Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., apparently trying to “avoid another edition of the (Bush) administration’s surveillance squeeze play,” according to the TPMMuckraker news Website, has filed another bill to extend the Bush administration’s ability to spy on Americans for another 15 days.

They quote Congressional Quarterly, which is not free online, saying:

To guard against the expiration of a temporary surveillance law Feb. 16, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., has filed a bill that would extend it for 15 days.

The Senate is expected to pass a six-year bill overhauling the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on Feb. 12, but that gives lawmakers little time to work out a compromise between the Senate bill and a House-passed version before the Presidents Day recess begins and the temporary law expires.

Reid filed the latest extension Friday “in case we can’t finish the conference negotiations in time,” spokesman Jim Manley said.

The Muckraker says, then:

Having given in once, the Republicans have vowed not to give in again. So no matter how justified the plea, this dog won’t hunt.

Get ready for another round of the GOP’s double-talk squeeze special, e.g. the Dem’s effort to extend the bill that must not lapse is unacceptable.

I’m not real clear on what that last sentence is supposed to mean, being from Alabamaland and all, yuk, yuk. Let me scratch my head for the Yankee bloggers here. Maybe I should put up a Webcam and I could show off my missing teeth and bare feet.

Take A Break

In any event, it’s the weekend, time to take a break from spying and shit.

I am back in the B’ham. Bunker and out of the glare of the University cop who, for a solid week, parked across the street from our secret compound from where we blog in T-Town. It’s also nice to be away from the police helicopter that hovers over the University of Alabama all day long, and all those cameras at every intersection in what is no doubt the most repressive police state in the United States of America.

It’s time for some Shrimp and Garlic Sauce from the only Chinese restaurant in these parts that passes muster after all our time living in bigger cities. Take a break people. Get outside. There’s a warming trend on the way, an early taste of spring, and we’ve already got one baby Carolina chickadee in the yard. There will be more great bird photo ops soon…

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Tags: Domestic Surveillance, Liberty vs. Security

This entry was posted on Friday, February 8th, 2008 at 5:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.