By introducing that censure amendment of MoveOn.org's ad yesterday afternoon, that's exactly what Senator Cornyn did.
Instead of focusing on the really big stuff going on in the legislation currently before the Senate, Senator Cornyn, in a cheap political stunt, sought to make inroads into one of the very foundations this country was built upon--The First Amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
And he broke the rules (ed update: not laws) doing it.
Yes...yes...yes...I know.
This has been diaried again and again. But here's the thing...the discussion has remained focused on what the Dems did wrong, on what MoveOn did wrong, on what POTUS did wrong.
But the thing...the window needs to shift.
And it needs to move, complete with a bright spotlight, onto the fact that Senator John Cornyn...Republican senator from Texas and former judge offered up an amendment that is patently unconstitutional in that it seeks to abridge the freedom of speech of an organization with a membership of around 3M people.
And in the process of doing so, Sen. Cornyn wasted at least an entire day's worth of hard earned taxpayer money. Think about the time spent by him, GOP leadership, and staffers working to get that amendment out there. Think about the time spent debating and wrangling and voting on this incursion into the First Amendment.
How much did that cost me? How much did it cost you?
Senator Cornyn is a former judge as well as a former attorney general. He knows what the First Amendment means.
And yet, he seems to have no problem advocating the official, government sanctioned, censure of expressed opinion while wasting taxpayer time and money doing it.
Update: It appears that there is some discussion with regards to the fact that no laws were broken. They are correct. No laws were broken.
This diary was more about changing the frame...and frankly I'm very tired of watching the GOP skirt and play with the Bill of Rights and then scamper away with a "Ha Ha Ha...just kidding...no harm, no foul" comment with their fingers crossed behind their back.
To my mind, an Oath of Office was bent for the sake of political expediency. And an officially sanctioned censure of an organization for expressing an opinion is unusual.
Additionally, it may not happen right away, but the odds are good that there will be some sort of chilling effect with regards to this censure.
Update II: This is a key part of the MoveOn statement from yesterday:
"And it has one purpose: to intimidate all of us. To send a message that anyone who speaks unpleasant truths about this war will pay. To make everyone—especially politicians—think twice before they accuse the administration of lying."