jrtom

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/03/14/fisa/index.html

The House just now approved a new FISA bill that denies retroactive immunity to lawbreaking telecoms and which refuses to grant most of the new powers for the President to spy on Americans without warrants. It passed comfortably, by a 213-197 margin.
...
As impressive as the House vote itself was, more impressive still was the floor debate which preceded it. I can't recall ever watching a debate on the floor of either House of Congress that I found even remotely impressive -- until today. One Democrat after the next -- of all stripes -- delivered impassioned, defiant speeches in defense of the rule of law, oversight on presidential eavesdropping, and safeguards on government spying. They swatted away the GOP's fear-mongering claims with the dismissive contempt such tactics deserve, rejecting the principle that has predominated political debate in this country since 9/11: that the threat of the Terrorists means we must live under the rule of an omnipotent President and a dismantled constitutional framework.

Lots more good coverage in this story.

I still think that almost all of the FISA extensions (IIRC) were a bad idea, so I sympathize with the 5 liberal Democrats that voted against this bill on the grounds that it didn't go far enough. But damn, it's nice to see even this much resistance to Bush's belated attempt to legitimize one of his power grabs.