Edward Kennedy

A group of senators, led by Russ Feingold is urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to make the FISA bill passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) the base bill to be considered on the Senate floor. And they're doing it publicly.

“The Judiciary Committee FISA bill fixes many of the flaws of the surveillance law we enacted in August and the new bill approved by the Intelligence Committee. Everyone agrees that we should give our intelligence officials the tools they need to go after suspected terrorists. There’s no reason we can’t do that while still protecting the privacy of innocent Americans and ensuring adequate oversight of these broad new surveillance authorities -- and without setting the dangerous precedent of granting retroactive immunity to companies that allegedly participated in an unlawful program,” Senator Feingold said.

“I strongly urge the Majority Leader to take up the Judiciary Committee’s version of the FISA legislation. It is absolutely essential that as the Senate begins debating reforms to FISA we do not include retroactive immunity provisions for telecommunications companies that may have engaged in illegal conduct. Additionally, the Judiciary Committee’s version of the FISA legislation contains much stronger safeguards which will serve to protect Americans against the President’s warantless wiretapping program,” Senator Dodd said.

The Senators expressing their support for the SJC FISA bill in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Reid are Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Chris Dodd (D-CT), Barack Obama (D-IL), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Joe Biden (D-DE), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Jim Webb (D-VA), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), and Barbara Boxer (D-CA).

Ted Kennedy got himself some camera time on the floor of the Senate chamber and accused the CIA of a cover up, evoking the 18 1/2 minute gap of tap from the Waterate Tapes of disgraced crook Tricky Dick Nixon.

Why is this so good? There are elements that have proved themselves quite ready to torpedo this Administration. There are elements in the intelligence apparatus that despise Dick Cheney and wouldn't cross the street to piss on him if he was on fire.

He rhetorically asks:

"What would cause the CIA to take this action? The answer is obvious -- cover up. The agency was desperate to cover up damning evidence of their practices. In a letter to agency employees yesterday, CIA Director Michael Hayden claimed that the tapes were a security risk because they might someday “leak” and thereby identify the CIA employees who engaged in these practices.

But that excuse won’t wash. I am second to no one in wanting to protect the brave men and women of the CIA. But how is it possible that the Director of the CIA has so little faith in his own agency?*

Does the Director believe the CIA’s buildings are not secure?*

Would it be beyond the agency’s technical expertise to preserve the tapes while hiding the identity of its employees?*

Does the Director believe that the CIA’s employees cannot be trusted not to leak materials that might harm the agency?*

Or does he know that the interrogation techniques are so abhorrent that they could not remain unknown much longer?"

The last question has to do with the crime itself, and will therefore go unpunished, the other questions are about the cover-up - and the answer for each "* question" is that it was an order from somewhere not in Langley.

Kennedy is teasing out an answer to each "* question" somewhere along these lines: "Cheney made me do it."