I am still furious at the Democrats for passing the awful Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. There are two disastrous effects of this bill. 1) It gives blanket immunity to telecommunication companies that have been involved in warantless spying of American citizens under President's direct orders. What this means is that Bush, who without any shred of doubt has committed a felony (on numerous occasions) by ordering wiretapping without going to FISA courts, can never EVER be held accountable; 2) It authorizes the government and telecommunication companies to gather up electronic chatter of any American citizen without having to previously get a court order. So, Bush's violation of the Constitution was cemented by a Democratic Congress. So, I think it's important that all of us on the left remember this.
But, we still have 28 Senators who were principled and brave enough to say NO to Bush's shredding of our Constitution. I wanted to list their names as a tribute to them all, but also to inform you, in case you live in their state so that you can keep their vote in mind next time you go to the polls. Here are they are in the alphabetical order as listed on Senate's official website:
Akaka (D-HI)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Clinton (D-NY)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Harkin (D-IA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Murray (D-WA)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Wyden (D-OR)
I think we should call them up and thank them for defending our Constitution-enshrined rights.
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2 comments:
Levin and Stabenow! Michigan represent! (Gotta give it up for my guy Durbin as well.)
What people often forget is that while Obama opposed the war, his foreign policy is surprisingly hawkish (remember the "bomb Pakistan" flap?) His current positions aren't flip-flopping, but they were forgotten because foreign policy was not much of an issue in the primary, as it surely is already in the general election.
Yeah, go Durbin. It is interesting that Durbin is one of Obama's most committed allies in the Senate and his mentor, and has voted NO.
In terms of Obama's foreign policy, I agree that he is sort of hawkish on foreign policy, but very sensible at the same time. His primary campaign emphasized the need to sit down, unconditionally, and talk to our so-called enemies. And I really appreaciate the fact that Obama continues to emphasize this aspect of his foreign policy ideology. So, while he is still more hawkish than I would like him to be, I still think there is that core in him that believes in negotiation and peace.
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