Every time you hear about how Congress has such a low approval rating, think of this. *****Updated

I am far from the first person to mention it, but WE ARE NOT UPSET THAT CONGRESS IS WEAK ON TERROR OR THAT THEY ARE NOT SUPPORTING THE WHITE HOUSE ENOUGH.

We are upset about this sort of thing:

"Tim Starks of Congressional Quarterly reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) plans to bring the Senate's surveillance bill up for floor debate in mid-November. That's despite the hold that Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) plans to place on the measure -- something first reported by Election Central's Greg Sargent."

(Here's the lowdown on a hold)

It is important to note that historically the Senate is *very* protective of its procedures and traditions--to the point where Reid has honored holds placed by far-right Senators in the past.

It is important to note exactly how frightening the FISA legislation is:

"Telecom amnesty isn’t the only problem. For example, the Senate bill empowers the Attorney General, not the FISA Court, to determine who complied with the warrantless surveillance program.

The Senate bill would direct civil courts to dismiss lawsuits against telecommunications companies if the attorney general certifies that the company rendered assistance between Sept. 11, 2001, and Jan. 17, 2007, in response to a written request authorized by the president, to help detect or prevent an attack on the United States.

Suits also would be dismissed if the attorney general certifies that a company named in the case provided no assistance to the government. The public record would not reflect which certification was given to the court.

As Spencer Ackerman noted, “So you’ll you’ll never know, if the Senate bill becomes law, if your phone company gave any communications material when the National Security Agency came calling without a warrant.' ”

How un-American can it get?

*****Update

Dodd has responded:

"Just last night, we heard there are plans to disregard Senator Dodd's intention to place a hold on a FISA bill that includes amnesty for telecommunications companies.

That would be a pretty extraordinary move, but Chris Dodd has pledged to stop this horrible bill any way he can.

So if the hold is not honored, he is prepared to go to the Senate floor and filibuster."