[Passing on this note to me from Firedoglake.com]

The House passed a version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) last week that included retroactive immunity to the telecom companies that conspired in Bush's warrantless wiretapping program. And now, as the bill heads to the Senate, it looks like we have one last chance to stop this massive erosion of the rule of law.

Thankfully, we have a few champions, like Russ Feingold and Chris Dodd, who look poised to fight this to the very end, but they can't do it alone. They need both strong support from progressive senators and the vote of those senators currently sitting on the fence. This is where you come in.

You can call either by dialing the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

After you are done with the call, please take a moment to let us know how the call went.

Senator Feingold effectively summed up the insanity of retroactive immunity yesterday by saying, "It doesn't simply have the impact of potentially allowing telephone companies to break the law. It may prevent us from ever getting to the core issue...which is the president ran an illegal program that could've been an impeachable offense."

I hope that you'll join me and do what you can to help prevent this from happening.

Thank you,

Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake.com

I called my Senator, Gordon Smith of Oregon, and was told by a staffer he has no offered a public opinion and was studying the bill. My message to Smith was strip the Telecom Immunity from FISA and preserve the 4th Amendment, or face greater likelihood of losing his office in the fall.

They do listen when we call and write and email. It takes a very few minutes!

Wow, I thought this was a dnone deal... Didi not know that there is still a chance to head off the provision of allowing those hacks (telecom companies) to skate on the issue of assisting in those wireless taps... Thanks 'fer the heads up cen..........

Sal, from what I hear, the Senate is talking about splitting up the FISA Bill and voting on the immunity separately. I don't know if this will happen. There is all sorts of things that could happen. But call, bro! Call! Tell them bastids of all stripes we're watching now and voting in November!!

cen, this is a very important subject and I'm glad you are concerned about it. We all should be. This is another of shrub's power grabs at the expense of the rest of us. The demos will gladly abuse the powers same as the repubs.

The bill of rights lays in tatters after the barbarian horde (shrub's boys) got done with it.

Dodd, Feingold, Wyden and Boxer to Oppose FISA Bill
by mcjoan

Published June 24, 2008 at Daily Kos

Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold released this statement (via e-mail):

"This is a deeply flawed bill, which does nothing more than offer retroactive immunity by another name. We strongly urge our colleagues to reject this so-called ‘compromise’ legislation and oppose any efforts to consider this bill in its current form. We will oppose efforts to end debate on this bill as long as it provides retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies that may have participated in the President’s warrantless wiretapping program, and as long as it fails to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans.

"If the Senate does proceed to this legislation, our immediate response will be to offer an amendment that strips the retroactive immunity provision out of the bill. We hope our colleagues will join us in supporting Americans’ civil liberties by opposing retroactive immunity and rejecting this so-called ‘compromise’ legislation."

Sen. Ron Wyden announced that he will oppose cloture for wiretapping bill:

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, announced today that he would oppose new legislation amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) due to his continued opposition to a provision that would grant blanket retroactive immunity to any telecommunications company that participated in the President’s warrantless wiretapping program.

"This is not the first time that the President has pressured Congress into interfering in federal court cases to cover-up his attempts to secretly rewrite the law. Congress’s previous attempts to bail-out the President—from the Detainee Treatment Act to the Military Commissions Act—have not only failed to solve the legal mess, but have often provided cover for the Administration’s failed counterterrorism policies," said Wyden.

"I see no reason for Congress to grant blanket immunity to companies that went along with the President’s wiretapping program for the better part of six years, even as it became increasingly clear that the legal foundation for this program was built on sand," Wyden continued. "It is not the role of Congress to substitute its judgment for the judgment of the courts. And while this bill offers the illusion of a fair judicial process, in reality, as the House Republican Leadership has noted, this is a mere ‘formality.’" ...

Here's a portion of Sen. Boxer's floor statement:

I know that many of my colleagues in the Senate think we know enough about this program.

But we do not know enough. The Bush Administration trampled on the Constitution, and we are not doing anything in this bill to provide accountability.

This bill goes along with the premise that we hold up the Constitution when it suits us, and we set it aside when it hinders what we want to do.

Simply put, this bill is a fig leaf that attempts to hide the truth about the warrantless surveillance program at the expense of the rights of our citizens.

And if we vote for it today, we are perpetuating a cover-up.

I want to be clear – I support giving our government every tool necessary to track down terrorists and protect our citizens.

I voted to go after al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden, and I believe it is the responsibility of the Congress to provide all of the tools necessary to fight terrorism and protect the American people.

But we have another responsibility, I believe, of equal importance; and that is our responsibility to uphold the Constitution and the rights of our citizens....

We can and must do better, and therefore I oppose this bill.

Update: Via e-mail, Sen. Reid's office sends this statement:

"Unfortunately, the FISA compromise bill establishes a process where the likely outcome is immunity to the telecommunications carriers who participated in the President's warrantless wiretapping program. Sen. Reid remains opposed to retroactive immunity, which undermines efforts to hold the Bush Administration accountable for violating the law. Thus, he will cosponsor the amendment offered by Senators Dodd and Feingold to strip out the immunity provision, and support their efforts to strip immunity on the floor."

Stoney, there is a LOT of online activity about this situation. I believe this is a crucial test of how far we can push our elected leaders to listen to our will.

I'm not assuming victory because they are all moved to do the right thing, but I am thinking enough of our calls and emails can show them we mean business, now and in November. We need to keeping pushing and pushing.

I agree. But, I've seen too many dog and pony shows with speeches galore to make us think something good might possibly happen and it always seems to go the wrong way. Like the ongoing farce over funding the Iraq invasion and occupation.

Sadly, I think this one will go the same way. Look for lots of more speeches and then just enough demos and repubs "happen" to vote the wrong way and it gets passed again. Hate to be pessimistic but I've seen this act too many times. The comparison to professional wrestling comes to mind.