RANT: Congress Fails (in general)

This rant started out as a guideline for what I was going to say to my representative regarding the recent retroactive telecom immunity capitulation by Congress.  It didn't take long to warp itself into a rant regarding Congress' incompetence and inability to claim it's Constitutional place.  It is somewhat unfinished, but I don't have the time to write as long and as in depth as I'd like, there volumes to be written.

Hello, my name is Hiro and I'm a constituent of %representative%.  I'm calling to inform you that I am very disappointed with %representative% and Congress as a whole regarding their inability to fufill their constitutional obligations as a coequal branch of government.

Specifically regarding the multiple "compromises" that Congress has made with the Whitehouse which are nothing more than prettied up capitulation.  Over and over we see this trend: The Whitehouse makes demands, Congress hems and haws and makes a show at resistance, then completely gives in to whatever it is that the Whitehouse wishes.  

On the appointment of Michael Mukasey, after the egregious actions of Alberto Gonzales, instead of asking the hard questions, and refusing to approve a new Attorney General until they were answered, you capitulated, and now when Mukasey is asked if he will enforce the the will of Congress in it's contempt proceedings, he says no.

On the granting of retroactive immunity to telecoms, the House temporarily held strong and attempted to enforce the will of the people and the Constitution, but now again capitulates to the Whitehouse, promising a "compromise" which means nothing more than giving the Whitehouse complete and unmonitored wiretapping ability to spy upon American citizens.

This is a Whitehouse that has spit on the authority of Congress over and over again, and yet you still give the administration exactly what it wants, without reservation, without oversight, without strings.

Is Congress truly that impotent, that dependent upon Whitehouse whims?  What would it take for Congress to claim it's Constitutional place?  Of all the liberties that have been violated, and laws that have been broken by this administration, what MORE would it take to cause Congress to stand up for the rights of the American people?

Please, tell me, so that when (not if) it happens I can bring it to my representatives attention and end the nightmare that has been the last 8 years.

While it doesn't directly fit into this rant, I don't understand why ANY member of Congress would ever consider passing any law that is specifically forbidden by the Constitution.  Retroactive telecom immunity is such a law.

Article One, Section Nine: No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

It's a really simple part of our Constitution, you wouldn't imagine they'd have trouble interpreting that.  I can only imagine that our leaders are either so incompetent as to not have read the document that they took an oath to uphold, or that they are being blackmailed with evidence from the wiretapping they are attempting to make legal.