“Damn, I love me some Sheldon Whitehouse. He, like, actually knows the law. And he, like, is willing to actually read the stuff he is exercising oversight over.”

EW–How much did you love him the afternoon he voted for the Intell Bill with Amnesty ala the agreement with Cheney, Addington, and Fielding courtesy of Jello Jay and Feinstein.

Only Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) voted against the bill.

Whitehouse votes for Telco Immunity version of the Senate Select Intell Markup on 11/15/07

He, Addington, and Fielding should be all be subpoened and asked to produce any notes in their possession, rather than necessarily correspondence.

I agree with you, but there’s just one problem. Bush administration flacks have been flaunting subpoenas for months and this Congress lacks the ___(fill in the blanks)/or means to enforce the subpoenas. “Contempt” of the 110th Congress means nothing to the Bushies. So subpoenas from Congress mean nothing to them.

If you get a chance, check out the latests posts over at Balkinization where both Marty Lederman and Jack Balkin let the air out of our balloons regarding Senator Whitehouse’s “find” in those OLC opinions.

Sure deflated me! *g*

I think there is an underlying concern that none of the candidates really measure up to the kind of leader we need. Many independents tend to comment on that point. Whitehouse just seems a breath of fresh air –willing to put himself on the line for the sake of the Constitution’s protection. He appears to be someone who really could uphold the Presidential oath of office.

But your point is well taken… A strong voice in the Senate can be just the ticket to Constitutional protection.