Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Greenwald On Accountability

Become a StrangeBedfellow and Hold Washington Accountable!


There's a reason that I haven't been writing much here lately - and thankfully, I don't have to figure out how to describe it. Glenn Greenwald puts it in perspective here:

Now, even among a sizable portion of Democrats, the enemies aren't those in Congress who support wars, torture, or the evisceration of core Constitutional liberties. The enemies are those who are so audacious and shrill that they want to campaign against those individuals in an effort to bring about a situation where there's at least one political party in this country opposed to such extremism. Hence: primary challenges are anti-Democratic. Campaigning against incumbents is Stalinist. Opposition to war and torture are the hallmarks of Far Left purists. Blind Party allegiance is the essence of tolerant, shrewd progressivism.

Things I learned today about democracy

I'm really sick of this attitude. The right to have one's person and papers safe from the government unless the government has cause to believe that you're committing a criminal act is enshrined in the Bill of Rights for a reason. The politicians who voted to undermine that amendment don't deserve their jobs. They profaned the oath they took to defend the Constituttion.

It's as simple as that.

Freedom isn't the freedom to go to whichever shopping mall you want. It's the right to express your opinion about your government without having that government retaliate against you. If you're one of the sad fucks who don't believe that, please go find a country where they don't believe in that sort of thing. I'm sure you'll feel very safe there.

The rest of us, the ones who stayed awake in civics class, value our freedom more than we value seeing a particular brand name of politician in the majority.