McCain Willing To Grant Telecoms Immunity After They Say They’re Sorry
McCain Willing To Grant Telecoms Immunity After They Say They’re Sorry
In a new interview with Wired, Chuck Fish, a full-time lawyer for Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) campaign, says that the senator opposes immunity for telecoms that aided the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program — unless they first offer a heartfelt apology for their actions:
As president, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain would not support immunity for the telecoms that aided the Bush administration’s warrantless spying program, unless there were revealing Congressional hearings and heartfelt repentance from those telephone and internet companies, a campaign surrogate said Wednesday. [...]
“First, we need to be explicit we are not talking about granting indulgences,” Fish said, clarifying that he meant forgiveness must be matched with repentance.
Basically, McCain wants to give telecoms nothing more than a slap on the wrist. If they publicly say they’re very sorry for what they did, all can be forgiven.
The telecoms have not yet offered the American public any apologies, and it doesn’t seem like they’re doing any repenting. Yet McCain has already voted for immunity. In fact, in February he said it was “disgraceful” that Congress had not yet approved a bill expanding the Bush administration’s wiretapping powers and granting immunity to telecoms:
Isn’t it embarrassing — worse than embarrassing — when the Congress and the House of Representatives of the United States of America goes out on recess, when we have not addressed this incredible threat of the intelligence capabilities of this country to monitor the communications of bad people? It’s disgraceful. It’s disgraceful!
In the interview with Wired, Fish acknowledged McCain’s pro-immunity votes, saying that they were “complicated.” In reality, it’s not that complicated: McCain is willing to give telecoms immunity with or without any repentance and congressional hearings.
(HT: mcjoan)
Sort Comments By: Top Rated | Date
50 Responses to “McCain Willing To Grant Telecoms Immunity After They Say They’re Sorry”
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
In other news, Charles Manson said today, "I'm sorry" and was immediately released from prison.
Rumors Manson was bound for employment in the campaign of GOP candidate John McCain could not be confirmed.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:53 pmWhy not give them some of your medals while your at it, Goof Gramps?
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:53 pmAs long as Michael Bolton is heard playing in the background..
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:53 pmProof positive that a Fish rots from the head down.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:53 pmmr magoo strikes again.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:59 pmLeave McSame alone. gigi says he's a Maverick™.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:01 pmSo McCain would grant immunity "only if...", yet he previously voted for immunity. Doesn't it seem that he's well beyond flip-flopping & into downtight lying? And his vote was "complicated"? What evasive garbage.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:02 pmWhat about making them promise not to do it ever again unless another president hints they should do it if they want more favors?
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:04 pm"... offer a heartfelt apology for their actions..."
McLame is on to something here. Just think of the tax payers money that can be saved by closing all the prisons, firing all the judges and prosecuting attorneys, parole officers, social workers plus all the lawyers fees on the other side. Just make all the felons "offer a heartfelt apology for their actions" and let them go out NEVER TO SIN AGAIN! Just as the telecom companies will do!
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:04 pmIts no surprise to me that McCain is and was for giving lawbreakers immunity for violating the rights of all Americans.
What I am wondering if golly_goofy is going to spam yet another thread with it's inane request for Obama's medical records......
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:04 pmWhat is disgraceful is that you want to expand executive power. We the people, have had enough of our rights violated and taken away. Having the telecoms say they are sorry isn't good enough. They need to be prosecuted just like everyone else who breaks the law.
You say that you are for limiting government and at every turn you are trying to expand it. Where are all the indictments from the wiretapping of "Bad People"? So much for that argument.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:05 pmI wonder if President McCain is going to offer a similar deal to Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and all the other war criminals of this administration. They'll be granted immunity from their crimes if they just apologize for crapping on the Constitution.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:06 pm"First, we need to be explicit we are not talking about granting indulgences,” Fish said, clarifying that he meant forgiveness must be matched with repentance.
What are we, in church? Make that evil church, because pious these guys are not.
