[Infowarrior] - Senator Dodd Announces He Will Stop Telecom Immunity Bill

[Richard Forno]

Senator Dodd Announces He Will Stop Telecom Immunity Bill
By Ryan Singel EmailOctober 18, 2007 |
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/senator-dodd-an.html

Connecticut Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd has vowed to put a hold on a
Senate bill that reportedly would grant retroactive legal protection to any
phone or internet company that helped with the president's secret,
warrantless wiretapping program, Dodd announced via email and on his
presidential campaign website Thursday.

Dodd's surprise, pre-emptive strike is extraordinary, since the proposed
bill has not yet even been formally introduced. The Senate Intelligence
Committee is marking up the bill in a closed hearing. Under Senate rules,
any Senator can block legislation from reaching the floor for a vote, but
it's a move that is usually done secretly and it can easily anger colleagues
and is generally sparingly used.

>From Dodd's site:

    The Military Commissions Act. Warrantless wiretapping. Shredding of
Habeas Corpus. Torture. Extraordinary Rendition. Secret Prisons.

    No more.

    I have decided to place a "hold" on the latest FISA bill that would have
included amnesty for telecommunications companies that enabled the
President's assault on the Constitution by illegally providing personal
information on their customers without judicial authorization.

Update: Dodd's move is fairly stunning and gutsy.  As I wrote elsewhere,
Dodd is going all in with his political capital on this. Even if he wins,
he'll pay a price in the Senate for this stand.