It’s difficult this morning to say that the Massachusetts Democrats are willing to take a strong stand for our constitutional rights, against the Patriot Act.

Whether Martha Coakley is truly clueless about the Patriot Act, or is using the illusion of ignorance to cover for a seething hatred of the constitutional rights of Americans under the Fourth Amendment, she is clearly the wrong choice to succeed Edward Kennedy.

The EFF is requesting assistance in reading the documents and considering their relevance. Please go on over and take a look at the newly released papers.

Those of us who still believe that the promises of the Constitution should be kept cannot win the debate in increments, begging for scraps of portions of our rights. Republican politicians interpret these maneuvers as signs of weakness. S. 1692 is an unsuccessful appeasement that needs to be defeated so that the worst parts of the Patriot Act can expire, as they were originally intended to do.

Senator Patrick Leahy insisted, even though the meeting had been previously designated as an appropriate time to deal with FISA Amendments Act reforms, that the matter would not be dealt with. So, the amendment had to be withdrawn.

The Senate Judiciary Committee was faced with a crucial ethical test yesterday, and most of the committee failed. The test came during a special executive meeting to consider whether to reauthorize the infamous Patriot Act, a law that was passed in a rush, without any senator even reading the bill, granting the Executive Branch extreme [...]

In the Homeland Security Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2010, the National Applications Office is not listed as among the programs that are being cut or significantly reduced in funding. Why? On Friday, there was a markup session for the legislation, with the opportunity to eliminate funding for the satellite spy operations against American citizens. Why did the Democrats on the Price’s subcommittee fail to act?

Will there be more cosponsors for these bills this week, or will Congress let the NAO come into full operations without protest?

The corruption connected to the warrantless wiretapping Total Information Awareness spy system runs throughout the centers of power in the United States – including the former and current presidency, the Congress, private communications giants, lobbying firms, and our nation’s most powerful newspaper.

In reaction to yesterday’s news that the National Security Agency under President Obama has expanded the use of spying targeted against Americans on US soil without search warrants, Feingold released the following statement.