Feeling Insecure

The only thing that will stop these guys is an electorate enlightened enough to vote them out of office; but it looks like the enlightenment would come only after their destruction is complete. So kiss it all goodbye.

The latest example of teabaggR blind obstructionism is the blocking of a bill to increase cybersecurity. Really. It's come to this. They filibustered it, meaning that although a majority of the Senate were in favor of it -- as has been the case with practically all of the good governance proposed by President Obama and the Ds -- it failed. Protecting businesses and government against cyber attack. Something good for the country, and, therefore, bad for Rs, whose only goal is to prevent anything positive from happening and blame the failures on Obama. And the bill, in order to try to appeal to R naysayers, had already become diluted to the point where its standards were optional. OPTIONAL. With their House majority and their unending filibustering in the Senate, governance, to today's Republicans, has become optional.

A cybersecurity bill that had been one of the Obama administration’s top national security priorities was blocked by a Republican filibuster in the Senate on Thursday, severely limiting its prospects this year, reports Michael S. Schmidt on Friday in The New York Times.

The Senate voted 52 to 46 to cut off debate, falling short of the 60 needed to force a final vote on the measure, which had bipartisan support but ran into a fightover what amendments to the legislation could be proposed.

The bill’s most vocal opponents were a group of Republican senators led by John McCain of Arizona, who took the side of businesses and steadfastly opposed the legislation, arguing that it would be too burdensome for corporations. On Bits, Several Silicon Valley security experts shared their take on the bill, the cyber threat and the potential, as some have warned, for a 9/11-style cyberattack.

The bill would have established optional standards for the computer systems that oversee the country’s critical infrastructure, like power grids, dams and transportation.

See the problem? It was one of Obama's top priorities. To prevent an attack. On America. On its businesses, the ones they say Obama hates.

These are horrible dangerous people. If voters can't see that by now (they can't), we're totally screwed (we are).

[Update: George Bush's security advisor agrees.]