There's a world-weary tendency among those of us who are active in politics to look at certain fights and decide that "it doesn't matter." The reasons can be that realistically the fight can't be won, that there are other more worthy issues, that we're saving energy / goodwill for another time or whatever. This creeping cynicism comes from the often necessary compromises of politics. But we're wrong when we say a fight (whether fought or not) doesn't matter. Especially if our reasoning is that it would be a losing battle anyway.
The obvious example today is the confirmation of (now) Attorney General Michael Mukasey by the US Senate despite his (in Schumer words) being "wrong on torture." As we look at the facts: he was passed on through Senate hearings, no one opposed to his confirmation attempted a filibuster, our presidential candidates didn't show up for the vote. As we listen, stunned and disgusted, there are voices trying to explain, to tell us that "it doesn't matter because...."
Sometimes the fight can't be fought. Other times the fight can't be won and discretion is the better part of valor and all t hat. At times though a fight has to be worth losing but fighting all the same.
And personally I'm not willing to go along with the idea that the Mukasey nomination wasn't a fight worth having and losing. It's heartbreaking that torture --TORTURE people-- is (apparently) an issue that no US Sentator felt strongly enough about to go for a filibuster. The prospect of losing was enough to deter them from any struggle.
What I find hardest to take about the Senate's capitulation and the lack of a filibuster to this nominee is that it means that there was no senator for whom torture is a burning enough issue that they were willing to go down fighting all the way against another AG who won't oppose it.
This is not what I want from my party. I want to support people who believe enough in some issue, whatever it might be, that they're willing to lose rather than just let themselves be bowled over by whatever the prevailing wind of the moment might be. The fight doesn't have to happen every time, but there should be some issues (as there are with the Right) where it's assumed that Senator X or Y will go to the mat before letting something pass. Torture in my opinion needs to be one of those issues.
Others, for me:
Privacy
Abortion rights
Civil rights / Human rights
How about you? What issues do you want to see at least one Senator willing to go down kicking and screaming for?
And to the candidates who chose not to be there for the vote -- in my opinion they might as well have voted yes. Whatever their intent was, their actions spoke volumes.
Please congressional Dems, let us know there's somethings that matter. And let us know what they are.