October 10, 2007 3:19 PM

Dare Bush to Veto FISA Legislation!

In a remark that demonstrates just how upside down insider D.C. Democrats are today, Rep. Steny Hoyer (Democrat of Maryland), the number two leader in the House, indicated that providing telecommunication companies with full immunization for their illegal actions from the Bush surveillance program, might be the price to get Mr. Bush to sign new surveillance legislation.

Why not present Mr. Bush with strong surveillance oversight legislation - without immunizing the telecom companies - and BEG for a veto? It would be well worth it to clearly illustrate what passes for principle these days.

It is far more likely that Mr. Hoyer is himself simply responding to lobbying by lobbyists, nominally of the Democratic persuasion, being paid handsomely by the telecom companies.

The bizarre dance continued after Mr. Hoyer's remarks when the president went ahead and announced that he would veto the legislation if it did not contain immunization. It is well worth remembering that not all telecom companies went along with the Administration's request to break the law by turning over consumer records - Qwest - the smallest of the major carriers, turned down the request even after major pressure.

How many hours or days will it be before Mr. Hoyer's team "pays the price" and puts immunization into the legislation? And would anyone like to bet that somewhere in the fine print, the immunization will extend to current and former employees of the Bush Administration?