All this damned telecom immunity blather from McCain & the rest of the Repubs- an issue they will not let die. Why is it so important? Because of BushCo major liability & criminal wrongdoing that will come to light if any court cases are allowed to be pursued. On this issue once again, McBush carries water for the corrupt GWB administration.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:08 pmTell ya what, Grampy - make 'em promise never to run across your lawn again, and we might have sumpin'.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:10 pmNeocons punish individuals for being victims and award radical entities for being aggressors.
Power to the people?
You'd think that neocons drinking the blood of every dead Iraqi would be punishment, but Mark Levin thinks it tastes pretty good, especially with his steak. He enjoys a dual-blooded meal.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:13 pmI protest the fact that it seems to be All McCain Friday and Buckie Boy is nowhere to be found with his most excellent Grampy McSame / Abe Simpson rambling stories!
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:13 pmSo how hard is it for the Telcos to hire a public relations expert / actor who gives an apology that would bring tears to your eyes ?
Perhaps it would cost, say $ 500 ?
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:16 pmThose stories are classic, robbez! I told Buckie I'd bring the marshmellows next time, but the day I rememember to bring 'em he's nowhere to be found!
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:17 pmI'm sure that Grampy McSame would make us a cardboard stove to roast those marshmallows, McWars - right before he mowed the lawn with his straight razor!
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:19 pmWhy should the telecom's be expected to say they are sorry when all they were doing is what the government was asking of them so it seems to me like it is the government who should be saying sorry.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:19 pmhussein toasterhead Says:
I wonder if President McCain is going to offer a similar deal to Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and all the other war criminals of this administration. They’ll be granted immunity from their crimes if they just apologize for crapping on the Constitution.
You know he will and these criminals are praying the American people remain dumbed down and the fraudulent electronic voting machines carry them through.
I'm as mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:23 pmrobbez_92107 - this one's for you:
Grampa: "I'll take any test you want. Eye test, pep test, memory test, memory test, Vinny Testaverde, Ferrari Testarossa."
Homer's Paternity Coot
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:28 pmmary - thanks for the laugh on All McCain Friday!
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:30 pmAs president, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain would not support immunity for the telecoms that aided the Bush administration’s warrantless spying program, unless there were revealing Congressional hearings and heartfelt repentance from those telephone and internet companies, a campaign surrogate said Wednesday. […]
“First, we need to be explicit we are not talking about granting indulgences,” Fish said, clarifying that he meant forgiveness must be matched with repentance.
************************************************
So let me see if I've got this right...
If the telecom and internet companies issue a heartfelt apology for their participation in the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program (meaning, they acknowldge that what they did was unethical) then McCain will grant them immunity -- thereby implicitly and effectively giving them permission to continue doing it?!?!? Strictly speaking, an inherent part of true repentance is a willingness to accept the punishment for one's misconduct and to cease or at least resist engaging in such conduct in the future. Since McCain's proposal doesn't seem to meet either of those two criteria, Fish's claim that this is not an indulgence is a bald-faced lie.
This is hardly a slap on the wrist -- if anything, it's more like a kiss on both cheeks. Either set of cheeks, come to think of it!
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:30 pm'unless there were revealing Congressional hearings and heartfelt repentance from those telephone and internet companies, a campaign surrogate said Wednesday'
How in spying-on-everyone's name can a company provide "heartfelt repentance"?!
Apparently his surrogates are as out of it as he is.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:31 pmI shudder to think that this guy has a remote chance of being President of the U.S., would be a continuation of the Bush regime........... May God Help the U.S. ---------- When is Congress going to stand up and say enough is enough and actually support the Constitution. Pure apathy on behalf of most Americans, there should be nationwide protests against this Administration......................
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:31 pmrobbez_92107:
Lisa: "Grampa, stop."
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:34 pmGrampa: "Never! President's physical fitness test, Sealtest Ice Cream, Tester's airplane glue."
Grampy McSame says:
....and I hope that's a roasted marshmallow I just sat in!
With heartfelt props to Buckie!! ;O)
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:34 pm....and back to the topic:
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:38 pmIt's just like the Rethuglicans have taught us to say:
"If you've done nothing wrong, you don't need retroactive immunity."
