Obama administration seems to share the Bush administration's love of secrecy.

One of the things that I promised, repeatedly, was that if this administration did things I did not agree with I would call them out on it.

When I said that I hoped, with all of my heart, that it would only be small things that I disagreed with. Perhaps a cabinet position, or the language used in a speech, or the kind of dog the Obama's got for their kids.

But sadly I am finding the very same things that I despised within the Bush administration occurring in this new, more "liberal" administration.

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Defending wiretapping? Expanding the power of the government to keep it from being sued by the people whose civil rights have been trampled on? This not the change I voted for.

I have listened to Howard Fineman's explanation twice now but it simply does not hold water for me. I voted my heart out so that these policies would be changed, that we our rights would be protected, and that those who disrespected them would be brought to justice.

Clearly that is not going to happen.

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These are not small disappointments in the eyes of the people who voted for Barack Obama.

Defending the claim of "state secrets" is like a slap in the face to all of us who worked so hard to put this administration into place. Promises were made, and now they are being broken.

That is not "change we can believe in". That is the same old broken politic promises that we have all been subjected to time and time again.

America is better than this, and it is time that our leaders understood that.

Obama clarifies his position on this outrageous FISA bill being voted on today.

“Given the grave threats that we face, our national security agencies must have the capability to gather intelligence and track down terrorists before they strike, while respecting the rule of law and the privacy and civil liberties of the American people. There is also little doubt that the Bush Administration, with the cooperation of major telecommunications companies, has abused that authority and undermined the Constitution by intercepting the communications of innocent Americans without their knowledge or the required court orders."

"That is why last year I opposed the so-called Protect America Act, which expanded the surveillance powers of the government without sufficient independent oversight to protect the privacy and civil liberties of innocent Americans. I have also opposed the granting of retroactive immunity to those who were allegedly complicit in acts of illegal spying in the past."

“After months of negotiation, the House today passed a compromise that, while far from perfect, is a marked improvement over last year's Protect America Act."

“Under this compromise legislation, an important tool in the fight against terrorism will continue, but the President's illegal program of warrantless surveillance will be over. It restores FISA and existing criminal wiretap statutes as the exclusive means to conduct surveillance – making it clear that the President cannot circumvent the law and disregard the civil liberties of the American people. It also firmly re-establishes basic judicial oversight over all domestic surveillance in the future. It does, however, grant retroactive immunity, and I will work in the Senate to remove this provision so that we can seek full accountability for past offenses. But this compromise guarantees a thorough review by the Inspectors General of our national security agencies to determine what took place in the past, and ensures that there will be accountability going forward. By demanding oversight and accountability, a grassroots movement of Americans has helped yield a bill that is far better than the Protect America Act."

“It is not all that I would want. But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as President, I will carefully monitor the program, review the report by the Inspectors General, and work with the Congress to take any additional steps I deem necessary to protect the lives – and the liberty – of the American people.”

I hate this! I am one of those who kind of started believing that Barack could walk on water, and change politics with a wave of his hand. This is the sad truth of our political system, in that with two very strong parties compromises must be made and NOBODY gets what they wanted.

I ABSOLUTELY want that retroactive immunity portion taken out, but I am not very hopeful that it will happen.

I think the lesson that the passing of this bill should teach progressives is that we desperately need a substantial majority of Democrats in the Senate and a large one in the House. The we can say fuck it to these bullshit compromises.

Republicans walk out to stop Bush administration from being held accountable for its criminal behavior.

The House voted Thursday to hold two of President Bush’s confidants in contempt for failing to cooperate with an inquiry into whether a purge of federal prosecutors was politically motivated.

Angry Republicans boycotted the vote and staged a walkout.

The vote was 223-32 Thursday to hold presidential chief of staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers in contempt. The citations charge Miers with failing to testify and accuse her and Bolten of refusing Congress’ demands for documents related to the 2006-2007 firings.

Republicans said Democrats should instead be working on extending a law - set to expire Saturday - allowing the government to eavesdrop on phone calls and e-mails in the United States in cases of suspected terrorist activity.

The White House said the Justice Department would not ask the U.S. attorney to pursue the House contempt charges.

It is the first time in 25 years that a full chamber of Congress has voted on a contempt of Congress citation.

They walked out! They simply took their ball and went home! And it did not even do them any good.

So to sum up, the Republicans tried desperately to keep ex-Chief of Staff Bolton and ex-White House Counsel Harriet Miers from being held in contempt for interfering in a Congressional inquiry into potential wrong doing by the White House. While at the same time getting pissy with the Democrats for not voting to continue to allow our government to spy on its citizens.

Oh yeah this is going to be a BIG problem for these Republicans come the next election.

Chris Dodd shows the Democrats how it is done!

After nearly 10 hours of discussion Monday, the Senate decided to delay a final vote on a controversial domestic spying bill until the new year, under the threat of a protracted filibuster from Sen. Chris Dodd.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spent the afternoon Monday huddling with Senate leaders and fellow Democrats to try to work out a deal over an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. As the FISA update was written, it included a provision for legal immunity to telecommunications companies that facilitated a warrantless wiretapping scheme that Dodd and other Democrats said was illegal.

"We have tried to work through this process, and it appears quite clear that on this bill we are not going to be able to do that," Reid said around 7:30 p.m. Monday, after senators had spent the day debating propositions of the FISA update.

Dodd, a 2008 Democratic presidential candidate, canceled campaign events in Iowa and spent the day urging his colleagues to block a proposal to shield phone and Internet companies that gave the National Security Agency private call and e-mail records from an unknown number of Americans under the program President Bush authorized after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"Today we have scored a victory for American civil liberties and sent a message to President Bush that we will not tolerate his abuse of power and veil of secrecy," Dodd said in a statement released after Reid pulled the bill. "The President should not be above the rule of law, nor should the telecom companies who supported his quest to spy on American citizens. I want to thank the thousands of Americans throughout the country that stood with me to get this done for our country."

Senator Dodd is definitely the hero of the day. If he had not shown such courage and integrity we would be watching the Bush administration winning yet another battle to protect their criminal enterprises.

But what happens the next time? Will the Senate finally find their backbone and stand up to the administration for once?