Who Is FOR Retro-Active Immunity For The Telecoms?

[zabet]

Former CIA official John Brennan.....

an intelligence adviser to Barack Obama's presidential campaign!

----------------------------------
Intel Adviser Breaks with Obama over FISA, Telecoms

March 07, 2008 12:22 PM

Justin Rood Reports:

In a new interview with National Journal magazine, an intelligence adviser to Barack Obama's presidential campaign broke with his candidate’s position opposing retroactive legal protection for telecommunications companies being sued for cooperating with a dubious U.S. government domestic surveillance program.

"I do believe strongly that should be granted that immunity," former CIA official John Brennan told National Journal reporter Shane Harris in the interview. "They were told to by the appropriate authorities that were operating in a legal context."

"I know people are concerned about that, but I do believe that's the right thing to do," added Brennan, who is an intelligence and foreign policy adviser to Obama.

That wasn't just a personal opinion, Brennan made clear to Harris. "My advice, to whoever is coming in , is they need to spend some time learning, understanding what's out there, identifying those key issues," including the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, he said -- the law at the heart of the immunity debate.

Linky: http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2008/03/intel-advis...

------------------------------------

As much as I have seen posted on this board,
I do not care who you support....I just cannot
fathom giving retro-active immunity.

[DJ13]

1. Its a testiment to Obama's resolve that he can ignore an advisor on an important legal matter

There is probably little doubt that Brennan advised Obama to support immunity long before this article was written, but since Obama obviously didnt follow his advice thats a good sign that he wont be a pushover when he's President over issues of Constitutionality and prior administrations.

[zabet]

3. It could be viewed as...

another case of surrounding himself
with personnel that do not reflect his
agenda, or that they do reflect what
he believes and he is just vote pandering.
Who knows.
It will be interesting to see which way
this spins in MSM.

[oviedodem]

15. It could be that this is the ONE issue that the two had a difference

on. So it is a little presumptive to say that his advisor's don't follow his agenda. NO candidate is going to have advisor's that completely agree with every issue.

[zabet]

18. See post #6.

Who's to say this is not
another case where he will
change and follow his advisers
for political positioning?

[slingsam]

2. I'm one of you....

But I am inclined to side with the Telecoms....the weak kneed, lilly-livered, cash sucking CEO's...of said such institutions.....

But I say....this country needs to arise.......to IMPEACH....the LEACHES that gave Rise.................to this......Travesty...of the Constitution.

You have one guess......

[Laelth]

4. Around here?

Only the crickets, I assume.



-Laelth

[zabet]

5. Swarms of crickets.

Like a plague or
somethin'.

[Laelth]

28. It's nice to be among friends.

-Laelth

[NashVegas]

6. Obama Wanted to Vote To Confirm Chief Justice John Roberts, But His Counsel Advised Against

Et voila! Obama voted against. So I reckon he'll do whatever he's told by his advisers, as president.

[zabet]

7. That vote was pure political maneuvering.

He did what the advisers wanted,
not what he thought was best. Yet
we are supposed to believe he will
do what he thinks is best for us,
even if his advisers advise against
it.

[babylonsister]

8. Not Obama:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cass-r-sunstein/the-obama...

Cass R. Sunstein
The Obama I Know

Posted March 5, 2008 | 12:53 PM (EST)


Not so long ago, the phone rang in my office. It was Barack Obama. For more than a decade, Obama was my colleague at the University of Chicago Law School.

He is also a friend. But since his election to the Senate, he does not exactly call every day.

On this occasion, he had an important topic to discuss: the controversy over President George W. Bush's warrantless surveillance of international telephone calls between Americans and suspected terrorists. I had written a short essay suggesting that the surveillance might be lawful. Before taking a public position, Obama wanted to talk the problem through.

In the space of about 20 minutes, he and I investigated the legal details. He asked me to explore all sorts of issues: the President's power as commander-in-chief, the Constitution's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the Authorization for Use of Military Force and more.

