Democrats Caved; Our Voice Needs To Be Heard
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Action Alert from MoveOn.org
The Democratic-controlled Congress did the unthinkable on Saturday night: They gave President Bush and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales more unchecked power to wiretap Americans without a warrant.1 Yes, that's the same Attorney General who is currently mired in scandal and probably committed perjury on this very issue.2
Why'd they do it? Because the president used fear to intimidate them and it worked.3
Enough is enough. We have to send a strong message to Congress that there is no trade-off between fundamental liberties and security. Preserving our Constitution is essential to our security—we can't lead on freedom around the world when we're actively undermining the rule of law at home.
A good place to start is by having hundreds of thousands of us sign on to this petition demanding that Congress reverse their capitulation to Bush and the politics of fear. The petition statement reads:
Full petition text:
"I'm outraged that Congress capitulated to President Bush and gave him more unchecked power to wiretap Americans without a warrant. I demand Congress act swiftly to reverse this reckless act."
If enough of us speak out we'll send a clear message that Americans aren't buying the administration's scare tactics. Clicking here will add your name:
We'll make sure to deliver your comments to your representative and senators within the week.
The President used fear of another terrorist attack to bully Congress into giving him more unchecked power and they gave in to his scare tactics. While most Democrats voted against these expanded powers, Democratic leaders in Congress didn't put up much of a fight and they didn't stand up and say 'no' to Bush. We've seen this play out before—most notably when almost every member of Congress voted for the Patriot Act—many without even reading it.4
They do this because they're afraid of being seen as weak on security—and because they buy the conventional wisdom that voters don't really care about constitutional freedoms. If enough of us sign, we can make it plain just how broad support for preserving the Constitution is.
The only good news here is that these new unchecked powers that Congress gave the Bush administration aren't permanent. They'll expire in six months and we have to make sure that Congress doesn't renew them then.
Here's how the Washington Post's editorial board described what happened:5
To keep focus on this, we're helping start a new long-term effort called the American Freedom Campaign to keep the pressure on Congress and make sure they fix this mess instead of making these powers permanent. We hope you can help over the coming months.
It's Congress's job to act as a check on the president's authority—not as a rubber-stamp. They have to know that we're watching them and we're demanding real accountability for this overreaching president.
Click here to add your name to the petition:
President Bush still hasn't responded to Congress' subpoenas demanding the legal rationale for his warrantless wiretapping. If they don't rein him in now, it is unlikely that he—or any president that comes after him—will ever comply with this kind of necessary oversight.
Thanks for all you do,
–Nita, Wes, Justin, Carrie and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Tuesday, August 7th, 2007
Sources:
1."House Approves Wiretap Measure," Washington Post, August 5, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2869
2. Senator May Seek Gonzales Perjury Probe, Washington Post, July 26, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2870
3. The Fear of Fear Itself—NYTimes Editorial, New York Times, August 7, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08
4. Rep. Jim McDermott, Congressional Record: July 8, 2004,
http://www.fas.org/irp/congress
5. Warrantless Surrender,Washington Post, August 7, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2871