Peace In Our Time

Today, the Senate will vote to deny American citizens their fourth amendment rights and they will do so with an overwhelming majority. They will also provide immunization from prosecution for the telecoms and the Bush administration for their blatant disregard of the laws of this country. The proposed amendment by Sens. Dodd and Feingold to eliminate the immunization for telecoms will fail and the bill will be sent to the White House for the President's signature immediately.

This is a very sad day for everyone who believes in the individual rights guaranteed every citizen of this country by the Constitution. My disappointment in the Democrats in the Congress and the Senate cannot be understated. This "compromise" bill, not only forgives any crimes that have already taken place, but legalizes the very offense that took place before. They are retroactively making illegal search and seizure, legal. This isn't a compromise, it is total capitulation by the Democrats. I continue to be amazed by just how terrified of the Republican attack machine that this once proud party has become. Their members are so afraid of being labelled "soft on terror" that they are now willing to assume the role of Neville Chamberlain.

What right gets attacked next? This administration has already shown that they are willing to ignore the Constitution and the laws of this country when it suits their needs and the Democrats are apparently more than willing to provide them with cover for these transgressions. We don't have to wait for the next administration for "bi-partisanship", because we already have it. I can assure you that the Republicans would not have done the same if a Democrat were in office. The Republicans actually tried to get Bill Clinton removed for lying about having an affair! How do you think they would have reacted to a Democratic President playing fast and loose with the Constitution? I doubt that we would have seen the spirit of appeasement the Democrats are so willing to display.

I look forward to the press conference when Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi talk about what a triumph of bi-partisanship this bill is (Chamberlain would be happy). The President will of course proclaim that we are once again safe from the evils of terrorism and he will applaud the hard work of everyone who made this bill a reality. I can only imagine the party that he and the Vice President will be having with all the lobbyists for the telecoms. They will have a big cake that says, "today the IV amendment, tomorrow...". The Democrats (including their presidential candidate) can talk all they want about what this bill does or doesn't do, but one thing that history has made abundantly clear, appeasement is no way to deal with a tyrant.