Billy Mays here...

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As happens oftentimes in my life, I found the answer I was looking for from a question I had not asked.

I was reading a bedtime story to my oldest daughter.  I had chosen this particular book for bedtime because she was in a "why me" mood.  The story contains three classic zen koans, modified for better understanding by young readers.

And while I intended to get her to think about how the "bad luck" of her broken arm opened up an opportunity for the "good luck" of meeting a very dear camp counselor, I found a moment of insight in my own troubled mind later in the book.

And this is how I resolved my anger at Congress (especially Nancy Pelosi) regarding FISA...

I've taken some time to reflect on the Ask the Speaker session from earlier this morning.  While I didn't expect Speaker Pelosi to knock my socks off, I did expect SOMETHING from her.  I left feeling like I got nothing.

Many of the questions posed to Pelosi revolved around accountability and the lack thereof during the past two years.  Time and again Pelosi returned to the idea of electing more Democrats in the House and Senate and electing Obama as President as the remedy.  While I obviously stand with her in my desire to elect more Democrats, I couldn't help but feeling that she was laying these failings at OUR feet, that WE were to blame.  

Her basic argument was this - Leadership in Congress did what it could given its numbers, but if WE had only gotten more Democrats elected they could have done more.  While that may BE true, it doesn't FEEL true.  Now I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of "truthiness," but there is something compelling about feeling that our concerns are being heard and acted upon...

Hey Netroots, you're overrated and Obama doesn't need you.

I think that pretty much sums up this piece on Politico.

James Kirchick writes in praise of Obama for dumping the Netroots.  Referring to Kos's appearance at the DLC conference recently, Kirchick concludes his piece with a total dismissal of the power of the Netroots.

That the ostensibly pragmatic, centrist voice of the Democratic Party would give a platform to Moulitsas, who has called the party a “divisive, fundamentalist organization willing to sell any and all progressive ideals to the altar of Big Business,” was likely attributable to the DLC’s desire to appease what it believes to be an irreversibly rising force in Democratic politics. Yet its fear is misplaced. For if there had been any doubt before, Obama has confirmed that, in cyberspace, no one can hear you scream.

Have recent events, exemplified by FISA, signified the beginning of the end for the Netroots?

Back in April 2004, Peter Peterson, chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, asked Sen. McCain what the US government would do if asked to leave by the Iraqi government.

McCAIN: Well, if that scenario evolves, then I think it's obvious that we would have to leave because— if it was an elected government of Iraq— and we've been asked to leave other places in the world. If it were an extremist government, then I think we would have other challenges, but I don't see how we could stay when our whole emphasis and policy has been based on turning the Iraqi government over to the Iraqi people.

AFP reported Tuesday that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is demanding a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

McCain says no.

Did you ever notice that McCain never seems to be on camera without Cindy, Lindsey Graham, or Joe Lieberman being within, like, 10 feet of him?  Just you keep watching the news and tell me I'm not right.  You can't do it.  I think McCain might have issues being alone (as alone as you can be with at least 50 people around you all the time, but you know what I mean)...

I think McCain08 misses McCain00.  I think that's why he has that misplaced half grin/half grimace and painful laugh.  McCain00 still lives and breathes inside McCain08 and it makes him uncomfortable (not like Kuato/George in Total Recall, but you know what I mean)...

No, wait, let me take that back... it must be like Total Recall... why else is McCain going to hire Schwarzenegger's campaign manager (ten thousand McBlogger points to anyone who posts a photoshop of McCain as Kuato/George)...

And, while I have more ruminations about McCain, which I will share shortly, I must say I have a problem with the Netroots Nation agenda, if you will just humor me...

It is becoming clearer by the day that Congress does not fully comprehend what they are authorizing under the FISA Amendment Act.  Emblematic of this misunderstanding is this statement from Rep. Joe Sestak (PA-D):

The Act provides standards and procedures for liability protection for electronic communication service providers who assisted the Government between September 11, 2001 and January 17, 2007, when the surveillance program was brought under the FISA Court.

