Another Texas Dumbocrat makes himself too visible

Silvestre Reyes says we should keep BushCo torturers and snoopers in office.

I have a better idea. Let's give Reyes a nice vacation from his hard work as House Intell Chair, a nice vacation ... in a small, windowless box in Gitmo.

Did Reyes use ‘weight’ to help kidnapped relative in Mexico?

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington charges just that, charging that Texas Congressman Silvestre Reyes somehow helped get Erika Possert, whom Reyes described as the aunt of his sister-in-law's son's wife, freed from Mexican captors on payment of ransom.

Behind that story, whether true or not, lies the bitterness of many south Texas families with relatives kidnapped in Mexico who feel Reyes has turned a deaf ear to them in the past. And it sounds to me like that’s the key story.

It doesn’t look like Reyes has any impropriety in the Possert case, but he’s made enough constituents disgruntled they’re more than ready to seize on the appearance of impropriety.

While he’s not likely to lose his seat in this year’s general election, you never know, and I’m sure he’ll get a noteworthy Democratic primary challenger in 2010.

Who bought off Silvestre Reyes? Will Obama stay silent?

And, if the chairman of House Intell is so fine NOW with telco immunity, what changed in the last month?

Answer. Nothing.

Except a Democratic presidential campaign.

Over at Washington Monthly, guest blogger dday calls on Barack Obama to denounce, or whatever, Reyes “conversion.”

Five bucks says it ain’t gonna happen.

House Dems look to cave on telco immunity

That seems to be the word out of the mouth of Silvestre Reyes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

Reyes, in a television interview broadcast Sunday, did not specifically say whether the House (FISA renewal) proposal would mirror the Senate's version. The Senate measure provides retroactive legal immunity to the companies that helped the government wiretap U.S. computer and phone lines after the Sept. 11 attacks without clearance from a secret court.

Reyes, D-Texas, said he was open to that possibility after receiving documents from the Bush administration and speaking to the companies about the industry's role in the government spy program.

“We are talking to the representatives from the communications companies because if we’re going to give them blanket immunity, we want to know and we want to understand what it is that we’re giving immunity for,” he said. “I have an open mind about that.”

Regarding a compromise deal, Reyes said: “We think we’re very close, probably within the next week we'll be able to hopefully bring it to a vote.”

Of course, after an immunity-laden version of FISA renewal is passed, neither you nor I nor plaintiffs against AT&T nor the ACLU will ever get a glimpse at the documents that seem to have sealed the deal for Reyes.

What is this now, past the 1,000 mark on reasons not to vote Democratic this fall?

Dems going soft on FISA reform?

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes sounds like he’s ready to agree to a fair extent with President Bush on reforming the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a big red flag.

I agree with the ACLU: The Clinton Administration had cell phones and the Internet on its hands and was perfectly able to work with the current FISA provisions. I don’t think there’s a need for change and certainly not for wholesale ones, such as immunizing telecom companies from criminal charges for what would right now be criminal cooperation with BushCo-type demands.