I read this
diary from ihlin, taking the liberal Blogosphere to task for our seeming outrage over Alito, the "crazy Cindy Sheehan", and ignoring the budget debate in the House. The budget passed - cutting student loans, and assistance for the poor, all the while giving a huge tax cut to the wealthy. The budget passed 216-214. It passed the Senate in December, which Chenney casting the tie-breaking vote. While I believe the blogosphere could have done a bit more on this, ihlin's criticism is misplaced and unfair. Let's examine what the Blogosphere decided to focus on and why.
I would say we have focused on the most long term damages to our most sacred values - not just as liberals, but as Americans. The basic premise of what's happening here is this: Funds, once taken, can be relatively easily restored. Freedoms, once surrendered, are no so easily gained back.
Alito: Now Justice Alito is 55 years old. He will perceivably be on the court for 30 more years. He can be a walking Constitutional Amendment. He can grant the president extraordinary powers never thought of before. He can fundamentally alter the balance of power and the system of checks and balances. He, along with Roberts can end the last avenue of redress the average person has against powerful corporations and the government: access to the courts. Alito can radically change America as we know it. With the Alito battle, everything we stood for was being tested. Budgets can be changed, Congressional majorities can be replaced. Presidents come and go. Supreme Court appointments are for life. The basic issue here? Freedom.
Cindy Sheehan and the broader freedom issue: What happened to Cindy Sheehan the night of the SOTU is not a solitary incident. It is indicative of the fact that our cherished rights - the very fundamental rights of the people that has shaped the United States for 200 years - are under attack and need to be protected. This is about America looking like America again. It was none other than Barry Goldwater who proclaimed: "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice; moderation in the persuit of justice is no virtue." When our constitutional freedoms are under attack, the very existance of the American identity and the American nation is under attack. Our very being, the very social fabric we pride our nation on is under assault. We cannot be timid in defending America and her promises. The basic issue? Freedom again.
NSA Spying: Once again, it's about freedom. The President of the United States is violating the law! He is spying on American citizens without a court order, even given every opportunity to comply with the law. As Johnathan Turley put it so well before the Democratic forum on this (full transcript):
What the President ordered in this case was a crime. We can debate whether he had a good or bad motivation, but it was a crime. Federal law makes it clear you cannot engage in this type of surveillance, in a domestic surveillance operation, without committing a crime and that you can go to jail for 5 years.
This is a full blown Constitutional crisis we have on our hands. A crisis that is about both the President committing a crime and committing it in a way to vastly undermine the freedoms of the American people.
I said it before, and I will say it again: the budget battles are about funds, the other battles mentioned are about freedoms. Funds are one president and a new Congress away from being appropriated differently, but freedoms, once surrendered, are far more difficult to restore.
And the liberal blogs are dealing with these vicious budget cuts. We are trying our darnest to restore Democratic control in the Congress of the United States. This is ultimately the best way to stop the irresponsible fiscal policies of the Republicans. Don't fool yourselves. The Republicans would have passed the budget through, no matter what we did. Their power in Congress is too great, the Republican leadership's money pull is enough to keep their members in line. Granted, the possibility of loss is no reason not to put up a fight, but the Democrats put up a hell of a fight, and I am very proud of them. But I am not convinced the blogs could have done much to bring more Republicans on our side. Note that if the Democrats had stuck together, we could have blocked Alito without any Republican support, which is why the progressive blogs pushed so hard on it. On a budget on the contrary, the rules prohibit a filibuster in the Senate. And of course, we know that the House is run like a plantation.
So while the Alito woe could have been prevented by the Democrats sticking together, the budget could not. The best - probably the only - way to stop these insane Republican budgets that hurt the vulnerable AND increase the deficit is to vote the Republicans out of office, and replace them with fiscally responsible Democrats. And when it comes to that, you can bet the blogosphere is already playing a big role in promoting candidates, raising money, and raising grassroots.
In conclusion, I will only say that I am proud of the Democrats for standing up to protect the most vulnerable among us and for the middle class and for fiscal sanity. And I am even prouder of those Democrats who are fighting to protect our funds and our freedoms.