Politics Plus

The immigration bargain in the Senate is done, and although Democrats gave away far too much pork to grease the palms of Republican Senators, at least they actually did something.   Now they have returned from yet another undeserved vacation, and business returns to confirming the nominees that the executive branch needs to function.  Sadly, what will happen rests largely in the hands of one man.

With the July 4 recess over, the fireworks now begin for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

In the next month, the Nevada Democrat’s legacy as leader will be set with a decision on the so-called “nuclear option.”

Will he be the majority leader who allowed the Senate to sink into dysfunction in the face of Republican refusal to allow President Obama to select Cabinet members and judicial nominees? Or is he the majority leader who will be remembered for fighting back against the GOP’s strategy of obstruction through paralysis?

Time is running out for Reid to get any political value from calling for a vote to blow up the current 60-vote requirement to end filibusters. At the end of the month, the August recess will arrive and then comes September and the start of the Congress’ transition to the 2014 campaigns, further draining any remaining momentum from  Obama’s reelection victory.

So, in the next three weeks Reid will have no choice but to take action or accept defeat. Having passed its immigration bill, the Senate now gets back to its failure to confirm the president’s nominee to run the Environmental Protection Agency, Gina McCarthy, and his choice for Labor secretary, Thomas Perez. In addition, the president has a nominee to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — Richard Cordray — also waiting for Senate attention… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <The Hill>

Unfortunately I call Reid The Nevada Leg Hound, because he has made the wrong choice far too many times in the past.  He has seemed infinitely willing to accept ‘gentlemen’s agreements’ from Republicans, which is the functional equivalent of accepting ‘Henhouse Security Agreements’ from foxes.

Here is Reid last May 18.

So here is the question. Will Reid finally grow a pair and nuke the filibastards, or will he do what he has almost always done in the past: hump a few Republican legs, beg for votes, whine, roll over and play dead?

In the aftermath of the Snowden revelations, it has become increasingly clear, that the institution designed by the law to inject oversight into the process, the FISA Court, has repeatedly ignored both the intent of the law and the protections provided Americans by the Constitution.  FISA has been a blank check for national security and law enforcement, providing no oversight whatsoever.  Today I learned something that shocked me, and explains why we have such a sad state of affairs.

Chief justice of the U.S. is a pretty big job. You lead the Supreme Court conferences where cases are discussed and voted on. You preside over oral arguments. When in the majority, you decide who writes the opinion. You get a cool robe that you can decorate with gold stripes.

Oh, and one more thing: You have exclusive, unaccountable, lifetime power to shape the surveillance state.

To use its surveillance powers — tapping phones or reading e-mails — the federal government must ask permission of the court set up by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. A FISA judge can deny the request or force the government to limit the scope of its investigation. It’s the only plausible check in the system. Whether it actually checks government surveillance power or acts as a rubber stamp is up to whichever FISA judge presides that day.

The 11 FISA judges, chosen from throughout the federal bench for seven-year terms, are all appointed by the chief justice. In fact, every FISA judge currently serving was appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts, who will continue making such appointments until he retires or dies. FISA judges don’t need confirmation — by Congress or anyone else.

No other part of U.S. law works this way. The chief justice can’t choose the judges who rule on health law, or preside over labor cases, or decide software patents. But when it comes to surveillance, the composition of the bench is entirely in his hands and so, as a result, is the extent to which the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation can spy on citizens.

“It really is up to these FISA judges to decide what the law means and what the NSA and FBI gets to do,” said Julian Sanchez, a privacy scholar at the Cato Institute. “So Roberts is single handedly choosing the people who get to decide how much surveillance we’re subject to.” … [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Bloomberg>

While I am not happy with Obama’s performance in this area, I also feel sorry for him.  He has so much on his plate, that he does not have the time to micromanage any one area, so he leaves it to professionals.  He is almost forced to use the tools given him, because the consequences of failure are so great, given the Republican proclivity to impose blame and generate fear.  For example, the Obama administration has taken far more heat over four American deaths at Benghazi, after Republicans had refused to allow spending adequate for embassy security, than the Bush administration endured over their total incompetence in allowing thousands of American deaths on September 11, 2001.

The only way to change this is to change the law, and to make that happen, Democrats will need complete control of both houses of Congress.

Here is the ninth article in our Republicans on Parade series, featuring individuals who personify what the Republican Party has become. Today’s honoree is Republican Adam Kokesh, for breaking the law, spreading insane conspiracy theories, and fostering the violent overthrow of the US government.

The libertarian activist Adam Kokesh who called for and then canceled an armed march on Washington uploaded a YouTube video on July 4 that shows him loading a shotgun in the center of Freedom Plaza, Washington, D.C, near the White House. In the video, Kokesh cryptically warns, “We will not allow our government to destroy our humanity. We are the final American revolution. See you next Independence Day.”…

…It is illegal to openly carry a firearm, much less a loaded one, in the District of Columbia.

Kokesh initially planned to lead a July 4 march on Washington with loaded firearms to advocate for open carry and “to put the government on notice.” When he announced the original armed march on Washington, authorities thoroughly warned against it. But he later abandoned those plans in favor of raising an “army” of secessionist rallies held at state capitols.

Kokesh, who has also compared himself to Gandhi, has even implied violence as the end result. “Should one whole year from this July 4th pass while the crimes of this government are allowed to continue, we may have passed the point at which non-violent revolution becomes impossible,” he said in a statement… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Think Progress>

Here’s that video.

Now Republicans may whine that they are not like that, and that he is not one of them.  However Republicans leaders have never denounced one of their many candidates who have proposed or suggested Second Amendment Solutions.  Of course he is a Republican.  He is a long term supporter of malignant Republican misanthrope, Ron Paul.