"This Constantly Pulsating Fear"—Feingold Talks FISA with Brian Beutler
Living up to predictions by Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold of "the caving of very large numbers of Democrats [on] an awful piece of legislation," the Senate remains poised to pass the Protect America Act (PAA) in a form that will allow telephone companies and internet providers immunity from prosecution for forking over consumer information to government spymasters. The bill confers immunity that would be retroactive to the first days of a warrantless spying program originated by the Bush administration following the 9/11 attacks. In an interview with The Media Consortium's Brian Beutler, Feingold attributed Democrats' weakness to "this constantly pulsating fear of being accused of being soft on terrorism."