Feingold On Obama On FISA

So the FISA bill passed, it was a total disgrace, but not all is lost. Here is what Russ Feingold, one of the strongest opponents of the bill, said yesterday:

"Having a Democratic president and particularly Barack Obama should allow us to change this mistake. Barack Obama believes in the Constitution. He's a constitutional scholar. I believe that he will have a better chance to look at these powers that have been given to the executive branch and even though that he will be running the executive branch, I think he will understand and help take the lead in fixing some of the worst provisions. So this is a huge setback and it would have been much better for Democrats to stand together and not let it happen in the first place ‘cause it's much harder to change it after the fact. But I do believe that Barack Obama is well positioned both in terms of his knowledge and his background, and his beliefs, to correct this. And so I do think that people have a right to be disappointed but I also think they have the right to hope for change on this issue in particular starting in January."

And here is what Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, said about the bill:

"[T]his legislation needs more work. That is why I oppose it, and why I am committed to working with a new President to improve it.

"Congress should not wait until the 2012 expiration to improve this bill. I will work to ensure that Congress revisits FISA well before 2012, informed by the oversight that will be conducted in the coming months by the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees and by the reports of the Inspectors General.

"Next year, for example, Congress will be required to revisit a number of provisions of the Patriot Act. That may provide a suitable occasion to review the related issues in this FISA bill.

If we can elect Obama and a filibuster-proof Senate, I guarantee this travesty will be fixed. It's easy to get mad right now and blame Obama, blame the cowardly Democrats who hashed together this capitulation, but let's not miss the forest for the trees. A President Obama would never have signed this legislation, and with a few more Democrats in the Senate we could have filibustered this fucker.

But it passed, it's signed, and now we have to do everything in our power to make sure this problem (and so many others) are fixed starting January 2009. And none of that fixing will happen with President McCain, I guarantee you that.