Obama and the leadership of both parties are increasingly isolated in their stalwart defense of 9/11 politics and the creepy alliance of corporate and state power known as the "Patriot" acts, a weirdly Orwellian FISA court, and -- not to be left out -- a "conservative" Supreme Court's decisions giving ever more license to political operators within government and to big business.
The movement to crack down on government surveillance started with an odd couple from Michigan, Representatives Justin Amash, a young libertarian Republican known even to his friends as “chief wing nut,” and John Conyers Jr., an elder of the liberal left in his 25th House term.
Representative Justin Amash, a Michigan Republican, is part of the movement to crack down on government surveillance.
But what began on the political fringes only a week ago has built a momentum that even critics say may be unstoppable, drawing support from Republican and Democratic leaders, attracting moderates in both parties and pulling in some of the most respected voices on national security in the House.
The rapidly shifting politics were reflected clearly in the House on Wednesday, when a plan to defund the National Security Agency’s telephone data collection program fell just seven votes short of passage. ...NYT
The sooner Edward Snowden is given back his passport, his freedom of movement, a public hearing, and some respect from the government of the country whose people need to know and act on what he has given them, the better.
And they expected more from their president.
On Friday, Ms. Pelosi, the House minority leader and a veteran of the Intelligence Committee, and Mr. Hoyer dashed off a letter to the president warning that even those Democrats who had stayed with him on the issue on Wednesday would be seeking changes.
That letter included the signature of Mr. Conyers, who is rallying an increasingly unified Democratic caucus to his side, as well as 61 House Democrats who voted no on Wednesday but are now publicly signaling their discontent.
“Although some of us voted for and others against the amendment, we all agree that there are lingering questions and concerns about the current” data collection program, the letter stated. ...NYT
At least some Republicans don't want to be left behind this time.
Representative Reid Ribble of Wisconsin, a Republican who voted for the curbs and predicted that changes to the N.S.A. surveillance programs were now unstoppable, said: “This was in many respects a vote intended to send a message. The vote was just too strong.” ...NYT
