Dodd, Blogs Celebrate FISA Victory

Senator Dodd issued the following statement in response to Senator Reid pulling the Intel Committee bill from consideration until the new year:

"Today we have scored a victory for American civil liberties and sent a message to President Bush that we will not tolerate his abuse of power and veil of secrecy. The President should not be above the rule of law, nor should the telecom companies who supported his quest to spy on American citizens. I want to thank the thousands of Americans throughout the country that stood with me to get this done for our country."

The progressive blogs, who played a huge role in lobbying the Senate to support Dodd's leadership against retroactive immunity, are joining in the celebration now that the FISA bill has been pulled until next year.

In an email, Athenae of First Draft writes, "Seriously, that was some awesome with awesome sauce and a side of pure, crispy win."

Crooks & Liars has video of Dodd's closing remarks this evening.

Jason Rosenbaum at The Seminal writes, "This victory means Dodd's filibuster has weight. It also makes it much more likely that he will win round two as he continues to stand up for the Constitution and against telecom immunity."

Sam Stein at the Huffington Post sets the early narrative - one which I think accurately describes how events evolved over the course of the last few days - in an article titled "Dodd's Filibuster Threat Persuades Reid."

Senator Chris Dodd won a temporary victory today after his threats of a filibuster forced Democratic leadership to push back consideration of a measure that would grant immunity to telecom companies that were complicit in warrantless surveillance....While he never technically conducted a filibuster, according to aides, Dodd left the floor only once, to address a press gathering. He did, on occasion cede time to his Democratic colleagues. But even then, they say, he remained engaged in the debate.
"Everyone who spoke on the floor said they were grateful for Dodd taking a stand," said a staffer to the Senator who asked not to be named. "They said if it weren't for him they wouldn't be having this much-needed debate."

Also, thanks to everyone at FireDogLake for all the help driving activism today.

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