Posted by Damozel | So, as we all know, Chris Dodd won that round against the telecom industry. I was happy about this on several levels, one of which was this demonstration that collective political action does have an effect. It's a victory for Dodd and for activism.
Though campaign websites are always irritatingly self-congratulatory and self-righteous, I don't really think the statement published at the "Chris Dodd for President" website exaggerates:
Without Senator Dodd's leadership today, it is safe to assume that retroactive immunity would have passed.
This is a great victory for the American people. His outspoken opposition to retroactive immunity and the Intelligence Committee's FISA bill made it impossible to move forward now. From a process standpoint, that took the persistent shadow of a Dodd filibuster on this legislative process, a "hold" against any legislation that included retroactive immunity, and today, a refusal to grant unanimous consent to rules of debate that would have made it harder to strip retroactive immunity from the Intel Committee's bill through the Dodd-Feingold Amendment. He brought along some of the Senate's most passionate voices -- Senator's Feingold, Kennedy, Boxer, Wyden, Brown and Bill Nelson joined him to stand up to the President today.Constitution Protected...For Now).
It was unquestionably the threat of filibuster that persuaded Reid to table the amendment till January. (Huff Post) Though Dodd didn't technically filibuster, he argued his case for eight hours, leaving the Senate floor only once. (Huff Post) Sam Stern:
A smile on his reddened face, Dodd was at once gracious and joyful by the turn of events..."I want to thank the leader [Sen. Reid]," he said. "This is an awkward time. We want to get the bill done. My longstanding concerns were over retroactive immunity. Look forward to coming back in January. And hopefully between then and January a suggestion can be made to compromise without granting full immunity...I appreciate the fact that we will not have to pursue this further." (Huff Post)
Stern also rather snidely, but also accurately, remarked: "Sens. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joseph Biden did offer their rhetorical support for the filibuster."(Huff Post) Dodd was the only candidate who left the campaign trail to join the debate. (Did the others think we didn't notice? And what do they think we think it says about them and their priorities?)
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Memorandum is here. See also: Feingold.Senate.gov, Salon, The Anonymous Liberal, Comments from Left Field, Democrats.com, Blue Girl, Red State, TPM Election Central, Oliver Willis, and Matthew Yglesias, The Newshoggers, Crooks and Liars, The Swamp, Think Progress, Corrente, Taylor Marsh, The Sideshow, The Carpetbagger Report, The Garlic, Open Left, MyDD, Hullabaloo and TPMCafe blogs
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LINKS
Sam Stern, Dodd's Filibuster Threat Stalls Wiretap Bill (Huff Post)
Constitution Protected...For Now (Chris Dodd for President)
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