My Capitol Visit and Up-Close Observations During FISA Votes

I was in our nation’s capitol from July 3 – 10. Among the highlights of my week-long visit was coffee at the Mayflower Hotel with NQ’s Larry Johnson. It was even more fun conversing with him than reading his blog posts.

Another highlight was watching the FISA votes from the Senate visitors’ gallery at the capitol [Wednesday, July 9]. Senators Clinton and Obama were there, as were Leahy, Dodd, Webb and Specter. It was my version of a star-studded movie premier. Sadly geeky, I know.

As we all know, the three amendments against Telecom Amnesty failed and the FISA bill passed — complete with Telecom Amnesty. One result: we taxpayers may em>never find out the extent to which telecom companies and the Bush Administration had violated our nation’s laws. 

Not only was Wednesday’s vote a blow to the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, it was
also a blow to government accountability.  But I digress.

I went to the Senate gallery about an hour before the voting was scheduled to start.  Being alone, I was able to change seats numerous times as visitors came and went.  Just before the voting started, I managed to get a seat with the broadest view of the chamber.

I’d expected an efficient voting process: i.e., that all senators would take their seats and push buttons that electronically record their votes.  It wasn’t like that.

Instead, Senators trickled into the chamber, most of them not punctually.  Even before the chamber filled up, a lady at the dais slowly and repeatedly read the list of all 100 senators’ names, in alphabetical order, trying to record a vote for each one while most senators were gathered in  clusters, chatting with each other.

It looked like a cocktail party, minus the open bar, though I can’t swear that none of our senators were carrying concealed flasks of hooch.

The gallery visitors were mostly silent until Sen. Barack Obama entered.  Incidentally, he’s as handsome in person as on TV.

Unfortunately, Sen. Obama was chomping on a wad of gum as he made his way around the chamber floor, stopping every few feet to give enthusiastic hand shakes and shoulder pats to his visibly senior, mostly graying colleagues.

Sen. Obama didn’t exactly swagger: it was more like a studiedly relaxed gate — like a high school athlete walking into an awards dinner. 

I was surprised, because Sen. Obama comes off as dignified — even elegant — on TV.  His air was nearly the opposite in person that day.  I half expected him to deliver elaborate, frat-boy handshakes.  I was relieved that he did not.

My advice to Sen. Obama’s handlers: tell him to lose the gum, as it undermines his image among people who are — how shall I say it –  concerned about dignity and maturity.

A few minutes later Sen. Hillary Clinton arrived, and the gallery crowd stirred even more.  I’d hoped that she would glance up to the gallery, so I could wave a subtle hello in her direction.  She did not.

Oddly, Hillary and Barack did not interact during the floor votes — even when they were 10 or 15 feet apart. I didn’t even see them look at each other.  They just kept chatting with other people.

Admittedly, I don’t know what they were thinking, because my mind-reading skills are still in New England, protesting Florida’s oppressive humidity. 

The only interaction I saw between them for what seemed like nearly an hour was when Sen. Obama was getting ready to leave. As he headed for one of the four exits, he made a pit stop in front of  Sen. Clinton, formally shook her hand, and patted her upper arm. 

Sen. Clinton and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) also chatted briefly.  The interaction didn’t look unpleasant, but neither of them made efforts to smile.  McCaskill, as you may recall, has been parroting misleading sound bites in favor of Telecom Amnesty since at least February.  Hillary has been against it for months.

Sen. Obama and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WVA) — who led cheers for Telecom Amnesty– briefly interacted, both sporting smiles. 

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who has repeatedly spoken against Telecom Amnesty, interacted with Sen. Obama twice.  Once, Leahy’s back was toward me, and Obama was smiling.  Once, when Obama was talking to two other senators, Leahy approached and tried to say something but couldn’t seem to find a place to interject.  After a few moments, he walked away.  I have no idea what that was about because I don’t have bionic ears, but Leahy didn’t look particularly jovial.

Soon thereafter, Leahy approached Hillary.  They talked and smiled for a few minutes.  Leahy was one of the Party Elders who publicly endorsed Obama early this year, urging Hillary to drop out of the race. 

I wonder if Sen. Leahy now regrets that gesture, given that Sen. Obama  ended up opposing Leahy’s strong stance against the FISA bill and Telecom Amnesty, while Sen. Clinton ended up voting with Leahy.

That’s it for my people watching. I don’t know what to make of my observations: I just thought I’d share them, for whatever they’re worth.

Incidentally, I was also at the Senate gallery on Tuesday [July 8] to hear debates about the FISA bill and Telecom Amnesty. 

An actual debate never really happened.  It was more like individual senators taking turns making speeches.  Except for the people at the dais, including a gaggle of interns or pages (I don’t know the difference), the chamber was almost empty.

When I first arrived, Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) was speaking.  At least I think it was Bond: the reason I’m not sure is that in person he looks about 20 years older than in his website photo. 

Many other senators also look different in person than on their websites.  My advice: update your photos, so that visitors can recognize you more easily. Don’t worry: we taxpayers are the ones paying the photographers.

Anyway, Sen. Bond made misleading statements about Telecom Amnesty, saying that telecom companies would refuse cooperate with governmental efforts to track terrorists in the future if they could be held legally liable for doing so. 

Apparently, Sen. Bond wasn’t aware that if the government presents a telecom company with a valid warrant, the telecom company would have to cooperate and couldn’t be held liable for doing so.  I found his apparent unawareness stunning, because Sen. Bond graduated from law school at the top of his class.

I stuck around for a half hour or so and got to hear Sens. Arlen Specter and Leahy argue against Telecom Amnesty.  Wanting to leave on a high note, I departed shortly thereafter.