Experts say sophisticated modern methods — involving digital data, computers and mobile phones — are a far cry from the days of the Stasi who used steaming devices to open envelopes as well as magnetic microphones and typewriters.

“But there are similarities. There is the same lack of scruples over looking into peoples’ lives — the possibility of obtaining and using the information on people,” said Staadt.

The Stasi ran a notoriously effective network of domestic and foreign agents to quash dissent and guard the Berlin Wall against would-be escapees.

Remember, Sen. John McCain wants to make sure telecom companies here in America are protected from lawsuits regarding their illegal eavesdropping – and he’s ready to keep spying if he’s elected president.

Reuters story via Laura Rozen.

I’m hearing (here in D.C.) that the lines in New Mexico are long. Good job people, way to vote! If you’re in a Super Tuesday state, get with it!

Look, it’s certainly great news they will be voting the right way here, but let’s be honest, so is Jay Rockefeller. This isn’t a tough vote. And frankly, they were gonna be back in D.C. anyway for the State of the Union.

And while we should be doing everything we possibly can to ensure we have the 41 votes necessary to stop cloture, it’s a vote that I don’t think is in doubt at this point (hope I don’t have to eat those words).

The real test of their leadership on this issue will come on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

That seems about right, but there’s one problem: there’s no real accountability on this issue this year, unless it comes during the primaries. While I’d love to see the media showcase any opposition to the RESTORE Act (in its current form) I doubt we’ll see much in the next week before Super Tuesday. However, regardless of what happens during the primary, there’s no way to really hold either candidate responsible: Democrats will coalesce behind the nominee regardless of their leadership (or lack thereof) on the FISA bill.

I agree with something Matt said yesterday:

One more reason to think that the weakness and conflict-aversion of the congressional Democrats is a bigger source of their low approval ratings than is any alleged overreaching. The President is very unpopular and people are apparently desperate for Congress to play a bigger role.

It would be something to see one of these Senators step up on this issue and really use the weight of their candidacy to lend support to Sen. Chris Dodd and his filibuster efforts. But you can color me skeptical: while there’s plenty of incentive for them to take a stand, there’s little in the way of a downside if they acquiesce.

Biden has more momentum than Richardson or Dodd going into the final month, and is picking up traction in some places around the state. I expect him to finish fourth , but he has a very long way to go to pull off a shocker and get into the top three- he’s not surging by anywhere near that much, not yet at least.

The race in Iowa has an interesting mix of “WTF” going on right now, but I’ll put some stock in Lux’s thoughts since they’re not outside the realm of possibility. In addition, with Richardson “sucking up” to Hillary lately, who knows if he’s feeling some of the affects of Obama’s recent surge in the polls.

For the latest on Sex on the City (aka Shag Fund) visit TPM Muckraker.

Richardson promises he will get rid of No Child Left Behind, create a minimum wage for teachers, make pre-k and kindergarten available to all children and create math and science academies throughout the United States.

The ad appears to be tied with a new website outlining Richardson’s planned education initiatives.

New Mexico Bill Richardson has barnstormed 95 of Iowa’s 99 counties, wooing rural Democrats with his pro-gun record and urban caucus goers with his aggressive Iraq withdrawal plan. He has fielded questions on every imaginable subject, from term limits to the space station. The Richardson style is frank but casual. He leans forward in his cowboy boots, fists jammed in his suit pocket.

It also looks like he isn’t pulling any punches:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and other D.C. Democrats are as unpopular in the Hawkeye state as President Bush. Richardson said an “anti-Washington dysfunctional relationship-feeling” pervades the Iowa landscape and that the Democratic Congress has been a huge disappointment, by failing to end the war or find common ground with Republicans on a whole host of important issues. “We all worked to elect them, and nothing’s getting done. The partisanship continues,” said Richardson, summing up the mood.

Thanks to TAPPED for the link.

Invariably, I tell them that Richardson is the ultimate politician: there’s no position he won’t take if he believes it will score him some points with some constituency.

I think Richardson’s reversal on the Iowa caucuses is the perfect example. One year ago, he was quoted in the Salt Lake Tribune supporting the idea of a Western primary, and why the Iowa caucuses were so overrated:

Ethanol was Exhibit A on Friday at the Western Presidential Primary Symposium in Salt Lake City, the evidence of why Utah and its Western neighbors need to band together with their own early presidential selection process. While ethanol is debated ad nauseam, Western issues like preparing for drought, managing public lands, guiding growth and complying with the Endangered Species Act are glossed over.

“When is it you ever knew a presidential candidate’s position on water?” asked New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

Fast forward to this year’s election season, and you have Richardson defending Iowa’s right to a first-in-the-country caucus.

Along those lines, it was bittersweet to read this American Prospect article on Iowa voters:

But only one in ten Iowans can be bothered. Not only that, despite all the attention, Iowans know barely more about the candidates than citizens of other states, and don’t discuss politics any more than anyone else (unless something has changed since this research was conducted in 2000). Yet around 200,000 of them, possessed of no greater wisdom or insight than the rest of us, will determine who presides over this nation of 300 million for the next four years. The problem isn’t that Iowans aren’t like the rest of the country (95 percent white, for one). The problem is that despite the extraordinary privilege of having the next president grovel before them, they’re just as indifferent and apathetic as any other group of Americans.

And yet, we still keep pandering to them. Thanks to Kevin Drum for the link.

As I listened, I wondered why he has not been taken more seriously as a candidate–a smart, accomplished governor of Latino heritage. Then I found out.

At the end of his speech–after noting all the ways he would defend the Constitution and redress global warming–he waved farewell to the crowd and shouted, “Thank you, AFSCME!”

AFSCME? Wrong union, governor. He left and the audience repeatedly shouted, “S-E-I-U!” A polite reminder.

Wow. Via Daily Kos and Election Central. Kos, in particular, has something to add:

These aren’t Howard Dean-style “gaffes”, in which the pundits pound someone for telling the truth (like “capturing Saddam won’t make us safer”). These are the sorts of mistakes that are made from poor preparation and lack of concentration. Or something.

All I know is that high-level politics requires a bit more care.

It’s not just high-level politics — if you’re running for the city council and you’re speaking to a group or organization and you don’t get their name right, you’re in for a world of hurt. And rightly so!

There’s just four months (or so) until the first votes are cast in the Democratic primary, and, at this stage of the game, Richardson simply can’t keep making these kinds of mistakes.

Our troops have done everything they were asked to do with courage and professionalism, but they cannot win someone else’s civil war. So long as American troops are in Iraq, reconciliation among Iraqi factions is postponed. Leaving forces there enables the Iraqis to delay taking the necessary steps to end the violence. And it prevents us from using diplomacy to bring in other nations to help stabilize and rebuild the country.

The presence of American forces in Iraq weakens us in the war against al-Qaeda. It endows the anti-American propaganda of those who portray us as occupiers plundering Iraq’s oil and repressing Muslims. The day we leave, this myth collapses, and the Iraqis will drive foreign jihadists out of their country. Our departure would also enable us to focus on defeating the terrorists who attacked us on Sept. 11, those headquartered along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border — not in Iraq.

Richardson has been banging this particular drum all week, but the WaPo piece will give him some high-profile visibility on the subject. In addition, it’s well-established that Richardson has some foreign policy chops, and, hopefully, this will lend some weight to the “Get out of Iraq Now” argument. But, I imagine the Very Serious People will find fault anyway.