Obama wanted to consider the best possible defence of what Bush had done. To every argument I made, he listened and offered a counter-argument. After the issue had been exhausted, Obama said that he thought the programme was illegal, but now had a better understanding of both sides. He thanked me for my time.

This was a pretty amazing conversation, not only because of Obama's mastery of the legal details, but also because many prominent Democratic leaders had already blasted the Bush initiative as blatantly illegal. He did not want to take a public position until he had listened to, and explored, what might be said on the other side.

This is the Barack Obama I have known for nearly 15 years -- a careful and even-handed analyst of law and policy, unusually attentive to multiple points of view.

snip//

As president, Barack Obama would be a genuine uniter. If he proves able to achieve great things, for his nation and for the world, it will be above all for that reason.

[rodeodance]

9. he does have duzzies---think Samantha Powers!!

[zabet]

12. Another misstep....

"Michelle Obama made a remark that
seemed to indicate that she had
only recently discovered real pride
in America, and Samantha Power
described Clinton as a deceitful \"monster.\"
Photo by AP"

edit to ad link:http://dyn.politico.com/members/forums/thread.cfm?catid=1&subcatid=2&threadid=466389

[rodeodance]

16. STUMBBLING STUMBLLING DOWN~ thats a lyric but forget the song.

[rodeodance]

10. k and r.

[zabet]

14. Thank you!

[rodeodance]

20. good catch. thanks

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

11. Worth watching.

[zabet]

13. Yes it is.

Will be interesting to see how
the media shakes it out.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

17. Don't forget Charlie Black.

Charlie Black!

[JTFrog]

19. Everyday is Opposite Day in HillaryWorld!!!!

Obama has made his position regarding immunity clear and has voted against it.

Hillary, not so much.

http://obama.3cdn.net/780e0e91ccb6cdbf6e_6udymvin7.pdf

Barack Obama’s comprehensive technology and innovation plan will:

• Ensure the full and free exchange of information among Americans through an open Internet and
diverse media outlets.
• Create a transparent and connected democracy.
• Encourage the deployment of a modern communications infrastructure.
• Employ technology and innovation to solve our nation’s most pressing problems, including reducing
the costs of health care, encouraging the development of new clean energy sources, and improving
public safety.
• Improve America’s competitiveness.

=======================================================================

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2369

Today, Obama is throwing down the gauntlet on internet freedom, telecom lobbyists, and on opening up government in general to the public. It's some genuinely radical stuff, and it includes the use of blogs, wikis, and openness in government hearings.

----

And then of course there is spectrum and net neutrality. Both Edwards and Obama have made it clear they will break the power of the wireless gatekeepers, the telecom lobbyists who gut our laws, and the Comcast traffic shaping tyrants. Clinton, though, has been a noted absence in the debate about spectrum, mumbling about it incoherently at Yearlykos, and her plan for broadband was written by the telcos and doesn't include net neutrality. She still hasn't come out clearly on retroactive immunity, as her campaign's ties to telecom lobbyists are not trivial, and it looks from her possible FCC choices that her administration would be a continuation of the Clinton-Bush years of media and telecom deregulation.

Obama voted against immunity. Hillary still remains silent and didn't bother to vote for reasons probably best described above.

[zabet]

21. post #6

Who is to say this won't
happen with this issue. If he
compromised what he believed
before for political gain,
can we be assured he will not
do it again? Isn't he supposed
to be a different kind of
politician?

[JTFrog]

22. More woulda shoulda coulda bullshit. He voted against immunity.

This is as ridiculous as spinning the hypothetical he would have voted for war if he had been in the Senate bullshit. You don't have the luxury this time of trying to make up what position he "might" take "if" blah blah blah. He WAS in the Senate and he VOTED AGAINST IMMUNITY.

JFC on a stick.

[zabet]

23. Last time he voted on FISA

it was just the cloture vote.

