NewsBusters readers should recall that in September, as many in Congress condemned the "General Betray Us" advertisement placed in the New York Times by George Soros's MoveOn.org, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said on the Senate floor:

Now, all of America understands MoveOn.org and other groups like it are called the nutroots of our society. These people are nuts and they don't care who they hurt, they don't care who they smear they don't care who they libel.

On Wednesday, during a conference call with bloggers, Hatch once again lashed out at these far-left leaning entities that are unduly influencing Democrats in order to block key legislation concerning FISA (27-minute audio available here):

There is no more important bill in this Congress, and maybe in many Congresses past, than this FISA bill, because if we don't get this thing done right, we're gonna, we're gonna all suffer tremendously. However, its passage has been delayed by politicians trying to win political points by beating up on the Administration, and, of course, by appealing to the far-left with regard to civil liberties. And I have to tell you that the bill we have before us contains more protections for civil liberties of Americans than any national security bill I've seen in all my 31 years in the Senate.

Later, the Senator elaborated:

Thirteen Senators from both sides of the aisle would not vote to advance a bill which did not protect Americans. And, like I say, there are political points that some are trying to make to the far-left, MoveOn.org, Daily Kos, that whole crowd. And, it's really hard for me to believe how people can do that when they know that, you know, that our country depends so much on the intelligence that we can gather.

Moments later, the Senator really called a spade a spade:

Critics of the bill want Americans to be more scared of the government than they are of the terrorists. And these are fear-mongering and scare tactics. They're trying to make us afraid of government officials.

No question.

Those interested should listen to the entire audio to hear facts about this FISA bill most media won't dare tell you.

—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.