You all remember Specter's "compromise" bill, the one he says the White House reluctantly agreed to in negotations that would allegedly establish real oversight on the NSA programs? Well, Glen Greenwald has a post that analyzes the text of the bill in more detail and reveals that it's even worse than we initially thought. It actually gives the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence the right to end the discovery process without a judge agreeing. This bill is a complete cave in being sold as oversight. It needs to be stopped.
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There were lots of reasons why I wanted to see Affordable Care (née healthcare reform) pass. Ending the tyranny of "pre-existing conditions," of cruel recissions, and insuring more than 30 million uninsured Americans were big reasons.
It turns out that Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia also had a secret hold on the bill, not just Ted Stevens. That is no surprise to anyone who knows Washington. Byrd is the Democratic doppelganger to the Republican Stevens.
Follow up reposted from ScienceDebate:
By a vote of 94-3, Louisiana's House of Representatives today passed an academic freedom bill that would protect teachers and school districts who wish to promote critical thinking and objective discussion about evolution and other scientific topics.
Looks like somebody stuck a pin in the sanctimonious blow fish and he is slowly starting to deflate.
Lately when I hear that Senator Specter has worked out a compromise with the White House, I can't help but picture him as Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back.
WHITE HOUSE: I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further.
Excellent analogy, Jeff.