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July 11, 2008
Democrats: Who Needs Them.
The new FISA act is now signed into law, with democrats crumbling under pressure from a lame duck administration, worried that they will be portrayed as soft on terror if they did not capitulate to the wishes of an authoritarian regime. Newsflash: republicans will criticize you whatever you do, so maybe you should worry less about how republicans will paint you and more about what is right and wrong. Some people will never learn.
Amidst it all, Jack Balkin made an excellent point for those who mistakenly believe that 'things will be different' when a democrat is elected president.
But the larger point is that both major political parties are committed to the build up of surveillance programs and technologies for purposes of security and the delivery of government services. We are going to get some form of National Surveillance State. The only question is what kind of state we will get. As of right now, it looks like we will get one that is far less protective of civil liberties than we could have gotten. Some of the new features of the surveillance bill have sunset provisions, and others may be altered through amendment if and when the Democrats take the White House. Still the fact that Barack Obama ended up supporting this bill is not particularly good news.What was it Montesquieu said about 'when democracies break down'? Now I remember. It leads to despotic governments.
Posted by r.johnson at July 11, 2008 2:32 PM