Quick Hits

• Despite the efforts of Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold, the Senate passed a major procedural vote that got us one step closer to the new FISA bill being accepted. Barack Obama wasn't there to take part in the cote, but it wouldn't have mattered. Back in November, he staked out a position on surveillance and terrorism:

We are not a nation that undermines our civil liberties. We are not a nation that wiretaps without warrants.

Apparently, we will be soon. Obama no longer stands behind that position. He tried to explain why, but to my ears, all he's really saying is that terrorists are scary, and what's the problem in giving up a few civil liberties if it makes us more secure. The full vote on the bill (when it's expected to pass) is likely to come soon.

• Meanwhile, in the Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain Department, the Guardian has the scoop on what's on Obama's iPod (via Matthew Yglesias). He's got old standbys such as Dylan and Springsteen, but he tempers them with Ludacris and Jay-Z. During the '70s, he said, his true musical hero was Stevie Wonder. I don't suppose that means we'll find him at Saturday night's free Stevie Wonder gig at the Taste of Chicago.

• For the second time in two days, Chris Matthews has misspoken when referring to Osama bin Laden. Yeah, you know what he said instead. The first time he caught himself, but today, he breezed right over it without noticing. Maybe he and his fellow pundits should just start referring to "bin Laden" rather than trying to dis him by using his first name.