From Daily Kos to the Big Brass Alliance and nearly all points in between, the progressive and liberal bloggers have dedicated their attention to the Karl Rove scandal and the John Roberts nomination. For good reasons.
Karl Rove, for political revenge and to buttress a false case for war with Iraq, betrayed not merely the CIA but the American people. Whether Rove can be found technically guilty as a criminal under one narrowly defined law is besides the point. His actions amount to treason.
John Roberts, who might serve on the Supreme Court for the next thirty years, could roll back progress on concerns from women's reproductive rights to corporate accountability. His nomination demands exacting scruntity.
But let's have a moment of harsh honesty here.
The most important work right now in the Rove case is being done by Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor, and credible MSM reporters like Walter Pincus and Jim VandeHei who confirm Plame's Identity Marked As Secret and that the White House must have known.
Bloggers, at their best, are debunking the wingnut, RNC and rightwards MSM spin– Matt's The Great Rovian Sit 'n Spin being a case in point. But this is NOT like the Jeff Gannon controversy in which bloggers did the core investigative reporting. Nor does it truly compare to the Downing Street Memos scandal in which bloggers held both the government and MSM accountable, and forced a discussion of the lies that led to war. In Rove's case, the MSM is doing some work.
The same largely holds for John Roberts, who won't have a hearing until early September. Name one blogger, not directly associated with a PAC, think tank or the MSM, who is doing hard investigative research on Roberts. Go ahead: name one.
Which brings us to bloggers at their worst-- political junkies engaged in "he said she said" gossip, just like MSM pundits only generally with more thought, facts and intelligence.
I have no objections to political junkies getting their fix. But now would be a good time to take brief break from bingeing. Your country really does need you. Chances are, to be brutally honest, nothing you do over the next few days will make a huge difference either way with Rove or Roberts--not unless you have access to information that even Patrick Fitzgerald or the White House does not. But you can make a huge difference--as a citizen and as blogger--with the Patriot Act.
This, as the saying goes, is a limited opportunity. Congress will vote to renew and possibly expand the Patriot Act today, tomorrow or early next week. This will all be over long before Roberts has a hearing, before Fitzgerald finishes his investigation.
If Congress renews or expands Section 215, as they seem intent on doing, you can kiss the 4th Amendment good-bye. (More details here and here). What two World Wars and a Civil War could not accomplish, al-Qaeda and the cowardly leadership of George Bush will.
Please e-mail and/or call Congress. Please spread the word. Protect the 4th Amendment and your other rights. We are in the final hours for the Patriot Act. Plese take a brief break from the Rove-Roberts controversies, just a few hours, and defend your rights as American citizens.
Thank you.