The Shame of the Democrats

Glen Greenwald at Salon highlights the double blow to reputation that the Dems take for rubber stamping an even more intrusive law that gives this administration basically unfettered access to email and international telephone communications. If they thought that they were in danger of looking weak for not endorsing the Bush plan, they failed. If they thought that they were within their power to defy Bush when they were in the minority, how could they possibly acquiesce now that they are in the majority?

While the premise of this behavior is that Democrats must avoid appearing "soft" and "weak," one article after the next describes their behavior as "surrendering," "capitulating," "bowing to pressure," "caving in" and "suffering defeat" -- all at the hands of a weakened, isolated and pervasively despised lame duck President whose political party is in shambles. The worst thing one can be in American politics and American culture generally is a loser, and Democrats perpetually turn themselves into losers and convince themselves when doing so that they are appearing "strong" and "tough."

Look, this administration has proven time and again that they are not to be trusted with the benefit of the doubt when it comes to respect for individual liberties or the rule of law. In fact, they have ignored or violated laws with impunity when they feel that those laws inconvenience their radical interpretation of executive power. Further, their motives for this impunity have far exceeded the narrow notion of anti-terror and bled consistently into the scope of anti-republicanism or anti-bushism. There is a convincing body of evidence that proves that these people should not be trusted. Further, a convincing majority of the American people feel that this administration is not only incompetent, but actually corrosive to our international standing, our constitutional legacy, and our historical mission. Why in the world the Democrats gave them this gift beggars my understanding.

UPDATE: Here's Glen Greenwald laying out the broad powers of the new act in very clear and disturbing detail.