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."

It seemed like shocking news last week when the telecommunications giant Verizon admitted it has readily allowed national security investigators without warrants to browse customer records on thousa...

It’s ironic, but outside of hospitals and day care centers, perhaps the best place to acquire some kind of illness on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., was Michael Moore’s press conference on Capitol H...