Not that it really matters, but…
By Thoreau
Call your Senators and tell them to vote against the latest FISA atrocity.
As Greenwald notes, there were two bills passed by two different committees. Reid chose to bring the worse one to the floor, overruling a procedural hold that the Dodd tried to bring. I don’t know if the Dodd will be able to abide much longer.
Now, this doesn’t really matter, of course, because the bad bill WILL pass. Filibusters and procedural holds only work for Republicans. There’s a super-secret rule book in the Senate archives which states that Democrats aren’t real Senators, so their filibuster attemps don’t count. Still, call your Senators anyway, because you want to be able to say with a straight face that you tried to stop it. Having that “I tried to stop it” street cred might be a useful thing when we’re all in that prison camp and the inmates are establishing a hierarchy.
Other things you should do:
1) Learn how to make homemade knives and booze from simple materials. This way you’ll be able to start your own small business in the prison camp, and make enough money to buy protection.
2) When you’re on the phone, say nasty things about the NSA. They get off on their secrecy, and when you let them know that their operation has been compromised they feel bad.
3) Post nasty comments explaining that I’m a Republican shill who doesn’t appreciate the good things that the Democrats have done.
4) Figure out how to make a computer virus that can be delivered via blog. We’ll infect whatever NSA data-mining operation is currently monitoring this blog, and then they’ll stop. Hey, I saw it in a movie, so it’s gotta be true.
5) Keep a sense of humor while reading blog posts, and don’t nitpick the technical details of what I just wrote.
Comment by Bruce Baugh —
December 14, 2007 @ 2:05 pm
Surely the free-market approach would be to contract out for one’s knives, booze, and viruses? The division of labor and all that.
Comment by Thoreau —
December 14, 2007 @ 2:16 pm
Right. Rather than figuring out how to make my own black market booze in the prison camp, I’ll let the market decide.
Comment by Eric the .5b —
December 14, 2007 @ 2:28 pm
Blue…filibuster…attempts?
Comment by DangerMan —
December 14, 2007 @ 2:29 pm
The Dodd abides.
Comment by Thoreau —
December 14, 2007 @ 2:30 pm
Eric-
Ah, but the reason you see no Blue filibuster attempts is that they know about this super secret rule book, so they don’t even bother.
Comment by Bill —
December 14, 2007 @ 3:24 pm
The only thing my Senators can vote for is whether the MLB players union will go on strike or not.
We’re not even supposed to call them Senators any more, although we do still use the old nickname for the Senators, the Nats.
Comment by mds —
December 14, 2007 @ 3:54 pm
You’re just a Republican shill who doesn’t appreciate all the good things that the Democrats have done. Both of them.
I’m willing to believe that the Dodd actually will try to filibuster. Unfortunately, I’m also willing to believe that cloture will be successfully invoked. But it will count as a Blue filibuster attempt!(*) So, uh, vote Democrat.
(*)Unless it’s made painfully clear to the Dodd in advance that an 86-14 cloture vote is inevitable, and he is too overcome with despair even to go through the motions. After all, the White House briefed senators behind closed doors again, and I’m sure it was made clear that the nation will be massively attacked by al Qaeda battlemechs unless telecom companies have their illegal activities retroactively expunged.
Comment by Doug —
December 14, 2007 @ 3:57 pm
Yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.
Comment by trex —
December 14, 2007 @ 4:22 pm
The knives and booze bit was great.
Another idea: continuously implicate sitting Senators and Congressmen in illegal activities in one’s private phone conversations. Perhaps after enough FBI investigations into their dealings based on wiretaps and data mining they’ll get the message.
And if you’re really lucky you can end up in a position to overcharge them for your homemade booze….
Comment by mds —
December 14, 2007 @ 4:56 pm
Who’s to say this hasn’t already happened? Remember, much of the original provocation for FISA was Presidents spying on their political enemies. Between craven, complicit, and corrupt, the White House has been able to get virtually all the legislation it wants, which is a bit suggestive. (Hell, ego and cussedness used to lead Congressional majorities to fight with Presidents of their own party, sorta reminiscent of ambition countering ambition. Something has skewed this balance.)
Comment by Mona —
December 14, 2007 @ 5:27 pm
Ah, for the days when the Bushistas and neocons warned all us apostates that if we did not vote Team Red in ‘06, we would get (cue music from Jaws): Speaker Pelosi. And she would force even parochial school kids to sing The Internationale (make it our national anthem, actually) and nationalize all industry, putting terrrists in charge of it.
Well, we not only got Speaker Pelosi, but Harry Reid and a Senate Dem majority imposing Sharia law, dhimmitude and fighting Bush every step of the way. pffft.
Comment by Mona —
December 14, 2007 @ 6:14 pm
Oh, and T, you are “a Republican shill who doesn’t appreciate the good things that the Democrats have done.” And when I have a list of them I’ll taunt not once, but twice.
Comment by Doug —
December 14, 2007 @ 6:24 pm
I’m going to the law firm of craven, complicit, and corrupt because they helped George Bush conquer the world, I’m certain they can fix my little parking ticket problem.
Comment by Thoreau —
December 15, 2007 @ 12:47 am
Anybody notice how this is being rushed through right before a vacation? Just like the previous wiretap bill, rushed through right before their end of summer break.
Very interesting pattern.
Comment by Doug —
December 15, 2007 @ 3:16 am
logjammin’
Trackback by Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator —
December 15, 2007 @ 11:53 am
Republicans Stop Bill To Ban Waterboarding…
A Senate bill which would have prohibited the CIA from using waterboarding and other forms of tortur…
Comment by Libby —
December 15, 2007 @ 4:32 pm
I’m outsourcing my taunting to Mona. She’s better at it than me.
Comment by curious —
December 15, 2007 @ 11:37 pm
My only question is why Reid has yet to die by an assassin’s bullet. I mean, with Cheney and Bush you figure that the security is just too tight. But one would think that the same wasn’t true for Reid.
Comment by Thoreau —
December 16, 2007 @ 1:07 pm
Curious, be very careful how you phrase such posts.