Earlier today Senator Dodd held a press conference on the steps of the capitol in Des Moines to talk about this week's FISA victory. In it he challenges his Senate colleagues in the presidential race to come back to DC in January and join him in the fight against retroactive immunity. Senators Clinton, Obama and Biden were not in DC to fight against retroactive immunity on Monday, though all had previously put out statements saying they would support a Dodd filibuster to stop retroactive immunity.
Senator Dodd didn't just talk about how he wants to defend the Constitution. He took to the floor of the Senate and stopped a bad piece of legislation from becoming law. That kind of leadership that gets results is exactly what our country needs now - we can't rely on anything less.
Comments
It is time that the Democrates started to worry about Americans and not Mosleum Extremists.
The Constitution is for We The People of the United States, not They The Mosleum Extremists of Iraq.
Mr. Dodd, are you an American, or are you and Iraqi Mosleum Extremists? Are you an American, or are you a traitor?
Hitler would have loved you. Imagine, allowing Nazi's to sue American contractors after WWII. This is exactly what Mr. Dodd would have pressed for. Mr. Dodd, you seem to be no better than Hitler.
Immunity must be granted to all Americans working in foreign countries.
Personally, I think Mr. Dodd would make a terrible president. He is certainly showing that he is a terrible Senator (unless you are a Mosleum Extremist - in which case you would probably love him).
Mr. Dodd, are you receiving campaign money from Al Quida or other Mosleum Extremists Organizations? It sure sounds like you are.
"Immunity must be granted to all Americans working in foreign countries."
Please do just a wee little bit better than that if you would like to argue a point. You haven't even thought about this enough to be a half amusing troller. Come on, if you want to troll the Chris Dodd blogs you are going to have to step it up a notch.
Now sit back down think about your opinions and let us have something we can work with here.
Frankly I am very disappointed in you Mr. Ettari. I expect better better from you next time.
If you look at the official flag for the State of Iowa you can see the state motto:
"Our Liberties We Prize and Our Rights We Will Maintain".
As an Iowan I am proud that Chris Dodd honored our state motto with his action in Congress to stop retroactive immunity for the telecommunication companies by filibustering the FISA bill. This truly was an effort to treasure our freedom and liberties and to maintain our rights. Thank you Senator.
John Edwards always talks about wanting to fight corporate interests and corruption in Washington as President. How about consideration for Senator Dodd, who actually put up a fight against corporate interests and corruption in Washington and WON the fight, right in the middle of a presidential campaign!
The other candidates keep talking about change, wanting to make change, hoping for change, working hard for change. How about Senator Dodd, who entered the Senate 26 years ago and and has made a career of making change happen and getting results.
I like the Chris Dodd "12 Days of Results" tour. Dodd actually took time off of this tour to produce more results. Imagine what he could do in the Oval Office.
If a police office appeared at your door (even in Iowa) to ask you questions about a crime he/she was investigating, and you refused to answer the questions (unless they came under the 5th Admendment Exclusion), you would be guilty of Impeeding the Investigation. This is exactly the charge which got Martha Stewart and Skooter Libby jail time.
The telecommunications firms had no choice but to honor the requests of the law enforcement officials. To not do so would have made them criminals (like Libby and Martha Stewart).
To allow people to sue those who are questioned by the law authorities is to make it impossible for law officals to obtain information relative to their investigations.
Personally, I have absolutely nothing to hide. And, I would rather have a random telephone call monitored than to loose friends and relatives in another 9/11 type attack (I am from New York).
Mr. McGinn, I really think that you need to reserve opinion on this matter until such time that you have personally lost a friend or loved-one in a terriorist attack. May-be then you would not be so quick to endorse a policy which makes witnesses in criminal investigations liable to being sued by the very criminals who are being investigated.
It's tempting to respond to this post, since it's obviously been issued as someone's "talking points" to spin the media's reporting. However, suffice it to say that the so-called "war on terror" has little merit because it's been based on potentialities and suspicions. We might as well be doing battle with ghosts.
Mr. Ettari,
From your post sounds like to lost someone in the 9-11 attacks and now anything and everything the administration does in the name of payback is ok with you. Well that is way there are laws. Someone might kill my friend that does not give me the right to kill his friend. It does give me the right to take him to a court of law.