While Rep. Sestak's statement reflects the conventional wisdom surrounding retroactive immunity, it is a fundamental misreading of the Act.  The Act does not limit the time period of assistance from electronic communication service providers (ECSP) and does not restrict the government from continuing to ask for that assistance in the future.  It effectively allows ECSPs to continue complying with the illegal surveillance requests into perpetuity.

This immunity provision along with other aspects of the Act put the final pieces together for the restoration of the Total Information Awareness program.

Has the Bush Administration learned nothing from 9/11?   A pre-occupation with Iraq before 9/11 distracted the Administration from focusing on the threat posed by al-Qaeda.  Now, as the Administration seems pre-occupied with Iran, the New York Times reports on how Washington infighting is allowing al-Qaeda to reconstitute and regenerate in Pakistan.

It is a good read and it highlights the deep divisions within the government concerning how and where to use manpower and resources.  But deep in the story is a quote from US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker that I hope we never come to regret:

“I do wonder if it’s in fact the case that Al Qaeda has really reconstituted itself to a pre-9/11 capability, and in fact I would say I seriously doubt that,” said Mr. Crocker, the American ambassador to Pakistan between 2004 and 2006 and currently the ambassador to Iraq.

“Their top-level leadership is still out there, but they’re not communicating and they’re not moving around. I think they’re symbolic more than operationally effective,” Mr. Crocker said.

However, the boots on the ground beg to differ.

(h/t Eric Luedtke at Free State Politics)

While AT&T awaits Senate action on the FISA bill to wipe away its crime of giving away private information, AT&T markets the virtues of its "secure" "private" online billing to the paranoid consumer profile "Ms. Suspicious."  Here is the screenshot:

... but the true hypocrisy happens within the Flash Movie (here).  Click on Ms. Suspicious after the intro and watch the mockery.

And now the FISA precedent may facilitate the erosion of other consumer protections by making contract law moot.

How hard do you have to try to mismanage a campaign this badly?

During a week in which the centerpiece of McCain's energy independence plan was debunked by the Bush administration even BEFORE it was announced and campaign advisor Charlie Black mused about the positive effects of a terrorist attack on the United States, McCain tried to regain some positive footing by focusing on bipartisanship.

As part of John McCain's strategy to lure women supporters of Hillary Clinton to his presidential campaign, McCain named the new chairperson to head up Democrats for John McCain on Friday.

McCain got a doozy of a pick, a former Clinton administration official even...

... who is a man...

... that did not support Hillary Clinton's bid for President.

I hear that McCain is also considering Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter as chairman of Red Sox Nation for McCain.

detail after the jump...

Psst.  John, come here.

A little closer.  There you go.

Are you sure you want to do this?  I mean, really sure.

You are?

Alright, if you insist on having a pissing contest about campaign financing, then...

Follow me below the fold while I unzip...

A GAO report released yesterday indicates some gains have been made in Iraq since the surge, but a number of the stated goals of the surge remain unmet.  The report cites reductions in violence in Iraq, but also failures of the Iraqi security forces to be self sufficient and failure of the Iraqi government to enact key legislation, provide essential services, and spend its capital budgets.

Senator McCain and President Bush keep insisting the surge is working.  They hang their hats on the reduction of violence in Iraq that the surge is working.  But by every other benchmark outlined by the Bush Administration's New Way Forward strategy, their strategy is failing.  Increasing the number of US troops was supposed to give the Iraqi government the "breathing space" needed to develop into a credible governing body.  As the GAO report indicates, the Iraqi government is failing.

The GAO report faults the Departments of Defense and State for not having strategic plans in place beyond the surge's end date in July 2008.  Defense and State responded by saying no new plans are needed because the surge is working.

This is a response to the diary on the rec list about H. Con. Res 362.

Comments are filling up that diary quickly and any call for calm is being ignored.  So I am writing this non-diary as a response.

This is a "sense of the Congress" resolution and does NOT create law.

Finally, no matter how momentous or threatening the language used in "sense of" resolutions may be, remember that they are merely a political tactic and create no laws, whatsoever.

