Why Are House Democrats Suddenly Caving to Bush’s Demands on Illegal Spying?
In my post last week about FISA and the renewal of the so-called “Protect America Act” (PAA), I cited a letter from House Intelligence Committee Chair Silvestre Reyes which strongly rebutted all of the Bush Administrations false claims about its ability to track terrorists hinging on the immediate passage of the Senate version of the PAA. And on the issue of telecom immunity, which even Bush basically admitted last week is really about keeping secret the true details of the program, Reyes writes, “As someone who has been briefed on our most sensitive intelligence programs, I can see no argument why the future security of our country depends on whether past actions of telecommunications companies are immunized.”
On Sunday, Rep. Reyes announced a near-complete about-face on the issue, describing himself as having an “open mind” on granting immunity to the telecoms while The Washington Post reports that a deal is in the works to pass the Senate bill. House Democratic leadership, bowing to pressure from Republicans and conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats, is expected to break the Senate version of the bill into two parts to separate the spying authorization and telecom immunity, allowing liberal Democrats to vote against the immunity provision while still assuring its passage.
Glenn Greenwald of salon.com, one of the most astute and dedicated journalists covering this issue, writes today that the House Democrats are being “stupid and self-destructive” and accuses them of having no political principles.
I have often privately called the behavior of both the Bush Administration and Congressional Democrats “stupid.” But behind all of the supposed incompetence of the Administration has been a program of sweeping privatization and a highly effective policy transformation that has worked entirely in its favor. And behind the failure of Democrats to act in the interests of their constituents or their supposed core values is a powerful alignment of power, money, and campaign tactics to preserve their own incumbency. In short, I do not believe that any of these behaviors reflect a lack of intelligence or thoughtful strategy.
So that leaves me asking, what are the possible reasons for House Democrats to suddenly change their minds and go from defending the constitution, checks and balances and rule of law to being “open-minded” and preparing to use their power to allow passage a bill that protects lawbreakers from any accountability?
When people suddenly change their long-held principled opinions, there is generally a good reason which is far from stupidity. It means that something else has become more important than this particular opinion, like money, health, personal safety, or a horse-trade for another opinion of greater importance. Obviously, enormous pressure has been brought to bear on the Democratic leadership. What did they trade for this change? Have threats been made against them, either to their personal safety or to their reputations with the contents of their most personal communication? Are they getting generous financial contributions to maintain their hold on power?
Asking these questions is an invitation to be called a conspiracy theorist, but I am just asking questions that are logical extensions of the contradictions that have come out of this situation.
Does anyone else have any idea why the Democrats might suddenly have changed their minds?
-
RSS Feed
-
March 5, 2008 at 2:37 am
You’re right, they’re not stupid…well-l-l, not all of them, but to a man (or woman) they are invested in reelection. That alone is a powerful incentive. Add to this a broad national ignorance about the Constitution—even though our representatives have taken an oath to uphold it—and the fear of being labeled “soft on terrorism” and the incentive for them to buckle is increased . Few if any of them have the time or inclination to make this a teaching moment by which to enlighten the (mostly) thoroughly manipulated American public about the Constitution and the facts. And finally, we have the major media (print press and television/talk radio) that have their own financial incentives (or partisan interest) in sexing up the story while allowing the facts to go unreported.
I would advise all Americans to read Charlie Savage’s “Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy,” but I would be shouting into the teeth of a gale. It provides chapter and verse on the methods used by the Bush/Cheney cabal to achieve the destruction of what remains of democracy in America. This book alone provides all the explanation one needs for why our representatives in Congress have been rendered toothless or turned to the Dark Side. Can autocracy be far behind?