Good one robbez_92107! But, then again, logic and Republicans don't mix very well.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:40 pma heart-felt apology??? wtf? oh! I know, Go sit in your timeout chair, you've been naughty. We'll let you out in 15 minutes when we need you again. In the mean time, think about how sorry you are so they fall for it!
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:45 pmIn a new interview with Wired, Chuck Fish, a full-time lawyer for Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) campaign, says that the senator opposes immunity for telecoms that aided the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program — unless Paxson Communications reassigns Vicki Iseman to lobby aboard the Straight Talk Express.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:45 pmMcCain Willing To Grant Telecoms Immunity After They Say They’re Sorry
I tried this tactic once with a speeding ticket. I still had to pay it!
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:46 pmwow,Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rove in timeout chairs for 15 minutes! where has real justice gone to? The dogs???
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:49 pmIs this going to be McCainProgress for the next five months or the next four to eight years? Are there any other candidates running for President?
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:51 pmI'll bet they'll make Alberto Gonzales write, I will not disrupt the orderly judicial process 100 times on a dry erase board!
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:51 pmYes, McCain will pander and establish his carefully crafted position of being both moderate and extremely conservative, a maverick who falls strictly in line with the Republican elite and a moral/ethical person as long as those who favor the Republican elite never pay a price for their actions.
Yes, a show trial in which the public will never learn anything (revealing except for all the real information which will not be made public because of national security/executive privilege)and nothing more than a heartfelt apology (such a wonderfully objective standard.)
These people must be stopped. They must all pay the price.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:52 pmstewarjt Says:
I tried this tactic once with a speeding ticket. I still had to pay it!
Well course not. Speeding is obviously much worse than violating the 4th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States!
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:53 pmThey sure as hell must be stopped and made acountable for every breech and insult done to the Constitution and to the American people and everyone else around the globe affected by their careless and calculating, premeditated actions.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:55 pmyou don't accept an apology to let off a premeditated murder one criminal, do you? Well, these war crimes definitely were premeditated. wire tapping is calculated first, am I right?
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:58 pm.....unless they first offer a heartfelt apology for their actions....
Oh for pete's sake!!!! What the hell kind of crap is this?
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:20 pm.
R E M E M B E R:
THEY(sic) HATE US FOR OUR FREEDOMS...
... And so THEY(sic) debate and discuss the merits to undermining those FREEDOMS.
Name me ONE terrorist that has attacked my freedoms and I will show you the George W. Bush Administration and hundreds of members of Congress.
,
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:24 pmImagine if we tried that with law enforcement...Say you're sorry and you can go after your murder or your rape or your robbery...
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:43 pmMaybe we should let Charles Manson out of jail if he makes a "heartfelt apology". What makes these Corporations feel like they have the entitlement to break the law.
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:33 pmIt's a safe guess "restoring civil liberties" will NOT be a major theme of his campaign. Nor will denouncing torture.
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:27 pmCome to think of it, "restoring civil liberties" hasn't become a major theme of anyone's campaign..........
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:28 pmWhat are you all so worried about? He specifically said they're only going after the "bad people."
You know. Democrats. The "left wing" media. Anyone he thinks is looking/acting like they're thinking about doing/saying something he doesn't like.
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:59 pmDANCE ON, Great American Public.
Every morning the politicians and preachers look in their mirrors, and smirking say to themselves:
"Wonder what line of shit I can hand those dumb bastards today?" . . . .
LAUGHINLY, they move on thinking "I'll think of something".
May 23rd, 2008 at 7:32 pmThey'll believe anything I tell them.
It's not about the telcos, it's about questions that will be asked in the trials. The Bush administration does not want the telcos to have to answer the question "Even after knowing that there would be no warrant for the surveillance, under whose authority did the surveillance continue?" We'd all like to know the answer to that question.
May 24th, 2008 at 11:42 amOver at Salon, Glenn Greenwald is reporting that McCain official position is "John McCain still supports amnesty for telephone and internet companies that helped the Bush Administration target Americans for wiretapping for five years, without getting any court orders".
No apologies necessary.
May 24th, 2008 at 12:15 pm