While it is obvious that the sense of the Congress sucks, we all need to just cool our jets.  This DOES NOT authorize any action against anybody.  This is a bad resolution.  It sends the wrong message to the world.  By all means, we need to put pressure on Congress to stop it.  But there is a factual error being perpetuated, and I feel it is important to correct it.

"Kos Kids" despise compromise on FISA.  This is the stunning analysis of the New York Times.

Yes, the New York Times is now using the pejorative right-wing term Kos Kids to describe us and the sense of the community that this FISA bill is bad.

Congress is about to give away an astonishing level of authority to the President - the authority to make the illegal legal by Executive fiat.  Congress is going to codify the Nixon notion that "when the president does it that means that it is not illegal."  And the best that the paper of record can come up with is to bash the "Kos Kids" because of our stance against this un-Constitutional bill?

Do you not know who we are?

We are not just your college kids.  We are your doctors and lawyers.  We are your police officers and veterans.  We are your teachers and coaches.  We are your artists and writers (we are your disaffected journalists who write under pen-names for fear of reprisal from their employers).  We cut your lawns, care for your kids, cook your food.

We are the people surrounding you everyday...

The Bush Administration's war on the Constitution, er, I mean, war on terror continues.  The Baltimore Sun reported Friday about more anti-terrorism spying against peace activists.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland is suing the Maryland State Police to get records it believes may show local authorities aided the federal government in spying on peace activists during several annual protests outside the National Security Agency.

It seems that the government has finally figured out how to coordinate its investigations with local authorities.  Upholding the fine tradition of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, the Maryland State Police's initial response to the ACLU's Public Information Act request suggests the potential infiltration of the peace groups involved in the lawsuit.

And who is this fringe, radical threat to national security?

It is the Nobel Peace Prize winning American Friends Service Committee.

... more below the fold about the eroding of our Constitution...

It's time to get our general election fundraising in gear, m'friends.  McCain and the RNC raised nearly $45 million in May for use in the general election.  Let's respond and start building Obama's coffers for the general election.

https://donate.barackobama.com/...

Below is the text from Obama's campaign.

Friend --

In the excitement of the past few days, there's some news you may have missed.

John McCain and the Republican National Committee released their fundraising numbers for May, and we've got our work cut out for us.

The McCain campaign raised $21 million, which will be combined with $23.7 million raised in partnership with the Republican National Committee.

That's nearly $45 million dollars in one month -- money that will be used to attack Barack Obama and support John McCain's effort to extend the policies of George W. Bush for another four years.

Let me quote the following press release from Sen. Clinton's campaign:

We strongly object to the Committee's decision to undercut its own rules in seating Michigan’s delegates without reflecting the votes of the people of Michigan.

The Committee awarded to Senator Obama not only the delegates won by Uncommitted, but four of the delegates won by Senator Clinton. This decision violates the bedrock principles of our democracy and our Party.

We reserve the right to challenge this decision before the Credentials Committee and appeal for a fair allocation of Michigan’s delegates that actually reflect the votes as they were cast.

The media are already accepting Ickes conceit about Michigan's delegates.  It is a farce.  Let us be clear - nobody won delegates in the Michigan (or Florida) primary.  Nobody's delegates were hijacked.  Clinton and Obama's baseline delegate count was ZERO.  The sooner we push back on the media narrative the better.

John McCain and George Bush’s opposition to Jim Webb’s GI Bill is clear.  McCain’s primary rationale for opposing Webb’s bill is that it hurts retention rates.  Bush is threatening to veto for that very reason.  To bolster his argument, McCain cites a CBO report that indicates a potential decline of 16% in retention rates in a press release from his campaign.

At a time when the United States military is fighting in two wars, and as we finally are beginning the long overdue and very urgent necessity of increasing the size of the Army and Marine Corps, one study estimates that Senator Webb's bill will reduce retention rates by 16%.

Maybe McCain should actually try reading the whole report.  He would find through careful reading that the CBO report shows the new GI Bill offsets lost reenlistments with more recruits.  That's right, Webb's GI Bill is expected to INCREASE active duty troop levels.