The GOP "loves" America so much that they have used the Constitution as a ready-made wedge issue for the last 30-years or so. Gun ownership. Marriage protection amendments. God in the classroom. You get the drift. The latest wedge issue, the Fourth Amendment attack in the FISA "compromise" bill has worked like a charm. Nothing brings the progressive netroots community to such a fevered debate as killing constitutional rights. I had hoped we would be wise enough to avoid this; but with Zell Miller Hoyer and company--this latest attack came from within the party. As evidenced by the war of words by two progressives I love--Olbermann and Greenwald--it is clear we must step back a tad and remove the red meat from the grizzly pit we have created here.
Update: When did defending the Constitution become a loser issue for us? When the corporate media ignores the truth and attacks the security angle 24-7. The story becomes one of in-fighting and cynical calculation.
I predicted this whole FISA mess was a manufactured emergency and a pre-meditated wedge issue last year: http://www.dailykos.com/...
And sure enough, the war between supporters of the Constitution is on:
http://rawstory.com/...
How did we let this in-fighting become the story? We weren't paying attention, that's how. Nothing like getting democrats stirred up about something as unpatriotic as the Bill of Rights, huh? Greenwald and Olbermann are, of course, both right, and both wrong. The game here is to get one side to claim the other is less patriotic or intelligent than the other. Losing the Fourth Amendment is simply a prerogative of power. As long as Democrats tear each other up on issues of essential citizenship and what it means to be an American, protecting Exxon, Black Water, gun makers, and Salmonella can go forward unimpeded.
I think Obama is playing this about perfectly; there isn't much he can do about this FISA mess overtly that will be portrayed favorably. He may lose an election based on patriotism and skin coloration. His best bet was on Feingold and Dodd, and some unseen political maneuvering. If we are very lucky, the FISA mess will be tabled forever. But make no mistake, Zell Millerism is still at work here. The old line Corporatist Democrats can still move forward legislation to kill the progressivism they fear.
We need to get back to work. Nothing we write about or defend here will be enacted without an Obama presidency. We no longer have the luxury of suffering corporate sock-puppets like Bush or McCain. Oh, and you have a right to have a gun, treat it stupidly and unsafely in your home, and feed upon your own paranoia day and night. Scalia and company have been working while you argued. I hope that you didn't let a little oil ruin your business in the Gulf of Alaska either. . .