When I woke up this morning, I turned on C-Span to watch the inevitable. A handful of courageous Senators like Feingold and Dodd standing up for what's right while other Senators folded to political pressure. I remember when I first read the constitution of the United States. I was just a kid in public school, maybe 13 years old. We reviewed every amendment and why each amendment was an important part of our democracy. Never in my life did I believe that one day, not too many years later, the U.S. government would completely disregard that sacred document.
Full disclosure, I am the netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley
Right now I'm sitting in the office at Merkley headquarters in Portland Oregon. In case some of you didn't know, I recently took a job with his campaign. Jeff Merkley has always been opposed to illegal surveillance and immunity for telecom. His opponent, Republican Gordon Smith has been a consistent supporter of illegal surveillance and telecom immunity. Unsurprisingly, Gordon Smith voted for the FISA bill today. Jeff Merkley wrote about his opposition here and here and floated a petition arguing for a filibuster. Today Jeff released a statement about the passage of the FISA Amendments Act:
Today the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed the FISA Amendments Act, giving the Bush Administration even more power to invade the privacy of American citizens. This is a huge mistake. We should be empowering those who hold our private information to guard it, instead of giving them a pass. There are other problems with the FISA Amendments Act besides the retroactive immunity provisions, such as allowing the government to continue to keep and use information even after the FISA Court has determined that it was obtained illegally.
My opponent Gordon Smith took the wrong position today. Gordon Smith voted against all three amendments to remove immunity for the telecommunications companies and voted for the passage of the bill. He sided with the powerful special interests over the rights of American citizens. In this vote, as in hundreds of others, Gordon Smith has canceled Senator Ron Wyden's vote and denied Oregonians a voice.
When we disregard the Constitution and the laws this nation was founded upon, we are allowing ourselves to be driven by fear instead of hope. America is better than this. We must renew the checks and balances that are central to the system of American government and restore the judiciary as a co-equal branch of government to provide oversight.
Today's vote is a stark reminder of how important it is to elect leaders who will always put the promise of America before the culture of fear that the Bush Administration has thrust upon us. When I'm elected to the U.S. Senate, I will fight with everything I have to protect our civil liberties and the Constitution.
I think many of you feel as I do today. Depressed. Disappointed. Ashamed. The only thing that's keeping me going today is that I am working for a candidate who shares my values. I am working to elect a candidate who I know would stand with Dodd and Feingold to protect our civil liberties. It makes me want to work harder than ever for Jeff, so at the very least we can have one more voice in the Senate unafraid to sound off on behalf of our democracy.
So, even though we lost a battle today, we have many more battles to fight in the future. Keep up the fight Mcjoan, my fellow Kossacks and netroots activists. You guys have done America proud. We can never stop working to honor the country that we all truly love.