[JTFrog]

24. I won't take up a collection to buy you a clue. You wouldn't use it.

The vote on February 12, 2008, 11:03 AM: Senate Votes to Give Retroactive Immunity for Telecoms

Ammendment: .Amdt. 3907 to S.Amdt. 3911 to S. 2248 (FISA Amendments Act of 2007): "To strike the provisions providing immunity from civil liability to electronic communication service providers for certain assistance provided to the Government."

Akaka (D-HI), Yea
Alexander (R-TN), Nay
Allard (R-CO), Nay
Barrasso (R-WY), Nay
Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Nay
Bennett (R-UT), Nay
Biden (D-DE), Yea
Bingaman (D-NM), Yea
Bond (R-MO), Nay
Boxer (D-CA), Yea
Brown (D-OH), Yea
Brownback (R-KS), Nay
Bunning (R-KY), Nay
Burr (R-NC), Nay
Byrd (D-WV), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Cardin (D-MD), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Nay
Casey (D-PA), Yea
Chambliss (R-GA), Nay
Clinton (D-NY), Not Voting
Coburn (R-OK), Nay
Cochran (R-MS), Nay
Coleman (R-MN), Nay
Collins (R-ME), Nay
Conrad (D-ND), Nay
Corker (R-TN), Nay
Cornyn (R-TX), Nay
Craig (R-ID), Nay
Crapo (R-ID), Nay
DeMint (R-SC), Nay
Dodd (D-CT), Yea
Dole (R-NC), Nay
Domenici (R-NM), Nay
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Durbin (D-IL), Yea
Ensign (R-NV), Nay
Enzi (R-WY), Nay
Feingold (D-WI), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Nay
Graham (R-SC), Not Voting
Grassley (R-IA), Nay
Gregg (R-NH), Nay
Hagel (R-NE), Nay
Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Hatch (R-UT), Nay
Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Johnson (D-SD), Nay
Kennedy (D-MA), Yea
Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Klobuchar (D-MN), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Nay
Kyl (R-AZ), Nay
Landrieu (D-LA), Nay
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Yea
Leahy (D-VT), Yea
Levin (D-MI), Yea
Lieberman (ID-CT), Nay
Lincoln (D-AR), Nay
Lugar (R-IN), Nay
Martinez (R-FL), Nay
McCain (R-AZ), Nay
McCaskill (D-MO), Nay
McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Menendez (D-NJ), Yea
Mikulski (D-MD), Nay
Murkowski (R-AK), Nay
Murray (D-WA), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Nay
Nelson (D-NE), Nay
Obama (D-IL), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Nay
Reed (D-RI), Yea
Reid (D-NV), Yea
Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay
Salazar (D-CO), Nay
Sanders (I-VT), Yea
Schumer (D-NY), Yea
Sessions (R-AL), Nay
Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Smith (R-OR), Nay
Snowe (R-ME), Nay
Specter (R-PA), Nay
Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Stevens (R-AK), Nay
Sununu (R-NH), Nay
Tester (D-MT), Yea
Thune (R-SD), Nay
Vitter (R-LA), Nay
Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Warner (R-VA), Nay
Webb (D-VA), Nay
Whitehouse (D-RI), Yea
Wicker (R-MS), Nay
Wyden (D-OR), Yea

[zabet]

25. .....

[JTFrog]

26. Seriously? You really think I'm making this up?

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/r...

[zabet]

27. Seriously? Did I say that? No

Did you not see the rofling smilie?

Geeez, lighten up.

[libbygurl]

29. Hmm...verrry interrresting.....nt

[JTFrog]

30. Hmmmm. Right, more interesting than his actual vote. n/t

[zabet]

31. Clinton co-sponsored this bill ...

she would not have voted against it.

All the cries of her missing the vote
and I know Obama has missed more votes
overall than she has and he also did not
vote on the Kyl-Liebermann vote that so
many rail against Clinton for. Obama
has a history since Illinois Senate of
missing controversial votes or for voting
present when that option is available
or he 'accidently mashed the wrong button'
and voted the wrong way. Political posturing
is one thing Obama does really well.