid over the edge, but none of this would have had the time and space to play out without Dodd and Feingold.  

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by: CarlsbadDem @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 22:39:36 PM CST

Damn (8.00 / 2)

straight.  This was very much a people powered victory.  CREDO, DfA, MoveOn and Courage all drove calls, faxes and emails into Senators.  Dodd whipped up a bunch of his own.  Bloggers did the same.  This was an all out netroots/grassroots effort and we did win this round.

There will be a massive fight in January, but we have more time to keep the screws on them.

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by: Julia Rosen @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 23:05:14 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Um... (8.00 / 1)

And Calitics! Dave and a few others did some great work on this surrounding DiFi.

We're waiting for round 2!

I'm proud to work for Kamala Harris for AG.

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by: Brian Leubitz @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 23:34:27 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Indeed (0.00 / 0)

the list is much longer than the one I rattled off.  Lots of people deserve the credit for this one.  It absolutely was people powered.

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by: Julia Rosen @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 23:59:50 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Yep. Calitics and Daily Kos and FDL and... and... and... (0.00 / 0)

This list goes on and on in the blogosphere.

dday
brigham
mcjoan
emptywheel
jane hamsher
markos
kagro x

Those are just the recognizable names off the top of my head...

But the battle is not over. About two weeks from now, it will be rejoined.

Hopefully, in that time, we can collectively move our senior Senator closer to doing the right thing

Disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign. These opinions are my own and are not necessarily those of my employer.  

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by: Eden James @ Tue Dec 18, 2007 at 01:13:55 AM CST

[ Parent ]

glenn greenwald (0.00 / 0)

I have a secret crush on him (oops! not a secret anymore)

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by: CarlsbadDem @ Tue Dec 18, 2007 at 10:46:15 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Brilliant. I just wish I had any reason to hope Feinstein will improve (8.00 / 1)

But after the last two "welcome the opportunity to respond" type emails from her, I'm learning.  I'll still write, email, and call, but I'm done with any optimism on her behalf.   Courage Campaign and the ACLU have been stellar on this, so thanks for that.

Scott Horton has a great piece on domestic surveillance today:  Another Milestone on the Road to Serfdom

Disclosure: Union staff, former staff for Manuel Perez, elected DSCC delegate for 80th AD, board of Democrats of the Desert

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by: soyinkafan @ Mon Dec 17, 2007 at 23:18:40 PM CST

Thank God for Barbara Boxer (0.00 / 0)

I called her San Diego office yesterday to encourage her to support the filibuster {she hadn't made an announcement yet when I called}

I am call again today to thank her for her support.  

It sucks that we can't run a primary opponent against Feinstein until 2012 - at least to scare her a bit. As far as I can tell she just doesn't care what we in the base think of her.  Most people have no idea how conservative she is and more importantly what a Bush enabler she is.

Don't get me wrong I haven't given up - I will keep calling her office until she is finally outta there.  

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by: paida @ Tue Dec 18, 2007 at 08:26:33 AM CST