There are so many daily outrages, whether it's illegal wiretapping, abortion rights, port security, or the Iraq fiasco, that it's easy for one more issue to go unnoticed. Today, that issue is renewal of the Patriot Act. The Chicago Tribune, to my neverending surprise, today provided its readers with a surprisingly fair and complimentary article on Russ Feingold and his attempts to modify the Patriot Act prior to a re-vote [
http://www.chicagotribune.com/...]. The vote against cloture failed yesterday, with only 30 senators voting against cloture. I am proud to say that both my senators, Obama and Durbin were among the naysayers, and I promptly wrote to thank them and to voice my concerns about civil liberties protection. More below the fold.
In a sense, it seems that so many of the daily outrages are an attack on our civil liberties. As one diarist wrote the other day, abortion rights are civil rights for women. It's all about equality under the law. Our civil liberties are threatened by so-called prescription drug benefits for seniors that take away more than they provide, or bankruptcy laws that target the truly indigent, or election supervisors that allow unauthorized personnel to sneak off in the night with vote results.
But back to the article. In one of the best quotes, and I'm paraphrasing here, Feingold asks why, when Bush's approval numbers are at 34%, are so many democratic senators afraid to take a stand against him? The article portrays Feingold as a principled maverick. I find it frightening that an elected representative who stands up for our constitutional rights is considered a maverick. There is something seriously wrong here, and I'm not sure that our traditional faith in the ballot box is going to be enough this time. Nevertheless, I urge you to write your senators telling them you support Feingold's position before the final vote takes place.