With the passage of the so-called "Protect America Act", it doesn't seem that we have much to be grateful for. While we spent the better part of a week worrying about quaint concepts like the Constitution, our elected officials were packing their bags, getting ready to hit the beach, and worrying only about how bad the rug burns would look when wearing swim trunks.
But not every Dem on the Hill capitulated. A number of them stood their ground, and refused to vote for a bill which so obviously dismantles our Constitutional protections, and puts entirely too much power in the hands of a man who shouldn't be trusted with a keg tap, let alone a wiretap. ("Dude! It's empty! Did you leave it on?" "I don't recall.")
If you're lucky enough to live in a state and/or district that's represented by one of these principled individuals, I urge you to write or call, and thank them for their vote. It's not much, I know. It doesn't lessen the blow to our civil liberties. But for all the e-mails and letters we fire at them demanding that they vote a certain way, I think it's helpful to ocassionally throw a nugget of positivity in their direction, particulary when they're getting tarred with the same brush as their cowardly and unprincipled peers.