Dodd promised to filibuster teleco immunity, and he has kept his word.
Unfortunately, the Senate voted 76 to 10 to stop his filibuster.
As I predicted, Obama did not show up for the vote, and neither did Clinton or Biden.
Obama issued a statement to Firedog Lake:
“Senator Obama unequivocally opposes giving retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies and has cosponsored Senator Dodd’s efforts to remove that provision from the FISA bill. Granting such immunity undermines the constitutional protections Americans trust the Congress to protect. Senator Obama supports a filibuster of this bill, and strongly urges others to do the same. It’s not clear whether he can return for the vote, but under the Senate rules, the side trying to end a filibuster must produce 60 votes to cut off debate. Whether he is present for the vote for not, Senator Obama will not be among those voting to end the filibuster.”
I understand the basic mechanics of cloture, but I would like to see him a reason to bloody show up for work.
This applies to Biden and Clinton too.