mycatharsis.com

When the Democrats swept back into power last year, I figured that at the least our descent into tyranny would at least be delayed by a divided government.  I didn’t expect miracles, but I had some hope that Congress would finally stand up to this president and insist on a smidgen of accountability.

Instead, they’ve basically given him anything they’ve wanted.  The Senate passing a bill giving legal protection from prosecution to telecom companies who handed over phone records en masse to the government is just another example.  Harry Reid’s Senate could not even meet the pitifully low expectations I had for them coming into this session.  They’ve let themselves be bullied and used by someone who basically should not be telling anyone what to do, not with the record low approval ratings he has right now, and not with his lame duck status either.  Now it’s on to Nancy Pelosi and the House, where citizens concerned about the rule of law are left to hope they have something Reid and the Senate do not, namely a backbone.   Barack Obama had the common sense and courage to vote against giving these companies immunity.  McCain at least let his position be known by voting for it, and Hillary Clinton had neither common sense nor courage, not bothering to show up to the Senate to vote on the bill, despite being in the area.

As bad as the idea of forgiving companies for what MAY be illegal acts is, the hypocrisy of the Bush administration on this issue is even worse.  Like a petulant child, Bush has stamped his foot and vowed to veto any bill by the House that only temporarily extends the Act, insisting Congress pass his bill right this instant.  The real hypocrisy is just how insistent this President is in protecting these corporations from the rule of American law.  For a president who has turned a deaf ear to thousands of citizen requests and issued fewer pardons and commutations than any other in the last hundred years, it is the height of hypocrisy to insist these corporations have to be protected from their earlier illegal actions.  You don’t ask for immunity from following the law, after all.

Consider this.  In his six years in office, he’s only reduced the sentences of FOUR federal prisoners.  Reagan had three times that number at this point in his presidency, and that was back when parole for federal offenses was much more common.  Two of those sentences were merely reduced from 20 to 15 years, and one was reduced from 9 years to 6.  Only one sentence was commuted entirely.  Guess who?  Yeah, Scooter Libby.  Even people like me who voted for this guy can’t help but conclude that the rule of law is a great idea for those in power, just so long as it’s not applied to them or who they do business with.  No wonder this country wants change.