From Talk Left: FISA and S-CHIP Updates and Actions Alerts

[deminks]

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2007/10/15/15126/627

Christy at Firedoglake has all the update details, phone numbers and more on FISA and S-CHIP.

Roll Call (subscriber only) reports the GOP is spoiling for a FISA fight, hoping to distract attention from S-CHIP. The Carpetbagger Report has this quote from the Roll Call article:

Specifically, Republicans are planning to use the kidnapping and subsequent murder of three U.S. soldiers in Iraq earlier this year to put a “human face” on the issue, the House staffer explained. According to this aide, while Democrats’ arguments about privacy may resonate with some voters, Republicans believe using real-world examples of how a weak FISA has put U.S. troops in danger will help galvanize public support for their position.

(Link for Firedoglake)

http://firedoglake.com/

[kansasblue]

1. The kidnapping story was on Fox this morning....

as the Fox story goes.. actionable intelligence, communications going through a US internet server, It took 9 hours to get approval to start checking messages, had to chase down Alberto Gonzales in Texas for approval. ' military families should be angry about this'.

other talking part... FISA set up in the 70s before advanced communication like the internet and mobile phones.

[fasttense]

2. If Democratic leaders were political savvy,

They would simply trot out the little gem about the bushes wiretapping BEFORE 9/11.

"NSA approached Qwest more than six months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to court documents unsealed in Denver this week. Details about the alleged NSA program have been redacted from the documents, but Nacchio’s lawyer said last year that the NSA had approached the company about participating in a warrantless surveillance program to gather information about Americans’ phone records."

http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071013/NEWS03/710130373

So let them have a fight over FISA. Despite the increased illegal spying on American citizens, they couldn't do anything about 9/11. What has changed since? Nothing but more illegal wiretapping and probably on Democratic politicians too.

[annabanana]

3. It is VERY hard for Democrats to "trot out" anything

without an honest media. They can do everything right and still not be heard, while the RW can lie and lie and lie and be taken for honest men.