Issue #59
Last Update September 23, 2008
Commentary August, 2007 Shame on them. Shame on the 41 Democratic representatives and 16 Democratic senators who voted to extend and expand President Bush's illegal wiretapping of American citizens. Since January, when the Democrats took control of both houses of Congress, the Democratic leadership has counseled patience on the part of an ever more restive populace, saying that without substantial Republican support they did not have enough votes to override a veto of measures the public clearly wants, or even to shut off debate in the Senate. This counsel has now been exposed as an excuse for cowardice.
The law passed by a Republican Congress to give ex post facto legitimacy to President Bush's illegal contravention of the FISA Act was due to expire. All that was necessary for the current Congress to roll back the Executive's usurpation of Legislative and Judicial power in this area was, to quote Nancy Reagan, "just say no". The presidential veto and Senate filibuster were powerless in this situation; while able to stop the Legislature from acting, there is no way to force the Legislature to take action. Nancy Pelosi, though voting correctly against the bill, did not make this an issue of party discipline; the 41 representatives that voted for the bill (a much smaller percentage than Democratic Senators voting Aye) obviously felt that no penalties would be exacted by the House leadership for undermining our Constitution. Similarly, in the Senate, Sen. Ried failed by a large margin to make clear to those on his side of the aisle that this was a make or break issue.
Once again it has become clear that the Democratic leadership is part of the problem, not part of the solution. After failing on this issue where all the cards were stacked in their favor, how can they be trusted to deliver on their promise to deal with Iraq in September? We as citizens must do three things, and do them immediately: make clear to Pelosi and Reed that they have failed and are no longer trusted; mount an effort to convince Democratic legislators to replace these "leaders" with people who are, in fact, willing to lead; and mount a serious, well financed primary contest against every Democratic representative who voted Aye, and every Democratic senator up for reelection in 2008 who voted in favor of the wiretapping bill. If we do not rebel when our legislators sell us out, we deserve what we get.
Two Republican congressmen voted against the bill, and 6 Republican Senators refrained from voting, which, by the bizarre Senate rules amounts to a No vote in this case. They are to be commended as true patriots. They are (last name and state are shown):
Representative Johnson, IL
Representative Jones, NC
Senator Alexander, TN
Senator Bunning, KY
Senator Gregg, NH
Senator Lott, MS
Senator Lugar, IN
Senator McCain, AZ
Meanwhile, the Hall of Shame consists of these people (last names and state are shown):
Senators:
Bayh, IN
Carper, DE
Casey, PA
Conrad, ND
Feinstein, CA
Inouye, HI
Klobuchar, MN
Landrieu, LA
Lincoln, AR
McCaskill, MO
Mikulski, MD
Nelson, FL
Nelson, NE
Pryor, AR
Salazar, CO
Webb, VA
Representatives:
Altmire, PA
Barrow, GA
Bean, IL
Boren, OK
Boswell, IA
Boyd, FL
Carney, PA
Chandler, KY
Cooper, TN
Costa, CA
Cramer, AL
Cuellar, TX
David AL
David Lincoln, TN
Donnelly, IN
Edwards, TX
Ellsworth, IN
Etheridge, NC
Gordon, TN
Heseth Sandlin, SD
Higgins, NY
Hill, IN
Lampson, TX
Lipinski, IL
Marshall, GA
Matheson, UT
McIntyre, NC
Melancon, LA
Mitchell, AZ
Peterson, MN
Pomeroy, ND
Rodriguez, TX
Ross, AR
Salazar, CO
Shuler, NC
Snyder, AR
Space, OH
Tanner, TN
Taylor, MI
Walz, MN
Wilson, OH
They should be replaced as soon as possible.
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