Is it just me or is every major Democratic defeat in the Senate always preceded by barn-burner speeches from Senators Kerry, Feingold, Dodd, Obama, Kennedy, Biden, and others? I’m getting tired of this shit. It’s not enough to say the right things, you need to do the right things. In this case, the “right thing” is to do everything you possibly can to protect our basic freedoms from a party that’s willing to destroy them. This editorial at the NY Times gets it :
Here’s what happens when this irresponsible Congress railroads a profoundly important bill to serve the mindless politics of a midterm election: The Bush administration uses Republicans’ fear of losing their majority to push through ghastly ideas about antiterrorism that will make American troops less safe and do lasting damage to our 217-year-old nation of laws — while actually doing nothing to protect the nation from terrorists. Democrats betray their principles to avoid last-minute attack ads. Our democracy is the big loser.
. . .
There is not enough time to fix these bills, especially since the few Republicans who call themselves moderates have been whipped into line, and the Democratic leadership in the Senate seems to have misplaced its spine. If there was ever a moment for a filibuster, this was it.
The Democrats need to use every parliamentary trick at their disposal to stop this bill. If they don’t exhaust all of their options, I can’t help but conclude that the Democrats are bothered more by political concerns than the fact that the President wants to undo some of the fundamental freedoms that are established within the Bill of Rights.
UPDATE : Just kidding guys. The Democrats, in their infinite wisdom, have already agreed to buckle under :
The bill’s ultimate passage was assured on Wednesday when Democrats agreed to forgo a filibuster in return for consideration of the amendment. Any changes in the Senate bill, however, would have made it impossible for Republican leaders to meet their goal of sending the bill to the White House before adjourning on Friday to hit the campaign trail.
They gave up everything for the right to have their certain-to-fail amendments “considered”?! Cowards. This is what happens when Mr. Smith spends too much time in Washington.
That’s the Democratic party for you. They’ll do anything the Republicans want as long as they can avoid being labeled “obstructionists” in an election year.