They're Back So We're Back

This blog has essentially been dormant since the last round of FISA. Speaking only for myself, what went down in February was one of the most demoralizing moments in my political life. I've been out of the picture in large part because the complete and total abdication of leadership by the Democratic Senate caucus, with rare exceptions, left me feeling that the party simply was incapable of functioning at all in line with the interests of the base or even the country. If they were not there for me, if they would not listen to the concerns of tens of thousands of patriotic Americans, if that willful ignorance of what the public was asking of them was to continue to manifest itself in vote after shameful vote, what use would there be in me spending my time and energies trying to make them behave like the leaders that their PACs and fundraising emails make them out to be?

Mssrs. Young and Paine continued to post during the House FISA fight in March, but I can only imagine that they have shared the same feelings of alienation as I.

Proving that it is truly a herpes upon the 110th Congress, FISA is back. Again. With more puss-filled cowardice and contagious fear than ever before.

And again FISA reveals the dank seams of the Democratic Party. The outrages are too many to tally, but I feel I must start at the top -- our party's new leadership: Barack Obama. Earlier this week we learned that Mr. Obama, who had previously pledged to support a filibuster of legislation with retroactive immunity, now thought national security was the unquestionable trump card over the rule of law.

"The bill has changed. So I don't think the security threats have changed, I think the security threats are similar. My view on FISA has always been that the issue of the phone companies per se is not one that overrides the security interests of the American people."

It doesn't surprise me that Obama is putting politics ahead of his word. Clearly he is marching in the footsteps of every other Democratic presidential nominee in modern memory when it comes to general election policies. Democrats, you see, can only win by convincing Republican base voters to vote for them. Hence, Obama must now act like a centrist, or, better yet, a Republican. And what do Republicans do? Fuck the Constitution to scare people into voting for them. Naturally that's what Obama does (can you smell the change being disbelieved by OFBs nationwide?).

But the Bob Shrum-style assfucking of the base wouldn't be complete without the left edge being covered. Stepping bravely into the breach on behalf of Mr. Obama are Party Elders Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer, who both proclaimed their newly discovered, patchouli-doused, Dirty Fucking Hippie credentials by both rushing to oppose the FISA legislation in full, a position neither man had taken in any previous legislative fights. The result? Obama now has the Democratic "leadership" firmly on his left-flank.

And Lo! He is now a centrist! Let he bathe in the glory that Rush Limbaugh's radio audience shall bestow upon him as he is seen as the third coming of Ronald "I Just Made Russia Illegal, Bitches" Reagan.

Or not. Because that won't happen and only ends up pleasing world-renowned throb wankers like Dan Gerstein. In fairness to Mr. Gerstein, though, everything I have ever learned about politics in America tells me that he is a far more important person to please than the Democratic base as far as the Democratic Party elites are concerned. It's not Gerstein's fault that some Important people are politically clueless enough to think that he's right when he opens his mouth.

Moving on...

It's just been announced that FISA will wait until July 8th, after a pleasant vacation cools tempers and gives our Senators more time to not read the critically important legislation in front of them. What should we expect when the fight resumes next month? More losses. Brutal, craven, embarrassing, disheartening losses. Out of 100 voices in the Senate, there are but two real bright spots: Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold.

This week Dodd delivered what I think easily ranks as one of, if not the, most eloquent and important speeches of the Bush era. There are few things that were left unsaid when it came to assessing how evil and unAmerican the pending FISA legislation is. There were even fewer things left unsaid by Dodd, speaking for over two hours late in the night from the Senate floor, about the abuses perpetrated by this administration, approved explicitly or tacitly by this Congress. Dodd was the voice calling out with utter clarity, "Do not go that way, for I can still see and you are blind." Sadly, his colleagues do not have the most basic survival instincts that would impel them to heed Dodd's words. And so they continue to walk towards the cliff that represents the end of America and the start of a horrible tyranny only previously envisioned in the dark thoughts of McCarthy, Nixon, and Kit Bond.

Standing by Dodd's side, again, is Russ Feingold (a man who if there was any justice in politics would be on his way to accepting the Democratic nomination for presidency in Denver this August). While Dodd's words have focused on right and wrong, legislation and Constitution, Feingold has been the whip on his colleagues. He has offered unflinching criticism of those Democrats who cower in the face of Rovian attack ads. And he has voiced his complete and utter disdain for them, in terms that I cannot recall any other Democratic senator ever using. In a radio appearance on The Young Turks Feingold said:

...Ben Mankiewicz: Alright, well, Senator Feingold, without naming names, and I understand you don't want to single out any of your colleagues, what is the overall reasoning, do you think, what is going on with some of these Democrats who might surprise us? I mean, they're not stupid. Well...not all of them anyway. Why are they buying into a notion of a compromise when there really is no giving on the other side?

Senator Russ Feingold: It's the latest chapter of running for cover when the Administration tries to intimidate Democrats on national security issues. It's the most embarrassing failure of the Democrats I've seen since 2006, other than the failure to vote to end the Iraq War. These are the two real sad aspects of an otherwise pretty good record. It's letting George Bush and Dick Cheney have their way even though they're that unpopular and on their way out. It's really incredible.

Cenk Uygur: It is incredible. So, I mean, it leads to the question that everybody's been asking. You know, whether it's our viewers, the readers of the blogs, etc. the actual bloggers, everybody that's paying attention is asking: Why are the Democrats doing it? You know, I got three possibilities. One is caving. They think, "Hey if we give into Bush, we're going to win more elections, and we don't really care about the policy, and the fourth amendment in the constitution are an interesting side note, but I want to win more elections." Number two is, they're scared of their own shadow and they didn't get the memo that the Republicans are grossly unpopular throughout the country, and that President Bush is the most unpopular President in the history of the United States. But if they didn't get that memo, you got to question a couple of different things about their judgment. The third theory out there is that they're complacent that people like Rockefeller signed off on some of these abuses and they get money from the lobbyists. So they don't really want to rock the boat.

Senator Russ Feingold: Well my honest belief is that it's the first two. I don't really see it as having to do with political contributions. I don't see it that they really want to cooperate with this stuff. I see it more as the first two things you said. Having to do with political fear, and, you know, calculations about elections to be honest with you. There are many areas that I think are grossly effected by money. I think it is less true of this, and it has more to do with political fear.

In other words, Lead or Get Out Of the Way says Senator Feingold.

We'll see what the butcher's bill looks like next month after the Senate Democratic caucus gives George W. Bush and Dick Cheney everything they wanted and more. My guess is that no matter what Americans do between now and July 8th, the fix is in. Donate to anyone other than Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold at your own peril. Better yet, give to Accountability Now and try to get better people in office who will lead alongside Dodd and Feingold.