 | Clinton Skips Work to Give a Speech Pledging to Work Every Day |
Hillary Clinton gave a speech today in Greenville, South Carolina in which she pilloried George W. Bush for his “inattention, neglect and denial”:
We’re here in part because the President failed to listen to the voices of people who are hurting, failed to get involved in the actual work of running the government, and failed to act. Instead, he has stayed at a comfortable cruising altitude, well above the realities of people’s lives, delegating responsibilities to his advisers, hoping the buck would stop somewhere else—anywhere else….
Too many families are paying the price of inaction, right here and right now – so I think we need to begin acting, and we can’t wait until January 20, 2009.
Hillary Clinton talked her talk about what a hard worker she is, how she believes in doing her job, and how she’ll show up every day to work for you. It was a good line she talked:
The factory worker and the CEO, the farmer or the small business owner, the scientist in the lab, or the teacher in the classroom, everybody who gets up every day and gets their job done, supports their families – that is the strength… American people don’t hire a President to talk about our problems but to solve them, to set a vision for the future, and then to roll up our sleeves and get about fulfilling it…. I intend to be a president who stands up for you every single day about how we make America work better for you…. If you will give me a chance, I will work my heart out for you. You will have someone who gets up every day, thinking about you. I am not a show horse, I’m a work horse; and I will go to work for you.
Not a show horse? A work horse? Really?
Hillary Clinton promised back in October of 2007 that she would do her job as a United States Senator. Specifically, she promised that she would work to oppose immunity for telecommunications corporations that broke the law and violated Americans’ privacy. Clinton reiterated her commitment yesterday.
But today there was Senate debate and a vote to take telecommunications immunity out of the FISA Amendments Act. Today was the day for Hillary Clinton to show up and make her stand. To do her job. To work her heart out for the American people, like she said. To stand up for us.
Hillary Clinton failed to show up for work in the Senate today. She broke her promise to stop immunity for telecommunications corporations that broke the law and violated our privacy. Instead, she played hooky to give speeches about how she would show up for work every single day.
Hillary Clinton failed to show up work work in the Senate today — and in her absence, the motion to take out telecommunications immunity failed.
How pathetic. If Hillary Clinton won’t do her job and keep her promises now, why should we believe that she would do anything of the sort as president?
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My understanding today’s vote that failed was whether to substitute the “judicial committee” bill, which doesn’t have telecom immunity provisions, for the “intelligence committee” bill which does.
There has yet to be a vote taken on the second, more offensive bill which would give the telecommunications companies retroactive immunity from lawsuits arising from warrantless wiretapping.
Is there a good reason the whole FISA thing should not just be allowed to expire?
Comment by Iroquois — 1/24/2008 @ 9:21 pm
No, there isn’t. The “whole FISA thing” - the Protect America Act - was a completely unnecessary law that has encouraged George W. Bush to establish a totalitarian spy state. Right now, when you communicate electronically, you’ve got to assume that anything that you say can be intercepted by the National Security Agency or the FBI and then used against you.
That said, it’s important to fight this thing every step of the way - and for a senator to be present. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton should have been there.
Comment by J. Clifford — 1/24/2008 @ 9:29 pm
Iroquois, you’re right. That’s what today’s vote was — a vote to substitute in the Judicial Committee bill language and to substitute out the Intelligence Committee bill language. It looks like Monday is when there’s going to be a cloture bill on the second.
Comment by Jim — 1/24/2008 @ 9:54 pm
This might actually turn out to be very interesting at election time. Assuming the intelligence committee language does not pass. A lot of people running for reelection would have to explain to their constituents why they voted against a bill to close the loophole to allow two foreign phones that pass though the U.S. trunk lines to be monitored. Then the politicians would be forced to make speeches about how they only sold out the national security interests to help the poor phone companies not get prosecuted for illegal wiretapping. Dubya (and Reid) must think they have enough votes lined up.
Comment by Iroquois — 1/25/2008 @ 1:12 am