Joel at BBG writes in five precise words what it means that the Senate has just granted retroactive immunity to telcos (AT&T, Verizon and others) for participating in the government's warrantless wiretapping program that spied on American citizens: "We Lost. The Telcos Won."
Worse, they even knocked down two proposed amendments that would have at least paid lip service to holding them responsible for their actions. Now we'll never know just how it deep went, how thoroughly they violated any number of things that just shouldn't be fucked with—rights, laws, etc. [NYT]
P.S. How'd our potential prezzes vote? Unsurprisingly, Obama voted against immunity, Hillary didn't vote (too busy crying) and McCain doesn't like anything with wires, so he okayed the spying.