February 12, 2008
Sen. Bill Nelson Prefers Telcos to Constituents
When I called Senator Bill Nelson’s office last week, the guy on the phone assured me that Nelson would vote with Senator Dodd to eliminate telco immunity from the FISA bill. [Update: I relied on that call for this post on Feb. 1.]
That turns out to be false.
Like many of his Senate colleagues, Sen. Bill Nelson sold us out to the telcos. See the full Vote on the Dodd Amendment.
I vaguely get the politics of cowardice, although you can be damn sure I won’t forget this vote (or the vote for torture, either). But I sure don’t get the politics of lying to constituents.
Posted by Michael : February 12, 2008 04:07 PM | Civil Liberties | TechnoLinks
Slashdot
It!
I'm sure the response would be something along the lines, my staffer was misinformed, etc. Of course what it means is that you cannot contribute as much as a telco, unless you become a dot com billionaire.
Posted by: John Flood at February 12, 2008 06:06 PMShut up and encrypt your commo.
Posted by: american at February 12, 2008 06:56 PMChris Dodd spoke eloquently to this last night on the Senate floor, for well over two hours. I wish he were still in the race.
Posted by: Peter Lederer at February 12, 2008 08:16 PMYeah, when it is necessary Dood can speak reasonably even for that long as 2 hours.
Posted by: baron at February 19, 2008 10:23 AMThe lying to constituents is a simple odds game. What portion of the constituents will bother looking up the actual vote to find out that they've been lied to? A small enough portion of them that it's worth the risk.
I hope that this cynical viewpoint is wrong, but I fear it may not be.
Posted by: Michael Chermside at February 19, 2008 01:15 PM• UK ISPs Join the Spy Brigade - Mar 06, 2008
• 1984: We're Behind Schedule (Irish Edition) - Mar 03, 2008
• FISA Senate Order of Battle - Feb 01, 2008