One for the History Books

I'm sure you've been waiting with your breath held for my reaction to the FISA sellout, but my daughters came for an unexpected visit and my priorities were elsewhere. I guess that's why I'll never get paid for this!

I actually started the post but didn't have time to finish it. And you'll have to wait for links to move forward as well, because it looks like someone has hacked the FDL site today.

My reaction: Every Senator who voted for this measure is a gutless, spineless coward, a traitor to our history and the rule of law in the United States.

As I listened to the debate streaming over C-span in my office that day, in the week after the 4th of July, I could not help but compare these pathetic excuses for leaders to our founding fathers, who risked all to declare that no one person had the right or power to decide what was legal and what was not.

Until now.

With the passage of FISA we have witnessed an assault on our constitution and the rule of law which, unless we continue to descend further into authoritarianism, will one day be a topic discussed in the history of this time: How a government could be so afraid that it gives away the very system it is charged to protect, and how a people could be so complacent that they stood by, watched, allowed and/or supported what was happening.

FISA was not about listening in on phone calls and other telecommunications. It was not about sueing the telecoms for damages and punishing them financially for having cooperated in violations of the law (which is called being an accomplice if you're not the CEO of a major corporation and can buy you some serious time.)

FISA was about whether we are a country of laws.

If we are failing our promise as a nation, it is because large swaths of the American people no longer believe in the system. That is why people don't vote, don't organize, don't demand more of their representation. Why bother? It's all for sale and people are broke. They see the no-bid contracts, the gross and blatant corruption of this government, and have simply become cynical.

Our criminal justice system has become an embarassment. While our jails fill up with the homeless and hopeless, who can domino into long stretches of time with a string of stupid mistakes, the Scooter Libby's of the world get a Get Out Of Jail Free card. We watch the government arrange a bail-out for Bear Stearns while neighbors and friends go bankrupt and lose their homes.

So now major corporations can get away with illegal behavior because they were "taking orders", and I would like to extend my personal apologies, to those Vietnam Vets and battered women who served time for doing the same thing.

So we need to quit giving our money to politicians who violate their oath of office and betray their responsibility to represent the American people and start giving it to those who are actually fighting on our behalf. Some good choices are:

The ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have both filed lawsuits challenging the new FISA.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is another powerful voice in holding them accountable.

Christi at FDL has more, but as I said I can't link because the site is down.