I recently joined the National Affairs Committee of the Fairfax County (Virginia) Democratic Party, and I penned an article for the April issue of "The Democrat," a newsletter which goes to all its members. I wanted to bring the netroots mantra of holding elected Democrats accountable into the psyche of FCDC Democrats. I was greatly restricted, as the limit was 300 words, so I could not get all my thoughts across, which took on first draft more than 500 words, and I had to tone things down a bit, but I think the message got across. I was harsher on Webb in the original, and I had used the defeat of an incumbent Blue Dog in MD by Donna Edwards as an example of what we should be doing.
I received permission to paste my entire article from myself and from the Editor.... after the fold...
Winning is Only The First Step
Our January column urged Democrats to become active in 2008 and not take for granted a fall victory. The activism of northern Virginia Democrats during 2006-2007 helped bring the US and Virginia Senates under Democrat control. But there is more to our work than winning – we must follow up and make sure those we elected do the jobs we expect.
Currently "our Democrats" seem close to acquiescing and validating, again, another effort of the Bush administration to usurp the law. The Bushies want to grant retroactive immunity to telecommunication companies who broke both customer privacy agreements and Federal law by agreeing to spy on us without a lawful warrant. Their success will set a precedent whereby protecting illegal activities of corporations supersedes protecting the Rule of Law and civil liberties of citizens. No such extended authority is needed. The FISA court has approved 99.99% of requested warrants and can, in an emergency, grant it 72 hours after the event. Thus, companies can be legally compelled to cooperate right now – no further lawmaking or law fixing is required for legal, rapid response spying. Yet, the President, Republicans, and some Democrats refuse to extend FISA without retroactive immunity included, and some are actively fear mongering to push it through. This is unacceptable.
Sacrificing liberty in the name of security has always been an effective tactic of dictators. As Ben Franklin said: "Those willing to give up a little liberty for a little security deserve neither security nor liberty." Tell our representatives how you feel about it. Don’t take it for granted.
(Senator Webb voted to extend surveillance powers to the Executive Branch and to grant retroactive immunity to the telecoms.)