Once again, with the passage of the FISA bill, the Democratic party has chosen to take political cover, for fear that they will be branded weak on national security. To me, this is yet another indication of the Dems' failures of communication. A vote against FISA isn't weak on national security--but we haven't bothered to counter that ridiculous claim.
The issues of civil rights and national security, these days, are interlinked. We are fighting a war that, more than ever before, relies on international perceptions and propaganda. We need to take the moral high ground, because it will ultimately reduce terrorists' recruitment. Every time we detain someone indefinitely without trial, or ship people oversees for torture, or for that matter, torture them ourselves, we give the terrorists another reason to fight. Upholding the rule of law is not just about civil rights -- it will keep us safer in the long run.
But the Democrats have allowed themselves to be beat over the head by our cowboy President, whose war on Iraq has been one of the largest recruiting tools for terrorists in years. We desperately need to learn how to stand our ground and explain to the American people why the President's take on national security is so phony.
Worst of all, to me, was Barack Obama's vote for the FISA bill. I've held out hope that Obama, with his excellent communication skills, can finally take on the right-wing sound machine. But now I'm a bit less sure. He made a vote of political expediency, because he can't or won't debate the Republicans who say that we can't have security and liberty at the same time.
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