Sen. Obama, do not cry wolf, when there is no wolf in the house or area.  In the long run, you are the candidate of choice for this country, and you have within your reach the ability to right the wrongs that have been done to the American people and the “war on terrorism,” if you take the high road and let everything happen as it will. 
Should you give in to the Republican minority and vote the way they want you to, it will only cause heartache and be a mark against you in the general election this November. But should you take a principled stand, and work towards the people’s right to know and again trust their government, then you will have stopped a generational movement away from the conspiracy theories that have surrounded the current administration and its dealings with this country and the world. 
Mr. Olbermann, is dead on in his commentary again. No one does it better than he, in the area of political and social thought that is on the television. Should he be chosen for the spot of Mr. Russert, then I believe that Meet the Press, would again be the show it once was, a hard-hitting, biting commentary on the world of politics and the politicians who inhabit that rarefied, (make pure again) the arena of politics.
It is my belief, firmly implanted in my mind, growing up that the press, was and is the watchdog of the people regarding the arena of political and social worlds.  The journalists of the past, were separate from the politicians and thus were able to maintain their objectivity and able to write without fear about the goings on in Washington and the other capitals of the world. We the people, need a free and unfettered press, to keep their eyes and ears open and their fingers ready to write the columns and news pieces that empower the people to continue the grand tradition of controlling this country.
Thank you Mr. Olbermann, for your forthrightness and integrity in calling to task those in power, without regard and without rancor towards those whom we have elected to represent us in the halls of power.

I’ll take the Prosectuion for High crimes over the hand slap civil suit money settlements!
Obama- other than Kucinich & Gravel- is the ONLY candiate who ever said he’d investigate this admin regarding their crimes they have committed over the last 8 yrs, something Hillary never even whispered- of course why would she, she’s been their ‘ace in the hole’ the entire time- She was given the Rovian Handbook when she had been crowned after entering the Senate.
Solve the ‘partisan witchhunt’ name Hagel as Your VP, since there is no real Dems left with any integrity with a long Gov’t record and also military service. Have no doubt the real Dems have smelled the stench of these Corp whores long ago!They have been nothing more than appeasers and covert operatives for this Tyrannical Admin.
“Revenge, A dish best served Cold!”

P.T. This might be one way to look at it..

“..By P. T., July 2 at 11:44 pm #

“That is interesting.  I guess what John Dean is saying is that there is nothing about criminal immunity in the bill because the administration does not want to concede that it did anything criminal.”

On the other hand, this same admin has been doing every thing they can to change all of the other laws, just because they DO know that once they are no longer in power, their asses are in serious trouble.

The last 4 or so years of their new laws have all been about covering their own asses, in terms of torture, spying, and and multiple other domestic and international breaches of the Geneva Conventions. So, they’ve been aware, and I’m not really sure HOW they allowed this to slip though, unless they didn’t believe this to be anything other than a civil offense, rather than a criminal offense.

But…it is. It’s like a reverse of the OJ case, where he was acquitted in the criminal case, but found liable in the civil one.

Now if I’m understanding this correctly, (and I’d like to go over myself, the whole thing that John Dean came up with, just out of academic curiosity) this would allow a shot at holding them responsible, (the telecoms as well as the admin) on civil charges, if the immunity part of the thing can be removed from the Senate bill. I doubt that it will work out that way, because it only takes 60 Senators to stop the filibuster. There are more than enough repugs and blue dog dems in the Senate to do that.

Needless to say, that is the preferable option, which is what Keith is saying here. That would allow citizens to sue these telecoms, but I have a feeling that even if they could and did, it would be class action type stuff, and it’s unlikely that anybody would see any money, for a very, very, very long time. Even then, the amount would be negligible, because the pool of plaintiffs would be huge. I mean, who HAVEN’T they spied on? These telecoms handed over thousands of records and data.

But for the CRIMINAL part, they could very well be tried and brought to justice, because these are in fact criminal offenses. That would include the admin, and that would be satisfying goal.

I’m positive that the Thugs in DC are perfectly well aware of this, which is why they already have escape routes planned. I’m sure the largest of the telecom kings and queens do as well.

Poor, poor Keith. His sweet Obama-baby is sort of growing up but is beginning to do things that are Keithian no-no’s. As of today, Barack has not taken up your suggestion and it is fairly certain in my opinion that he will not do so because he does not want to alienate the powerful communication giants once he is in office by hauling them into federal court so why scare them needlessly now?. Keith, Keith, why have you become so naive? I urge you to apply your ruthless analysis of Bush’s words and actions to every politician regardless of the brand of hot air he/she spouts. If you are stopping I will stop listening to you. I am actually already very close to do so.

That is interesting.  I guess what John Dean is saying is that there is nothing about criminal immunity in the bill because the administration does not want to concede that it did anything criminal.

doin something for your country and vote nader CNN has him at 6% if hes at 10% he is in the google debates if hes in google debates its a three way race. HOW LONG TO SING THIS SONG? VOTENADER.ORG I CHALLENGE YOU DO SOMETHING FOR YOUR COUNTRY!!!! VICTORY IS ATTAINABLE DONT BELIEVE IT AINT PLEASE VISIT THE SITE AND DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSION. ARE U AFRAID OF INFORMATION?

If Obama’s message is change then he should use this defining moment on whether he wants to run with the out of control pack of congressmen who support this gross violation of the constitution and rule of law or can Obama use this as a tool to rid us of many of the entrenched encumbents and breath life back in to the 4th amendment.

Ah…Keith is such a delight, and a life saver. He’s right Barack; you’re already on record for the comments to Will Bunch, (I’ve remembered those comments, just not where I’d read them. Thanks to Keith for the reminder.)

So Barack should take a lesson here. (even the smartest can still learn). Besides, Keith is right. The repugs are gonna attack him regardless. Of course straight-up racists will as well, since there’s a whole team that will bad mouth him NO MATTER WHAT! Among them are the racists who will *not* vote for a black man, NO MATTER WHAT.

So, they should be disregarded, and not even figured into the equation. It is what it is. That leaves it up to Obama to simply just do the right thing, with his one vote, and try to convince his cohorts in the Senate to do the same.

He DID get lucky on this, so he does have a second chance. If he’s as smart as we think he is, he’ll take advantage of it. Keith and John have already laid-out the plan for him.

You GO guys!

Barack..don’t forget to thank them, and give the rest of them (the repugs) something to cry about.

(Oh I do remember hearing that a whole lot of times back in the day)