FISA: Senate Democrats lack cojones, forcing Pelosi to develp hers - Evolution at work?

After the Senate unsurprisingly caved in on the FISA bill Wednesday, it has gone back to the House, since the version they previously passed did not include telecom immunity. The Congressional Republicans, supported by Bush, have refused to allow another extension of the existing FISA law without telecom immunity, clearly intending to put pressure on the Democrats to cave in and permit the telecoms to avoid lawsuits for their earlier lawbreaking activities. So, lacking House concurrence with the Senate version, FISA will expire Friday evening.

What did Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats do? They adjourned the House for the long President's day weekend as previously planned.

Shocked House Republicans then walked out of the House proceedings since they weren't getting their way, and Bush whined that the Democrats were obstructing his actions as the King of America Unitary Executive.

I am so damned tired of hearing an aggrieved Bush who feels he is not getting his way get on TV and whine about how bad he is being treated and how dangerous it supposedly is for America if we ignore his stupidities. And when he isn't whining, he is lecturing America on crap he himself is utterly clueless on. The man is barely literate, and somehow he is the expert who explains why everyone else is wrong? He doesn't know enough personally to question the aides who advise him and lacking that knowledge he doesn't know enough to appoint decent qualified aides.

Of course, the media is happy to report Bush's whine, without context or understanding that (A) the entire issue is made up by the Bush and the Republicans for political gain and is meaningless in terms of national security and (B) they ignore the real damage that the telecom immunity provision does to the American Rule of Law.

Michell Cottle at The New Republic points out how utterly out of it the media coverage on the FISA issue is. Her excellent example: "Every time Congressional Democrats do something Bush remotely doesn't like, he puts out an angry statement. It's like writing a story about the Capitol burning down and headlining it, "Many Cameramen Gather at Capitol." The media is so damned busy reporting what Bush whines that they don't even bother to find out what the Democrats really did and why. That's another example of the fact that Washington Reporters exist by rewriting handouts and stenographically reporting leaks instead of real reporting. It's clear that Washington reports as a group are paid way too much for what they actually do.

But we should all be proud of Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats. We need to see more of that kind of behavior where politicians put the needs of America above Bush's whines and the Republican Party's power plays and temper tantrums.

Go Nancy!