2007.12.28: December 28, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Dominican Republic: Politics: Congress: Election2008 - Dodd: San Francisco Chronicle: How would Sen. Dodd restore our constitutional protections?

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Dominican Republic: RPCV Chris Dodd (Dominican Republic) : RPCV Chris Dodd: Newest Stories: 2007.12.28: December 28, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Dominican Republic: Politics: Congress: Election2008 - Dodd: San Francisco Chronicle: How would Sen. Dodd restore our constitutional protections?

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-141-157-15-2.balt.east.verizon.net - 141.157.15.2) on Monday, December 31, 2007 - 12:41 pm: Edit Post

How would Sen. Dodd restore our constitutional protections?

How would Sen. Dodd restore our constitutional protections?

Benjamin Franklin, I guess, coined it well some two centuries ago when he said, "Those who would give up liberty for security deserve neither." And there has been that effect in terms of trying to achieve ["security"], beginning with Abu Ghraib, with the Military Commissions Act [limiting habeas corpus for "enemy combatants"]. And of course, more recently, with some of the decisions made - even Judge Mukasey making the rather remarkable statement in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee that presidents have the authority to violate federal statutes provided they're operating within the authority of keeping America safe - which is a remarkable statement for a 14-year veteran of the federal bench. And the more recent decision here by the Congress, along with the president, requesting that the telecommunications industry be granted retroactive immunity for having turned over the records of the America people without any court order. So, [I] talk about that, and the importance of making the case that the preservation of these values is, in fact, the source of our security. Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic in the 1960's.

How would Sen. Dodd restore our constitutional protections?

How would Sen. Dodd restore our constitutional protections?

Friday, December 28, 2007
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We asked members of The Chronicle's Two Cents pool of readers to send in questions for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. We received approximately 50, some of which he addressed, at least in part, in a 20-minute session with Chronicle reporters and others prior to his address to a Chronicle/World Affairs Council-sponsored event. Given that Dodd's entire time continues to be focused on the Iowa caucuses, his campaign's press secretary said it was unlikely he would be able to personally respond to the other questions in reasonable time, and advised readers concerned with specific issues to go the campaign's Web site.

Below, edited for space, are the Two Cents questions the senator addressed.

Civil liberties and the Constitution.

Danny Carnahan of Albany posed a question that was also asked in different ways by Michael Northrop of Pacifica, Mary Canavan of Berkeley, Daniel Long of San Francisco and Roy Jimenez of Sonoma:

Q: Do you see the erosion of constitutional checks and balances encouraged by the Bush administration to be a legitimate threat to the future of democracy in America? And if so, what would you do as president to reverse the trend?

Sen. Dodd: Benjamin Franklin, I guess, coined it well some two centuries ago when he said, "Those who would give up liberty for security deserve neither." And there has been that effect in terms of trying to achieve ["security"], beginning with Abu Ghraib, with the Military Commissions Act [limiting habeas corpus for "enemy combatants"]. And of course, more recently, with some of the decisions made - even Judge Mukasey making the rather remarkable statement in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee that presidents have the authority to violate federal statutes provided they're operating within the authority of keeping America safe - which is a remarkable statement for a 14-year veteran of the federal bench. And the more recent decision here by the Congress, along with the president, requesting that the telecommunications industry be granted retroactive immunity for having turned over the records of the America people without any court order. So, [I] talk about that, and the importance of making the case that the preservation of these values is, in fact, the source of our security.

[In an "open letter to Google, published in part on this page, Sen. Dodd added: "I fought for almost 10 hours on the floor of the Senate to ensure that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reform legislation did not include a provision that granted immunity to telecom companies that participated in "warrantless wiretapping." Majority Leader (Sen. Harry]) Reid (D-Nev.) pulled the bill off the floor, and it will be considered again in January - hopefully without the provision which endangers the civil liberties of all Americans."]

On Iraq

Unsurprisingly, a number of Two Cents respondents had questions about the ongoing U.S. war in Iraq, including one from Hugh Cavanaugh of Albany about how Sen. Dodd would prevent "the U.S. from becoming locked into Iraq for many years to come," and another, from Jeffrey Farmer of St. Helena, which we put directly to Sen. Dodd:

Q: With the recent positive news coming out of Iraq, can you be the first Democrat to suggest that maybe, just maybe, the war is not lost and that there is some hope of American/Iraqi success?

Sen. Dodd: I would assume [more positive news] would be the case. When you put 30,000 new troops on the ground in someone's provinces, you can't (not) provide some additional security. That would be a terrible commentary on the ability of our military to do a better job. The issue is not whether or not that's occurring today. The issue occurs with what happens when we decide that we can now no longer do this, either because of cost or a variety of other things. Do we have that sense of security that the Iraqi forces, police and military forces will assume that responsibility?

