I can fairly say now, that I’ve never been more ashamed to be an American. In addition to being subject to the leadership of the worst presidential administration in American history, the Senate just voted to grant immunity to telecommunications companies that were complicit in illegal surveillance activity against Americans. Of course, because this criminal activity occurred over the tenure of the Bush Administration, Congress will gladly give them a pass because they were acting based on a sense of “patriotic duty”.
In his closing speech on the Senate floor, Chris Dodd brought up September 28, 2007, what he calls the darkest day in the Congressional chamber. If the date doesn’t ring a bell, it was the day that the not-so-honorable Senators voted to deny Habeas Corpus and allow torture to take place at the hands of our agents. Senator Dodd argued that today, February 12, 2008, is a close second, as the action taken today further serves to deny the constitutional safeguards that our founders intended to protect our citizens.
What Chris Dodd’s entire argument revolved around was simply allowing lawsuits to go forward and be decided by the appropriate branch, the judiciary. President Bush insisted that he would veto any FISA legislation that didn’t include telecommunications immunity for his top secret surveillance activity. Instead, what the legislature is doing is denying Americans the right to know what is going on in our government. Today, government secrecy emerged victorious.
America’s Shame and why I’m proud to be “un-American”
Americans no longer have an understanding of what it means to be free, we’ve become so accustomed to big brother’s hand that torture, spying without warrants, and engaging in illegal wars of aggression are to be expected. Many of the candidates running for president campaigned hard on these issues, insisting that we would “remain on offense” in the propaganda-ridden war on terror. What Americans need now is a miracle, we need a hero or group of heroes to stand up in our legislature and fight for them. We don’t need more government parenting and rules that cater to corporations and fear.
Terrorism should be a tool that only the enemy is allowed to use. Illegal government activity should not be tolerated in its current form. Soon, we will lose a part of ourselves, the American spirit will die. This country is no longer FDR’s America, it isn’t JFK’s or Reagan’s America. It most definitely is not Bill Clinton’s America, yet his wife was curiously absent from the Senate floor on this most important matter. Unless our voters and elected officials stand up and fight for freedom, we’re going to lose this fight for our country. If you feel even a modicum of pride and love left for this nation that people the world over once admired, equip yourself with knowledge and do your part so that our country won’t slip away into the dark abyss of fascism.
I’m afraid we’re already there, but there may be hope and that hope begins with you.
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