In the brief window of time before the mid-term elections during which the Republican Congress is back in session to try to pass a few more wedge bills into wedge laws, one of the doozies was approved today in the Senate Judiciary Committee: legislation ostensibly ratifying the President’s (heretofore felonious) warrantless eavesdropping.
Arlen Spector is proving to be an even more impressive poodle to the President than Tony Blair is; his prior “outrage” over the lawlessness of the Bush Administration at the expense of Americans’ constitutional rights has now given way to rubber stamping yon lawlessness. Further, Spector has all but said he hasn’t even read the current bill, let alone has an understanding of it. We can be sure that Constitutional problems in it haven’t even been considered.
And yet, instead of just out and out calling the Emperor on his rampant lawlessness, and indeed, the words “impeachable offense” come to mind, we can probably expect Democrats to roll over and die, lest (heavens!) they be called “soft on terror”, notwithstanding the complete lack of evidence that a single terrorist has been identified (let alone captured) or a single terrorist plot has been infiltrated (let alone thwarted) by these extraordinary, extra-legal eavesdroppings… the only guaranteed effect of which will be to make a fortune for (reliable Republican donor) ChoicePoint.
And there we are. It’s been five years since 9-11. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor nearly 3,000 dead American troops in Iraq (a toll that will soon pass that of 9-11 itself), nor the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, nor the continued at-large status of OBL, nor record deficits, nor low approval ratings, nor much else shall keep these whores (of both parties, btw) from their appointed rounds of fearmongering.
Well, we’re 55 days from “the accountability moment.” Democrats can stand up, and shove this particular round of lawlessness up the Republicans’ asses (as did the 8 Dems on the Judiciary Committee), perhaps even by filibustering this piece of shit or gathering enough patriotic Republicans who value our Constitution more than the current wielder of Article 2 of it to stand up to this rampant lawlessness… or they can be all “bipartisan” (as in “bipartisanship is just another word for date rape”) and cave. If they hang tough in the interests of protecting privacy rights of Americans and telling the President to shove his lawlessness and fearmongering… then the Democrats will almost certainly win control of both houses of Congress this year and the White House in 2008. (Of course, that is a humongous “if” with a hole so big you could fly the space shuttle through it.)
We’ll see… maybe some vertebra and cojones will emerge on the left side of the aisle. It would be great, actually.
Of course, that’s not how you bet.
tdog
Specter. Argh.