| Jonathan Weisman in today's Washington Post profiled the battle within the Democratic party over restoring the civil rights we've lost under the Bush administration. (Warning: it's nauseating.) Naturally, civil liberties groups, rank-and-file Democrats, and...well...most Americans want Congress to restore habeas corpus, require warrants for searches, stop torture, etc & co. You know, basic constitutional stuff. However, some Democrats are nervous:
"The most controversial matters are the ones that people use to form their opinions on their members of Congress," said Rep. Lincoln Davis (D-Tenn.), who voted for the administration's bill. "I do know within our caucus, and justifiably so, there are members who have a real distaste for some of the things the president has done. But to let that be the driving force for our actions to block the surveillance of someone and perhaps stop another attack like 9/11 would be unwise"...
"People say to me, 'Well, what about the 30-second spots?' " said Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, referring to attack ads. He is pushing a bill to restore habeas corpus.
Repeat after me: this isn't about politics. This is about principle. All Congressional representatives - Republican, Democratic, and independent - should be concerned with preserving our civil liberties. The administration is perfectly capable of stopping terror attacks using the legal tools at its disposal, they do not need to violate civil liberties to guard our security. We cannot have separate laws for separate people. We cannot relax our vigilance against the executive branch's encroachments on our rights, no matter who populates the office.
Protect our country from enemies, foreign and domestic. That is your job.
As for the political fallout? As said at the Sideshow, "Tell, them it's their job to defend their position against all that spin." Not only that, but Democrats can make their own 30-second ads. To paraphrase...Grant?...Democrats need to stop worrying about what those people will do, and start making them worry about what we're going to do.
Here's a good example:
"We can do this, but you have to keep in mind Republicans care more about catching Democrats than catching terrorists," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "They have spent years taking Roosevelt's notion that we have nothing to fear but fear itself and given us nothing but fear."
Some have been criticizing the Netroots for attacking members of the Democratic party who stray from the fold. But it ain't about politics! You can vote with the GOP on farm subsidies, or taxation, or whatever. But civil liberties are not an option. It's your job to preserve our democracy. |
