FISA READER to weep by, alas

By Carol Gee

Read 'em and weep . . . Final FISA deal reached, vote in House may come on Friday, according to Reuters. There is a chance that the FISA bill will be voted on at the same time as the Supplemental Appropriations Bill, which is even sneakier. What follows are the best posts to be found on the subject, along with a few more traditional references.

Blogasm -- Strange Bedfellows: Bloggers from the left and right team up with the ACLU to fight telecom immunity (6/19/08 - 12:37 AM)

ACLU -- Condemns FISA Deal, Declares Surveillance Bill Unconstitutional (6/19/2008)

Emptywheel -- The FISA bill (6/19/08 - 10:15 AM) FYI: Here are the first two comments after the post:

1) Bushie -- June 19th, 2008 at 10:21 am. I called the Obama campaign today and asked Obama to come out publicly against immunity. The person who I talked to said he’d had several calls on this and would pass it along. Call 866-675-2008 option 6 to speak to someone.

2) wavpeac -- June 19th, 2008 at 10:33 am. No answer and no way to leave a message on the above number. When you ask to transfer to an attendant by pressing zero you go back to the original message. IT’s a circle with no way to leave a message. My guess is that his machine is full?? I am going to the web at http://www.barackobama.com./ Just letting you know.

TPM Muckraker -- Lawmakers reach deal over government surveillance powers (6/19/08 - 11:37 AM)

Firedoglake -- FISA: Screwed, Blued and Tattooed (6/19/08 - 12:00 PM)

Glenn Greenwald @ Salon.com -- George Bush's latest powers, courtesy of Democratic Congress (6/19/08 - 12:26 PM) (See the Memeorandum listing for this and many related stories.)

ProPublica -- Surveillance bill compromise likely to deliver immunity for telecoms (6/19/08 - 12:55 PM)

Carpetbagger Report -- "Compromise" reached on surveillance powers, retroactive immunity gets green light (6/19/08 - 12:40 PM)

Obsidian Wings -- FISA "Compromise" (6/19/08 - 1:31 P.M)

Threat Level -- Dems agree to expand domestic spying, grant telecoms amnesty (6/19/08 - 3:09 PM)

Think Progress -- New wiretapping bill dubbed "repugnant" and "a capitulation" (6/19/08 - 3:39 PM)

For Reference Only:

1. Wall Street Journal -- Lawmakers reach deal to expand surveillance (subscription required)
2. Red State -- The Republican view - Ugh!
3. Copy of the bill, courtesy of The Politico -- 114 pages, pdf
4. New York Times -- Deal Reached in Congress to Rewrite Rules on Wiretapping (6/20/08)
   

I have no words left for this at this point. I am stunned.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)