June 24, 2008

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed a cloture motion on H.R. 6304, the FISA Amendments Act, which means votes should take place Wednesday. A leading opponent of the measure, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) says he will not attempt a filibuster but instead settle for highlighting what he sees as the bill's flaw. Speaker Pelosi, who voted for the bill last week, says an extended debate would be a good thing.

The anger and anguish of the privacy absolutists/anti-Bush activists continues to flow, focusing on provisions that would, in effect, grant immunity to the telecom companies that assisted in post 9/11 surveillance of foreign-based communications. A federal district court will determine if the telecoms acted on instructions from the Administration, and -- assuming so -- then dismiss the more than 40 lawsuits filed against the companies.

Salon's Glenn Greenwald, a lawyer, is the go-to guy for the opponents of the bill; his commentary is here. And there's a lot of this kind of sentiment, expressed at the Progressive Magazine: "Barack Obama's rightward sprint is nowhere more obvious than in his betrayal on the FISA bill."