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Opinion Another Attitude Democrats sold out on government spying "The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man … with power to endanger the public liberty." — John Adams The fix is in. The cover-up of the Bushies' lawless regime of massive data mining and domestic spying on innocent Americans is a done deal. No judge or jury will be able to uncover the extent of the Bush administration's lawlessness thanks to the collaboration of fearful, spineless Democrats.
What passes for bipartisanship in Washington since Democrats took control of Congress in 2006 is a lock-step Republican effort that peels off conservative Democrats to deliver whatever George W. Bush demands for his "war on terror" and his fiasco in the Middle East. Democrats shouldn't wonder that many people don't see a dime's worth of difference since they supposedly took "control" of Congress. If Democrats weren't such shameless collaborators with Republican predations on liberty and the public purse, they'd be horrified that the Democratic-controlled Congress is actually more popular with Republicans than the party faithful. House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer tried to peddle revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act passed last month as a "significant victory for the Democrat Party." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi simply barefacedly lied about domestic spying, asserting the new legislation effectively eviscerating oversight created by FISA didn't authorize warrantless wiretapping. The sorry saga of this legislation is a textbook example of just how corrupted and broken the American political system really is. The speaker estimated she got 200,000 angry e-mails after cowering Democrats were stampeded into passage of the Orwellian Protect America Act before their summer recess last year. Apparently, this helped stiffen their spine enough to let it expire the first of the year — but there's been relentless pressure from the Bushies to reinstate it. Though 128 Democrats opposed handing George Bush and his successors unchecked power to engage in domestic spying, 105 Democrats, including most of the leadership, were too terrified of terrorism to oppose the measure. This capitulation wasn't due to the fear of dirty bombs or the deeds of those who wish the country ill. It was largely a crass political calculation that Republicans could successfully manipulate Americans' fear in swing districts and rob Democrats of seats in Congress. These are people who would trade American liberty for votes. The corporate media helped spin this legislation as some kind of "compromise," claiming that blanket immunity had not been granted to the giant telecoms for their collaboration in breaking the law. Poppycock. The Republican leadership could barely contain its glee, gloating about how they rolled the Democrats and got more than they ever thought they would. The only function left to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is to review the general targeting procedures the government uses. The substantive basis for authorizing surveillance — certainly who is targeted — is now beyond its authority or review. So, the government's massive data acquisition of most of the Internet and telephone traffic in the country will continue with no warrants necessary, no oversight and none of the checks and balances envisioned in the Constitution. And while the legislation doesn't offer a direct grant of immunity to the giant telecoms, it nonetheless assures that the Bushies' can forever conceal the extent of their lawbreaking. Current legal action against telecoms will cease. Any judge is now obligated to stop proceedings upon certification by the executive branch that the spying was authorized. So much for the rule of law. These "miraculous" pieces of paper are no doubt already in the mail. Hoyer's "great victory" was crafted in secret over a period of weeks in which the only participants were the corporations for whom the get-out-of-jail card was being crafted. Then they scheduled a vote less than 24 hours after the FISA rewrite was made public. Neither legislators nor the public was given time to understand, much less the opportunity to weigh in on, legislation severely abridging our most basic constitutional protection against the inevitable excesses of men granted unchecked power. This is exactly how Congress operated under Republican control. So what exactly has changed? Notwithstanding the courageous stand of Democrats like Chris Dodd or Russ Feingold, it's impossible to make a case that their leadership deserves the public trust when they operate this way. They and their Republican collaborators fuel the destructive cynicism and alienation of the American electorate. When Democrats sell out, they provide the rationale for third-party spoilers like Ralph Nader. Increasing numbers of Americans would rather collude in the triangulation that ultimately sustains corporate rule rather than offering a vote that appears to endorse business as usual. Watching the current leadership in action, it's hard to say they're wrong. William h. Seewald: Longtime Amarillo resident and columnist. E-mail
comments about this story Posted: July 3, 2008
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