This kind of thing is one reason I'm glad he's still in the race:





In Washington today, telecom lobbyists have launched a full-court press to win retroactive immunity for their illegal eavesdropping on American citizens. Granting retroactive immunity will let corporate law-breakers off the hook and hamstring efforts to learn the truth about Bush's illegal spying program.



It's time for Senate Democrats to show a little backbone and stand up to George W. Bush and the corporate lobbyists. They should do everything in their power -- including joining Senator Dodd's efforts to filibuster this legislation -- to stop retroactive immunity. The Constitution should not be for sale at any price.





I'll add that I think Edwards is right to see as largely an issue of "corporate lobbyists" with the Democrats using their habitual spinelessness on national security issues as a pretext for the more tawdry business of simply handing out favors to telecom companies. But if the congress -- an opposition party led congress responding to a discovery that pierced a years-long executive branch coverup -- accepts this "it's not a crime if the president asks you to do it" theory of legal liability we may as well not have any laws at all. (Meanwhile, I wonder what happened to Edwards' 2004-vintage enthusiasm for creating a domestic intelligence agency)

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