My name is Bob Johnson, and I'm running for Congress in NY-23. I've been amazed, like many of you, at the continuing revelations of what I consider gross Executive over-reach when it comes to domestic spying. I've been shocked at the complete lack of Congressional oversight on this issue. And, finally, I've been stunned at the tepid, timid response on this issue from a lot of the Democratic Party.
I intend on bucking that trend. I will not be intimidated by Al Qaeda into giving up our liberties gained by our founding Fathers, and I will not be intimidated by the Republicans into remaining silent about it.
But I will need your help. Below the flip, I'll tell you about our opening salvo in this and show you the ad, and I'll detail how you can help. First, a little about me and my district ... it might give you some insight into why I'm fighting this fight. I believe it's a fight that we must make, and I believe it's a fundamental issue on which we need leadership.
First off, here's the ad (moved from the bottom), then I'll tell you why I'm think this is important:
I'm a doctor and a veteran - a former lieutenant colonel in the Army Medical Corp during the first Gulf War years. I live in Sackets Harbor, NY and decided to run during the disgusting "debate" in Congress regarding the Medicare Part D drug "benefit," when our Congressional leaders did everything they could to stick it to our seniors and reward the drug companies. It was too late to make much of a campaign in '04, but I've been running hard ever since, and we are running to win.
I'll explain more about my district as we go along here, but there's one other detail that you should know about me when it comes to this issue. In January, I found that I was put on the government's "no fly list". The TSA and the DHS won't tell me why and won't take me off. Was it because I was strongly against the war? Because I had become politically active? Am I sharing the same treatment as nuns and priests who did nothing more than join a Catholic peace organization? Was it simply because I shared a common name with someone who had some record? They wouldn't tell me; all I knew was that I felt violated, and there was nothing I could do about. The feeling of arbitrary governmental control over my life, with no reasons given and no recourse possible ... it was chilling. So you can see how I might be especially affected by revelations of domestic spying.
I think this is, quite simply, the most profound moment in our national history since at least Watergate. The Executive Branch of the government has admitted to something that almost all observers believe is illegal, and the Congress refuses to do anything about it ... just witness Arlen Specter's Incredibly Shrinking Oversight Bill, which has gone from requiring judicial oversight and control to "optional" oversight, where the President can go to the courts, IF HE WISHES! It's another non-law law - it doesn't do anything but make now illegal activity legal. And he's Daniel Webster compared to the rest of the enablers in his party.
Now, the blogosphere has done some great work on this issue, especially people like Glenn Greenwald and the folks at firedoglake. But the pattern has been clear: there's an initial burst of reporting from the traditional media about some abuse related to the domestic spying, then there's concern among Democrats about the legality of the program, and then the Administration begins to mention "terrorists" and "Al Qaeda" in every sentence. The polls show a muddied message about the public's concern, our leaders take cover in their holes, and General Hayden breezes through his confirmation hearing.
We as Democrats need to break this cycle. It's my strong belief that the only reason the polls don't indicate a larger concern is because there's no opposition talking about why this is wrong. Because the concern's out there. Here's a poll from right after the reporting about the phone records:
14. Now on another subject... As you may know, there are reports that the NSA, a government intelligence agency, has been collecting the phone call records of Americans. The agency doesn't actually listen to the calls but logs in nearly every phone number to create a database of calls made within the United States. Which of the following comes CLOSER to your own view of this domestic surveillance program...
41% say necessary tool, 53% say goes too far.
The concern was there, but it needs leadership to become strong enough. If one side of the debate is saying "terrorists, terrorists, terrorists" and the other side is saying "this program doesn't follow the law" and then immediately backs down, people will be confused.
But the concern is out there. A few weeks ago Kenevan McConnon wrote a diary] here at dKos about his experiences in a gun shop among hard-core Bush loyalists:
The most interesting thing is what has happened over the last year as the guys have realized that Bush is a real threat to the Constitution and the United States. These were the guys that supported Bush as 40%, but have abandoned him now. At first, the guys just didn't want to talk about the war in Iraq, then they expressed a beleaguered disbelief about Abu Graib, rendition, and torture, and now they are getting mad. The NSA scandal has ended their support for Bush and I don't think anything will bring them back into the Republican fold unless he is impeached and jailed.
This is out there, but it needs a spark. My district is a rural one; it's the largest east of the Mississippi. We don't like governmental intrusion into our lives; the strain of American libertarianism runs pretty strong up here. That gun shop Kenevan McConnon was talking about is scattered throughout the district; the people of that diary are our people. I can make this an issue, and I can prove it's a winner.
So, for all of those reasons, I'm determined to talk about this issue. But I'm going to need your help. It would be easy to talk about health care, or the minimum wage, because I'll know that the national Democratic message will reinforce what I'm saying. People will hear me, and they'll hear Howard Dean or Harry Reid, and we'll all be saying similar things. Even Iraq is not too difficult to talk about because the news reinforces my message (redeployment out of Iraq) every day. But, on this one, I am nearly alone; I'll have no help from any traditional sources. So, I'll need your help.
First, we want to put up an ad on the air. It's not an ad detailing the lack of Congressional oversight, or the Constitutional issues, in any direct way. Ads are not good at that. But we're going to try to get across the basic creepiness and un-American quality to what's going on (you can play the ad below). And we'll need money to air that ad and for the fight that will come. So please contribute.
And, during the backlash to our making this an issue, we'll need to continue to fight, probably alone for a while. If you're in our district, write letters to the editor backing us up. Talk to your friends and neighbors backing us up. And, if you can, volunteer for the campaign.
And, again, for those of you outside the district (most of you, of course): our district is a rural one without a lot of money. My opponent can fundraise in Washington among the defense contractors with business before the Armed Services Committee he sits on (Duke Cunningham's old committee). But, right now, there's no institutional Democratic money for this kind of fight. I'm depending on you, the blogosphere, to back me up. I know that you share my horror over this program. Please help me make this fight and contribute.
Together, we can bring this issue forward. Right now, the issue is sliding away, and the Democrats are getting the worst of all possible worlds. They've made it seem like they have concerns about what the President is doing but are too scared or impotent to do anything about it. Democrats need to stand up and be counted! We need to be strong and speak with a clear voice.
But if we work hard, we can prove to Democrats and others that this is a winning issue; we can prove that Americans care about their rights. And, most importantly, we can make a real difference for the future.
Here's the ad on YouTube