Didn’t we vote for change last election?
Jed | February 12, 2008Tonight should have been a night that Americans could be proud of their government. After all, the spotlight was once again on a woman and an African-American who are both, for the first time in history, vying for the chance to run for President of the United States.
But hidden by all of the election pomp and circumstance lies the ugly truth about our government - it doesn’t really vote for what’s in the best interest of the people. Case in point: the Senate voted tonight to give the telecom companies retroactive immunity for their collusion with the illegal government wiretapping.
Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), who proposed the amendment to remove the immunity clause from the horribly invasive and unnecessary FISA bill, spoke out on the Senate floor last night, saying, “This is our defining question, the question that confronts every generation: The rule of law, or the rule of men?” Or more plainly, as the ACLU noted, “Instead of having faith in the U.S. court system to fairly handle these cases; the U.S. Senate is poised to give the telecom providers a get-out-of-jail-free card.”
It’s hard not to think that the Senate has clearly chosen the wrong answer to Senator Dodd’s question. This is pure special-interests at work. The Senate has shown that they do not represent the people and answer only to the large companies with the money to support their campaigns.
I can’t decide whether to be angry or just horribly disappointed, especially in the 18 Democrats who voted for immunity.
Also take note that McCain voted “Yea”, Obama voted “Nay”, and Clinton didn’t show up.
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