Senator Dodd’s amendment to strip telecom immunity out of the FISA bill has failed. 32 Senators wanted to defend the rule of law including Senators Obama, Clinton, Dodd, Byrd, Feingold, Biden, Boxer, and Durbin. However, 66 voted against the rule of law and the Constitution including Senators Lieberman, Bayh, Dole, Graham, Specter, Feinstein, and Coburn. This of course reveals that the split wasn’t simply partisan. It was a split between those who support the Constitution and those who don’t.
There was also the Specter amendment which was significantly worse than the Dodd amendment, but limited telecom immunity to cases where the courts felt the actions of the telecoms were constitutional. It also failed because once again the Senate split along who supports the Constitution and who doesn’t. Some of the Senators who supported the Constitution are Senators Obama, Clinton, Dodd, and Biden. Some of the Senators who opposed it are Senators Dole, Graham, Lieberman, Vitter, and Warner.
It’s also worth noting that only two Senators didn’t vote on both of the above. One is Senator Kennedy who is still recovering from his brain tumor and thus has a reasonable excuse. The other is Senator McCain who has been able to campaign relentlessly.
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