Obama will support filibuster of any bill granting telecom immunity
The so-called "Austin Mayor" says:
Sen. Barack Obama will back a filibuster of any Senate FISA legislation containing telecom immunity, his campaign has just told Election Central. The Obama campaign has just sent over the following statement from spokesman Bill Burton: "To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies."Link
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As others have pointed out, the real goal isn't telecomm immunity, it's the White House buying the silence of witnesses to impeachable offenses.
Stop being afraid, start getting angry.
He can support it all he wants, but Dodd's the one threatening to DO it.
While this should be expected, not an exception, for Presidential candidates to not grant retroactive immunity of vast, unknown crimes, it's very heartening that Obama did so.
Yet another reason to prefer him over that other leading Dem candidate...
Clinton has done the same - according to TPM.
I thought he was supposed to be the alternative to the conservatives.
Agreed, Dodd's leading the charge here and he deserves the credit - he pushed the issue, and Obama and Clinton are tagging along.
Yup. Dodd's the man.
Just to remind everyone: Bush started that illegal wiretapping program in January of 2001, long before the planes hit the WTC. The intent was never to provide for our security.
A clarification: The domestic wiretapping program run by the NSA was not started before Sept. 2001. This is the one that was supposedly started after the passage of Authorization for Use of Military Force against Terrorists, and involves wiretapping without the use of FISC warrants. Its existence was confirmed by ex-AG Gonzales.
The program that Teresa is referring to is one by the NSA to access data about domestic telephone calls. This is the one that the EFF is suing AT&T over. The existence of this program has been neither confirmed nor denied by the administration, and the information I've seen reported in a quick check seems to indicate that the NSA first requested to gather call information from phone companies months before Sept. 2001 (probably days after GWB was first sworn in as president).
See NSA warrantless surveillance controversy and NSA call database on Wikipedia for more info.
Much support to Obama and Clinton on this stand, although I wish they would join with Dodd in placing a hold on the lawsuit immunity legislation. Although I'm not at all an expert on Senate rules, and I'm not sure of the technique of placing a hold on legislation, so maybe they can't join him, and this filibuster support is as good as they can do?
As the others are saying, Dodd should get the credit for being the one trying to do this, rather than all the front runners who are now latching on to the popularity of a Democrat actually haveing some backbone!