Sirotablog
David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. David writes about political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties.
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August 28, 2007 7:19 AM
America’s Most Conservative Newspaper Teaches Dems A Lesson
The Colorado Springs Gazette is one of the two most conservative papers in America (the other being the Waterbury Republican-American). This is no secret to anyone who has either read the paper, or who is in the journalism industry. But the political continuum is a circle, not a line, meaning that on some issues, ultraconservatives and progressives can make common cause. Today's Gazette editorial on the bipartisan support for warrantless domestic wiretapping and spying is a good example - and a good lesson for Democratic "strategists" cloistered in Washington with their weak-kneed and self-defeating pathologies.
"What do you do when critics call the legality of your secret spying program into question? If you’re the Bush administration, you defend it, by becoming ever more secretive and by claiming to be above the law. The legal basis for the Terrorist Surveillance Program, which was launched soon after 9/11 to capture conversations of potential terrorists, has always been shaky. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 outlawed warrantless eavesdropping on Americans, and in 2005 it was revealed that the Terrorist Surveillance Program did just that. Though supposedly altered so as to operate within the law, the surveillance program continues to be defended on alarming and seemingly contradictory grounds — that its legality depends on operational details too secret to be revealed, and that legality isn’t an issue, anyway, since President Bush’s powers as commander in chief cannot be so bound by law...We see the justifications of executive privilege as little more than weak excuses. Earlier this month, this same logic of secrecy, which plays on people’s fears, helped excuse a further weakening of the law as Congress, in the Protect America Act, effectively gutted FISA protections against warrantless surveillance...Now that Congress has promised to revise this temporary measure, Bush and Cheney’s continued excuses are all the more intolerable, obstructing Congress’ ability to examine the genesis of the Terrorist Surveillance Program."
Pundits and Democratic "strategists" in Washington, D.C. clearly have absolutely no concept that issues of privacy, civil liberties and government intrusion do not fit conveniently on their preconceived - and childishly ignorant - notions of "red" and "blue." They dismiss the vast American heartland as just a Republican Party monolith that supposedly supports all efforts to strip citizens of their freedom, and they believe that in order to start winning in this heartland, they just have to out-Republican the Republicans on these issues.
We know this not just because they capitulated last month by rubber-stamping Bush's warrantless domestic spying program, but because they all but run out and tell reporters just how totally out of touch they really are when it comes to these issues. Remember how Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) claimed that his efforts to preserve the most odious parts of the Patriot Act were designed to protect "our Democrats in red states?" Remember how the insulated Washington media fawned all over him when he said this, billing him as an amazing political guru? And remember how, at the very same time, Montana's Jon Tester was campaigning against the Patriot Act as a way to attract support from libertarian-leaning voters? Yeah - in a race that was decided by a tiny margin, had Schumer's drumbeat been any louder, it may have lost Tester the Montana senate seat and Democrats might not be in the majority today.
I learned the lesson inherent in the Gazette's spot-on editorial when I watched my friend Bernie Sanders in the House. As Rolling Stone's terrific profile showed, he worked closely with people like Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and then-Rep. Butch Otter (R-ID) to forge left-right coalitions that passed legislation reforming the Patriot Act over the objections of Republican congressional leaders. Paul and Otter, you may recall, are among the most conservative elected officials in America. They know - sadly, more than many Democratic "strategists" in Washington - that there is nothing "weak" or "politically dangerous" about standing up for privacy and personal freedom and against government power grabs.
In fact, its the other way around: Democrats are exuding weakness and are walking into political peril by subscribing to the cartoonish "red" vs. "blue" outlook of those Washington insiders who claim expertise in a national political topography they clearly do not or do not want to understand. The panoply of privacy and civil liberties issues poses great opportunity for Democrats - but only if they show a shred of foresight and reject the absurd Washington conventional wisdom that says helping the most unpopular president in modern history trample Americans' freedoms is somehow "good politics."
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About David Sirota
David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Hostile Takeover. He lives in Denver, Colorado. His daily blog can be found at CREDO Action. He contributes regularly to the Denver Post's Web site, is a senior editor at In These Times magazine and is working on his second book. He has been profiled in Newsweek and the Rocky Mountain News and is widely known for his reporting on political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties. Sirota serves as co-chair of the Progressive States Network, a 501(c)3 organization that supports state legislators and that is a partner of CREDO.
You can subscribe to Sirota's e-mail newsletter by going to davidsirota.com and signing up in the lefthand corner. To find out more about Sirota, download his official biography or see his recent media appearances. You can e-mail him at sirota@credoaction.com.
The views expressed on this blog are his own, and do not necessarily represent the views of Working Assets (publisher of CREDO Action) or the institutions Sirota works for.
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Discussion
They are so paranoid of being viewed as 'weak on terrorism' its down right pathetic.
