Below the fold I have included a letter that I electronically submitted to Senator Feinstein just minutes ago. As I have experienced in the past on these matters I fully expect that I shall receive a form response that does nothing to address the points I have written about beyond the fact that they are nominally on the same topic. Figuring I might as well at least get a "paper cut" of real effect in I requested that she respond via snail mail instead of letting her fob me off with just a spam email.
Happy Independence Day, everyone. Stay safe and enjoy the holiday weekend.
Dear Senator Feinstein:
I am writing on this the 232 anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in support of the rights of every American and the continuance of our tradition that this is a nation ruled by laws and not men. Yes, Senator, I'm writing to ask you to vote for the proposed amendments to the compromise FISA legislation and then to vote against cloture regardless of whether the amendments pass or not. I do this because the concept of retroactive immunity, even just from civil suits, is repugnant to the very idea of the rule of law, and everything else about the bill is a repudiation of the civil liberties of your constituents. The latter renders the bill unconstitutional, so you can add to its sins that it will waste taxpayer money and the time and money of some of our finer civic institutions and citizens in the effort to get the law struck down. What's more, this compromise is a bad law even considered on a purely technical level. For instance, included in this bill is a legal definition for "weapons of mass destruction" that would include conventional explosives, like the bomb used in Oklahoma City in the 90s or even a large pipe bomb. This is a horrible broadening of the term beyond recognizability.
For those and many other reasons you must do everything in your power to stop this abomination of a bill.
I must say, Senator, that I am not hopeful that you will come through on this matter. From your vote on Mukasey, to your performance every other time this bill has come up in the Senate, and many other examples besides you have demonstrated a pig headed insistence on voting the wrong way every time your vote could have made a difference. On this point I find your performance particularly confusing because your a Senator from the state of California. If anything, the political calculus of your electorate would demand that your performance be almost the complete opposite to what it has been, as your colleague, Senator Boxer, demonstrates quite ably. Between that and your inexplicable disappearance over the present recess leads me to conclude that you care nothing for the will of the people you supposedly represent. That seems to me to be the height of career ending foolishness for someone in your line of work. Perhaps you don't intend to run for office again? Well, should you do so keep in mind that I, and many others like me, have long memories and a penchant for primary challenges against candidates who have drawn our ire once too often.
In short, you, Senator Feinstein, stand poised to abrogate your sacred duty in a representative democracy to represent the people who elected you and your word to uphold and defend the Constitution. Please prove this cynical assessment wrong. Show us that you have that modicum of shame by living up to your obligations on this matter.
Your constituent,
Sean Lake