UPDATED DIARY - beginning now with Mark Klein, the AT&T whistleblower, explaining why there should be no retroactive immunity.
On the flip, Russ Feingold, Chris Dodd & others speak FOR and against retroactive immunity -- and on the dangerous flaws of the various versions of the revisions to the FISA law.
One highlight short quote, followed by CHRON sampling of our tax dollars at work:
RUSS FEINGOLD: February 05, 2008
A CHRONOLOGY IN VIDEO CLIPS: How our U.S. Congress gave retroactive immunity to Telcos after they repeatedly broke the existing 1970's FISA law, to secretly spy on all Americans every phone call and internet usage.
This is a sampling of how it all went down.
CHRIS DODD: December 17, 2007
CHRIS DODD: Jan 28, 2008 (against Sen. McConnell's cloture motion on S. 2248, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance bill and the 30 day extension. )
(McConnell's cloture motion failed, 48 for cloture and 45 against. 60 were needed. )
RUSS FEINGOLD: Jan 29, 2008 (35 seconds. Explaining with simple example the ramifications of the new wiretapping authority in legislation before Congress.)
HARRY REID: Jan 31, 2008. FISA Deal With Dodd, Feingold in the Works
KEITH OLBERMANN: Jan 31, 2008 (Special Comment: critique of Bush and his lies about FISA, and the fact that he wants immunity for the telecom companies that allowed him to break the law repeatedly.)
RUSS FEINGOLD: Feb 4, 2008
(more from Marcy Wheeler )
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE: February 04, 2008
SEN. BOND, ROCKEFELLER, FEINGOLD DEBATE: Feb 5, 2008
(Highlight: 38 sec: Russ Feingold responding to one of
Senator Bond's more ridiculous claims about the intention behind his FISA amendments. )
1 of 3: SEN. BOND: Feb 5, 2008
2 of 3: JAY ROCKEFELLER: Feb 5, 2008
3 of 3: RUSS FEINGOLD: February 5, 2008
JOHN BOEHNER: Feb 14, 2008 - in protest of the Majority's refusal to schedule a vote on the bipartisan, Senate-passed FISA bill
HOUSE REPUBLICANS WALK OUT OF CONGRESS to the waiting mics: Feb 14, 2008
GEORGE W. BUSH: Feb 15, 2008
JOHN McCAIN: Feb 15, 2008
NANCY PELOSI: March 13, 2008 (on President Bush's Statements on FISA)
NANCY PELOSI: March 14, 2008
BARBARA LEE: March 14, 2008 (speaking of Dr. King, surveillance of herself, and against retro immunity)
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These clips were all from the prior round of FISA debates, before Nancy's House voted on Friday to grant retroactive immunity to Telco's who clearly broke the 1970's FISA law.
========== ADDED after comment from SPD below: ===
The American Citizen -- the person who brought this entire warrantless domestic spying & datamining program against all American citizens to the attention of the public, Mark Klein, interviewed by Keith Olbermann on November 7, 2007.
And just to put this into chronological context, this interview is November 7, 2007. And Chris Dodd railed against this notion of retroactive immunity for AT&T & Verizon on Dec 17, 2007 -- about 5 weeks later.
And, for reference, the original WIRED MAGAZINE article which broke this story of Mark Klein, the senior fiber-optic engineer at the SBC/AT&T switching station in San Francisco, which connected the backbone of the internet... And the photos of the secret room Klein discovered -- which broke this story into the whole FISA re-write of the law, seeking to give telco's retroactive immunity for their breaking the FISA law since 2001, pre-9/11.