Akkam’s Razor

Given that the Democrats, including some favored by the progressive blogosphere have rolled over and ‘compromised’ on FISA with the Republicans and given them everything the Bush Administration wants - including immunity, as discussed previously.

In hindsight, this entire ordeal is exactly the same as that of the war, with the same rationale and the same problems.  The Administration made its case for action, and Congress, or in this case, the Telecoms, wanting to be good patriots and assist in the war on terror, believed them and cooperated.  To also be fair, some didn’t, and we see how that played out for Qwest.  As time wore on, others, perhaps after acknowledging  their  reservations, put processes in place to document the admins actions.

We saw how that has been disastrous with regards to the war, and we will see how disastrous it will be in regards to Executive Power and the erosion of civil liberties and the march towards the surveillance state.

All of this is further compounded by Democratic resistance to acknowledging that we are approaching a precipice, and their condoning and enabling of the administration by their incremental and continuing support of these positions by their continued votes for war funding and ceeding oversight to the Executive Branch.  It is very difficult to reverse course and say “NO MORE” after continually funding the war, or being briefed on torture, or domestic surveillance, and green-lighting Executive over-reach.  The Democrats have effectively painted themselves in a corner, especially since their primary fear and motivation is governed over their being accused as being soft on National Security by the Republicans (fact - the Goopers will say this anyway).

Similarly, as written about here as early as 2006, people are just uninformed or unwilling to accept where we are at.  If either Congress or the media had any courage, the American people would learn that Bush and Cheney have made Nixon look like a rank amateur.

Progressives outraged over the abuses of the last eight years are desperate for someone, anyone to pay.  Personally, monetary punishment, such as suing the telecoms, are not even important (I suspect that one of the reasons why immunity was justifiable is that the threat of lawsuits would lead another sector of the economy - telecommunications  - towards collapse, something we certainly don’t need).  What I really want is someone to be held accountable, if not criminally in the Court of Justice that at least reputationally in the Court of Public Opinion.  Refusing the telecoms immunity would hold someone accountable - but only nameless and faceless corporate lackies who acted in good faith - and do nothing to roll-back Executive power grabs.  It does nothing to change reality - we’re still in the same exact place.  Holding the telecoms accountable is simply a proxy for holding the administration accountable - really all we have since there has never been a true appetite for defending the Constitution, preserving the Balance of Powers, or asserting Constitutional perogatives by the Democrats.  Only Republicans are willing to go all the way, alas.

More and better Democrats, please?

There’s a secondary concern with resting all of our hopes on Obama - lets keep in mind, he is a politician afterall.  To similarly be fair, Hillary wouldn’t vote any different if she were the nominee - if anything, like Obama - she would be than happy to inherit a more-powerful Presidency courtesy of a bipartisan Congressional vote.  It looks like we might have to wait for an I-told-you-so moment in future affairs or wait for history to judge.

barackobama, Civil Liberties, Congress, corruption, Election 2008, FISA, government, history, johnmccain, news, patriotism, politics, privacy, technology, telecommunications, Terror, War

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