Guess they don't realize that the majority of Amerians want our civil liberties back. These include due process for anyone arrested as a possible terrorist or terrorist sympathizer.
Politicians are inside the box thinkers and other refuges of mediocrities. I recently had the dubious pleasure of meeting a "Christian libertarian" (business card and campaign literature) at a debate between the candidates running in a special election in the 37th district Ca. for congress. (To replace diseased predecessor M-Mcdonald) I was a cameraman on the debate standing close to said candidates shooting the host. We had talked at length prior to the show, but did not hit it off after I told him I was the opposite of everything he stood for, but partedd amiably. That was capped when the green party candidate got into the mix and I told him I was going to vote for him. During the show, the C. libertarian made the statement that every person in U.S. owes 255,000 odd dollars a piece. I had just seen the actual figure that morning of $30,000 odd a piece. I whispered same to the floor director next to me and the libertarian overheard me. He got quite bent out of shape and at the break explained that his figures were based on all future entitlements owed by the government which is probably true. This is the ultimate in the box thinking and their excuse to dissolve government and have it do nothing. I sized this guy up because of this and everything else he had to say as being an dangerous idiot. It made me wonder though just how smart the majority of our representatives are. God help us if very many are as dumb as this former aerospace engineer appeared to be. Fortunately, he has no chance. I have heard interviews and appearances on TV shows that confirm my suspicions that many are pathetic fools. Mr. S. proves once again how sharp he is to spot this chink in the mental armor of what seems to be the unregenerate brain dead. Of course the same analysis applies to the democrats if they can't figure out to advantage this, as DS suggests. They better start thinking outside of the box or else. Obama seems to have something of a gift for this comparatively. Maybe he is the Messiah.
Bush needs to appoint a Christian Libertarian. Then we can all eat celestial pie in the sky and be safe from Chinese imports.
Democrats have no idea on how to handle terrorism intelligently, this is why the GOP can beat them like a drum on this issue.
Not one Democrat running for preznit will even talk about the role Saudi Arabia plays in terrorism throughout the world. Its the veritable engine that powers and funds Islamic fanatics where ever they may be. Shut down their funding of madrassas, mosques, kick out their radical imans both here and in Europe, make it clear to them that exporting their toxic crap won't be tolerated and you put a big dent in it.
Without Saudi Arabian backing many fundamentalist movements will wither on the vine and perish. But its easier to buy more warplanes, expensive warships and erode the rights of Americans.
Teach the Democrats all anyone or anything wants but as my wife always said "There's no point in teaching them darn kids anything if they ain't gonna LEARN a darn thing outta it !" Of course, the only thing the Democrats "learn" is how to keep shooting themselves out and keep LOSING by playing into the fear card !
Quite frankly, as a lifelong true Progressive Liberal, I find the Democratic Party of 2007 to be overwhelmingly dominated by "Bush-Lite"s (e.g. Hillary Clinton and the "K-Street Democrats").
This clan of cavemen (and cavewomen) are no more use to me that tits are to a boar. For that reason, I have quit the Democratic Party and hold on to the hope that a REAL PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL PARTY may find genesis here in the USA that I can truly support -- hopefully, before I die.....
There are only two Democrats whom I could currently vote for: 1) John Edwards, and 2) Dennis Kucinich. While I agree with his positions almost down-the-line, Barak Obama is too much a lightweight to run successfully against the King Cobras who are running the Republican Party at this time -- he needs to "go out there and get a bit of seasoning", then try again in the future.
By contrast, Edwards and Kucinich are highly experienced political veterans, and Edwards in particular was a crackerjack Trial Lawyer who is just spoiling for a REAL FIGHT -- AND THAT IS WHAT PROGRESSIVES REALLY NEED -- SOMEONE WHO CAN TAKE THOSE LYING BASTARDS ON FOR WHO THEY REALLY ARE AND GIVE THEM "WHAT FOR"!!!!!
As a Vietnam-Era Veteran, past age 50; and in poor health, COPD [lung disease] and now heart disease as well, I have spent my entire life hanging my political hat on people who have overwhelmingly failed me and their own generation of Americans. They have also failed our entire nation horribly -- all generations, all types.
Long term, the USA needs to scrap its failed "experiment" of a Constitution, and via Constitutional Convention, and revert to Parliamentary system more like the United Kingdom or Canada. This way, we would be much more likely to have politicians who were actually responsive to the public will, instead of power-hungry sycophants. If you don't truly believe that, just ask U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair [Ed: "former U.K. PM", that is]
Personally, however, "I have ..." [not] "...been to the mountaintop...", nor have I "looked over and seen the Promised Land...". Perforce, I bequeath that task to my children, and hope they do better by their future children than my "Wasted Generation" has done for ours.
"Goodnight and Good Luck..."
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