I don’t like being at the head of the I-told-you-so line after every election. My Republican friends liked it even less when my prediction that George W. Bush would be a bad president was remembered about the time they developed their own Bush = bad equation. But it’s hard to see impending disaster coming your way and not try to warn those in the same boat with you. Like what happened yesterday to Chris Dodd as he and his valiant band battled from Our leaky Ship of State even as it was sinking from the onslaught of Republican cannons.
We all saw it coming, the dark cloud still hovering over the Capitol spelled disaster for We the People in spite of all the sandbags we’ve been filling with petitions, phone calls and faxes to throw into the breech. But we did count on more Democratic Senators to bail out the boat; especially those with special influence, like one of our newest senators (05) and now possible presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Senator Barack Obama returned to Washington yesterday riding the wave of caucus victories after having been anointed with the title of savior by running on the platform of how he can change our world. He returned to his Senate home in Washington, D. C. to cast his vote for Senator Dodd’s amendment to the FISA Amendments Act of 2007
To strike the provisions providing immunity from civil liability to electronic communication service providers for certain assistance provided to the Government.
He was but one of 36 Democratic (and 1 Independent) Yeas. But 18 Democratic Senators voted Nay (not counting Democratic turncoat Lieberman) including Obama supporter Senator Claire McCaskill. Senator Obama’s recent victories to become his party’s nominee logically should have been the impetus for those 18 Nays to follow his lead and begin the process of change he has invoked. But it was not. Only the monumentally stubborn liberal Obama endorser, Ted Kennedy, voted Yea and we all know he would have done so anyhow.
How can the candidate of Change hope to bring change when he can’t even lead his party to victory over this terrible bill that provides immunity to some of the biggest communications giants in our country? These 17 members of the Democratic party who chose, yes - chose, to vote with Republicans to defeat not just their Democratic contemporary Senator Dodd, but joined with the Republicans to defeat the Will of We the People. And no matter which candidate, Democrat or Republican, is elected in November, these same NAY saying Senators will be there waiting for him/her, to assist or to hinder change. And if this vote is any indication, they plan to keep hindering.
I told you so. So did many others.
This is more than defeat of a bill; this is another defeat in a long string of defeats stretching back to the year 2000. It’s like government kudzu. It has grow well under a wide range of conditions the Bush government has set up for it and its runners keep spreading from the Oval Office, invading all three branches of government and trying to chop it off at the roots does not stop it. Nothing Seems To Stop It.
Whenever we join forces to "address a grievance" inflicted by Bush Government, no matter who speaks for us, no matter what is done to root out the spread of infection, this kudzu Bush government just keeps strangling us. And like kudzu, until we find a way of destroying it for good, nothing is going to change. And frankly I am out of ideas and low on hope at this point. Like so many of us, I have supported, marched, petitioned, written, pleaded, demanded and voted without changing one little thing. And as our election trundles toward an Obama victory and his conservative approach to the getting rid of the government's kudzu stranglehold on "the issues" proves ineffective, 2009 is not shaping up to be a good decade either.
Senator Chris Dodd is our spokesperson for our disappointment over this loss when we anticipated victory. He says,
Those who are advocating this notion that you have to give up liberties in order to be more secure are apparently prevailing".
(spreading more Government kudzu) His words remind me of some other words spoken by a great wordsmith Benjamin Franklin
"Those who give up liberty for the sake of security deserve neither liberty nor security.
Perhaps Senator Obama should have used his gift for oratory to remind his colleagues of this before they had voted to abandon liberty to give immunity for those who illegally spied upon us in the name of security. Sometimes it take more effort than just yelling Yea.
Senator Dodd has also said that he has not yet abandoned the fight but is "looking toward the House to resolve this issue" so here we go again with our rounds of calls, faxes, letters, and almost certain defeat if the House caves and a bill with retroactive immunity gets past the Democratic majority again. And Senator Dodd continues to pledge to use "all the tools available to a single senator to delay going forward on this..."
Firedoglake.com was one of the first to whip out a petition for us to sign to continue the fight. I’m sure many more efforts are going forth even as this is written; however, we need to somehow refocus Obama fans away from treating the 2008 campaign as some Superbowl game to win or lose. They seem to have forgotten that the focus of this election isn't to "get Hillary" but to get rid of Bush's control. And in doing so they have split their party into two separate and unequal teams and this could allow the Republican party to slip through our defense and score the winning touchdown. Spreading the roots of Government Kudzu even further although we all say we want the same thing.