House passes Iraq war funds bill backed by Bush http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/i dUSN1938905520080620?feedType=RSS&fe edName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true

the hits just keep on rolling...

can use the funds to start withdrawing the troups.

Bush agrees to sign the Iraq funding with the domestic spending, but only if he gets the trillion dollar telco bailout.

Enjoy the pottage, you'll pay for it later.

It just doesn't seem right to me for the legislative branch to punish a third party for doing what the executive branch asked them to do.  This is especially true when you don't hold the executive branch accountable for its actions.  

IMO, leaving the telecom companies in a position to fight all of the lawsuits would have been a punishment.  

I think that's the bigger issue.  Nobody would fault the telecoms for honestly providing their services for the good of the nation; but Bush, Hoyer, et al are using it as a shield to avoid that avenue of accountability.  No civil suits, no discovery, no truth comes out.  It's an abominable sham.  I'm disgusted.

he stands where he stood: against Telcom immunity; for Due Process, oversight, and judicial review.  All of which are provided for here.

Those claiming that the bill, which, in case you have not noticed, has not been voted on by anyone, Obama included, in the Senate, has somehow eviscerated the 4th Amendment are either engaging in hyperbole at best or grossly misinformed at worst.

No right granted in the Constitution is absolute: they are all delicate balancing acts, weighing the the protection of society as a whole against the liberty of the individual.  We have some 200 years jurisprudence demonstrating this fact.

In reality, once we step back, take a deep breath and grab a glass or two of perspective all know that all the House has done here (with Obama's "blessing") is to restore the Constitutional balance - to set into law the current interpretation.

Presumptively:  Suppose I was mobbed-up or producing kiddie porn or a big-time ganster.  The Feds would take whatever suspicions they had against me along with some evidence to a judge.  The Judge, assuming he or she bought the argument the Feds made would say: "Yeah. go'head tap his phone, you got Probable Cause, dig his dirt -search his trash, tap his wi-fi, get under his finger nails."  

Anybody got a problem with that? Because that's the way it's worked for like the last 200 years or so.

So, the question is: How is this different?  The House restored the Rule of Law and, 'cept fer telcom immunity, basically told Dumya that he and his cabal of war-mongers, crooks and liars could no longer operate extra-Constitutionally (Due Process -just like the Gitmo case - must be served).

Post-Script: Linfar, I replied to your comment, but meant in no way to disparage you.  I have been here for a bit and really enjoy the community.  I think you are a powerful force, with the rare ability to drive home a point of view with both logic and feeling.  While I may from time to time disagree with what you say, I will defend to my death your right to say it.  

IOW: I respect you.