The statement that the telecommunications had no choice is not true. They may have thought they had no choice. Although how a legal department five years after 9-11 could advise the company that they had no choice is questionable. But that is not fundamental issue here. The fundamental issue here is whether a court of law would even be able to decide what is fair.
By your line of reasoning Mr. Ettari anytime any person who works for government asks anything from anyone that person must comply and is not liable for any action they would preform to accomplish that request. Is that what you are advocating Mr. Ettari?
That raises the question. From my understanding, which is limited about the matter, is that the government requested information from the telecommunications companies and the companies built listening rooms to feed the information to the government. As a P.E. Mr. Ettari you must be aware that to build such a room is a significant project. Who paid for the room? Was this a government contract? Was it open for public bidding? If the companies paid for the work then it no longer is a request from the government but a gift from the telecommunications companies. Does that fall under the finance reform law? You see Mr. Ettari this is just to interesting to brush under the rug. I might want to go into the 'sell citizens data to the government' business. Since you don't mind if I tap your phone Mr. Ettari I would like to come by sometime this weekend and set up. When would be good for you?
To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin (as Chris Dodd often does on the campaign trail), "Those who would trade liberty for security deserve neither."
Mr. Ettari, I am addressing your position as someone "personally lost a friend or loved one in a terrorist attack"...my brother. He was on the 100th floor of the North Tower at the WTC. His remains have never been found.
I'm sure you are aware that the Islamic terrorists despise our free society, rule of law and democracy. The actions of this administration since 9/11 have had the practical effect of doing what the terrorists tried but could never actually do: limiting our freedom of speech, infringing on our freedom from governmental intervention...eliminating the very right to be left alone. In other words, this Administration is putting the final touches on the ultimate goal of al Quaeda: the beginning of the end of our free and open society. You say that citizens should cooperate with the police or, should they refuse, they themselves become criminals. Sounds like the Soviet Union to me. We have a legal system that, if followed, allows the government to obtain information but also preserves each citizen's rights. You ask what is this tool? It's called a search warrant. The issue really isn't whether you have anything to hide but rather the government's ability to just arbitrarily collect private information.
Let me ask you this: how can we reasonably expect the Middle East to embrace true democratic ideals when we don't respect them in the United States? Are the things that our children are taught in school about the United States Constituition only for times of peace or are they truly the bedrock of our country...was the oath I took upon becoming a member of the bar meaningless just because of the threats against our country?
Finally, I thought I would clue you in on a couple of facts. Mr. McGinn is someone with whom I attended both grade school and law school and is a good friend of mine. You should also note that he is a successful prosecutor in Pottawattamie County who handles child molestation cases. In other words, he's truly a "law and order" kind of guy and even he believes that this government has gone too far. What good is it to claim we are fighting abroad in order to protect our freedom if we don't protect it here at home?
Mr. Ettari's comparison of Chris Dodd to the Nazis actually brings up a view important point. What is a fundamental difference between our government and the Nazi way of life. Well one is that ours is more complicated. In a totalitarian government there is no second guessing the government. They say and you do and say nothing about it. In the ideal America if the government says something we have a right to refuse. Yes, refusing could end us in court and then in jail but there is that procedure. In America one should understand you always have a choice. But now there's the rub isn't it 'one should understand'. One should know ones rights and apparently Mr. Ettari does not know his rights. And way is that? Because in order for a democracy to work the public education system must work. Because the education system has fallen to such a shameful state of disrepair the average citizen can not tell you their rights as a US citizen are. Without that knowledge they do not know when they rights are being taken away. In a totalitarian government it is the sole responsibility of the state to determine what rights the citizens have but in a democracy it is the citizens responsibility to determine what rights they have but in order that the citizens know their rights the education system must be solid. Administration after administration has let it fall behind. Why is it that someone applying for citizenship must learn all the archaic knowledge about our government. It is because they are trying to become another citizen, another defender of our rights and as such must understand what they are be entrusted with. The state of the nation is that the citizens no longer know what it was they were suppose to be guarding and the government is walking away with something we once held very dear. I don't know about the movie but the book "Animal Farm" showed this quiet plainly, required reading when I was in high school by the way.
Now there is one, and only one, candidate who represents the person with the force of will who can put this country back on track. His name, you have the right, nay the responsibility to know, Sen. Chris Dodd.