Let me just share (this) with you: I went to Walter Reed (Army hospital) not long ago and met with some kids from Connecticut who were injured. And they're all, "We'd go back tomorrow." They'd be there in a minute to be with their buddies and pals there. But as one young man from Torrington, Conn., said to me, he said, "Senator, what you don't understand is it takes us a month and a half to clean out an area. An hour and a half after we leave, it's right back where it was. The civilian population knows where the IEDs are, (where) the ammo dumps are, and they don't tell us. And all I'm doing is training Sunnis to kill Shias, and providing them with the weapons to do so." That's a direct quote.

... And I just believe there's very little likelihood we're going to achieve the kind of reconciliation in Iraq as long as long as it appears to many of them that we're willing to stay there indefinitely. In fact, I think it may serve the interests who would keep the divisions alive. So I've reached the conclusion that we ought to begin redeploying our forces. That's not to say that we're leaving the region; there are many other things we can do. And obviously with major facilities in Kuwait and Qatar, as well as allies in the region, we certainly are not going to abandon our interests to those that might try to overwhelm them militarily.

But I think the signal and the significance of suggesting that we've done all we can do in the midst of this civil war has - the value of that outweighs my fears of what may happen here. I think, in fact, we may be in a far stronger position to do other things, both regionally and internationally, that are critical for our own security and that of our allies around the world. So I've decided it's worth the risk here. The risk of continuing the status quo, I think, is so large that a new course is necessary.

Why Dodd for president?

A number of Two Cents readers posed this, in one way or another. Diana Galbraith of Berkeley, wanted to know about Sen. Dodd's "single biggest strength." Bill Krumbein and James Johnson both of Santa Rosa mentioned the "mean-spirited," "partisan bickering" of Washington - all wondering what qualified Sen. Dodd to do the job any better. Or, put more bluntly by, Karen Gerbosi, in a question we posed directly to the candidate:

Q: Because Dodd is clearly not a first-tier candidate and may not be a second-tier candidate either, what is the point of him running?

Sen. Dodd: One, electability, which is not an insignificant issue. Having been through eight elections and having some idea how to win them, having run a party nationally, I have some idea how to run a campaign nationally as well. And I can't emphasize enough for you the issue of results, of actually bringing people together to produce results. That's all I've done for 26 years. When I started the Children's Caucus in the Senate in 1981, I did it with [Sen.] Arlen Specter [R-Pa.] When I wrote the first child-care legislation, I did it with [Sen.] Orrin Hatch, [R-Utah], and it was groundbreaking legislation. When I wrote the Family Medical Leave Act, I did it with [Sen.]Kit Bond [R-Mo.] and [Sen.] Dan Coates [R-Ind.]. [Former Sen.] Phil Gramm [R-Tex.] and I did financial services reform. [Sen.] Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.] and I did election reform. [Former Sen.] Rick Santorum [R-Pa.] and I did autism together. I wrote all the legislation on premature births, infant screening, pharmaceuticals for kids, medical devices for them - I did it with [former Sen.] Mike Dewine [R-Ohio].

In every instance, I did that because I was never going to get anything done unless I went out and sought out Republicans, who might otherwise disagree with me on most things, but could find common ground on those issues. And I think that's critical. No one party decides any of these things here. The idea that we elect a king or a queen or a dictator, and they're going to wave a magic wand and somehow achieve the results they propose in the campaign is, of course, foolishness. It takes proven ability to actually create those compromises that allow us to achieve results that create change. And I'm the only candidate, I think, that has the proven ability to do that.

Two Cents reader Wendy Winter of Oakland, perhaps echoing Sen. Barack Obama, mentioned in her question that "the American people are tired of 'business as usual,' " a point followed up by Chronicle political reporter Carla Marinucci, who wondered whether, in this election, Washington "experience" was a burden rather than an advantage.

Sen. Dodd: This is an argument we've certainly heard of in the past but I think in the wake of George Bush's leadership, it's an argument that rings a little hollow with people. We elected a president with limited ability and experience in these areas, and we've paid an awful price for it.

I often ask audiences, "If you had to have a tooth extracted tomorrow, I presume you'd like to ask the dentist if they'd ever tried one before." So we always ask for references: "Have you ever done this before?" Only in this job in America do we exclude any prior references.

I suppose if I had spent 24 months in the Senate or so - or a little bit longer than that now - this would be the argument that I would make. In fact, why even bother with a (U.S.) senator? Why not just go back and choose some state senator from Illinois? That would even be better, I guess, because (Obama's) somewhat contaminated, having spent 36 months in the (U.S.) Senate. He's less pure than he would have been, I suppose, had he just run from the state Senate of Illinois.




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Headlines: December, 2007; RPCV Chris Dodd (Dominican Republic); Figures; Peace Corps Dominican Republic; Directory of Dominican Republic RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Dominican Republic RPCVs; Politics; Congress; Election2008 - Dodd; Connecticut





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