DailyKos attracts a lot of US Senators. From the likes of John Kerry and Russ Feingold to Hillary Clinton and Patrick Leahy, numerous representative of the upper house post at and read this site.
As I'm a Canadian Citizen, I don't have the capability to contact my Senator--well, at least not one that represents me in the US Senate. Instead I want to use this diary as a way to reach out to the Senators who read and post here at DailyKos.
I may not be an American, but I believe in America. I believe in America as a place where the common man has a say in how his country is run. I believe in the ideals set out by your founding fathers. I believe in the rights and responsibilities outlined in your constitution.
And I believe you are on the verge of losing it. As a friend, and neighbor, I would weep if that should happen.
The president's push to 'reform' the FISA bill is offensive on its face. A FISA judge has decided the programs are illegal. The lawlessness of the administration in continuing to spy on US Citizens on their own soil is manifest--and must be dealt with.
To support the reform of the FISA legislation to make legal (retroactively apparently) the illegal actions of the administration and its departments and agencies is not supporting the rule of law your country was built on--but instead are throwing hundreds of years of precedent out the window.
And that precedent states that no one is above the law. Not the rich, not the powerful, and not the President.
What other citizen has the capability to break laws with impunity only to have them changed to avoid prosecution? What precedent does that set? One where justice is for the wealthy and powerful? That path leads to revolution eventually.
I'm sure there are those who would say, "Sean, we appreciate your views, but you don't see the intelligence we do, and you don't understand the threats to our country like we do. We must do this to protect Americans."
To this I respond with a quote from one of the founders of the Republic: "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Fear cannot, and should not be used to take away the rights of the governed--the price is too high.
So to those Senators who frequent DailyKos I plead, do not allow this lawlessness to be encoded into the laws of your Republic. There are many who will support these moves in the House and Senate--they believe it's necessary, or that their electoral future requires them to--do not allow them Senators.
Your chamber is one of contemplation and consideration and debate. Debate this. Consider this. Move to ensure others reject it. But if that cannot happen, place a hold on this bill to ensure the cries of 'Wolf' do not sway the chamber.
Senators Kerry, Feingold, Clinton, Leahy, and others reading, I beg you, for the good of your Republic, for the good of my friend America, place a hold on this bill as it reaches the Senate--even if it’s a much despised secret hold.
It seems only appropriate that a secret hold be placed on such a web of secrets as FISA reform.