Way back when, Markos and Bowers got on the Jon Tester bandwagon. At the time, I didn’t really understand why they were getting behind the underdog in a Democratic primary in the far-off state of Montana. There may have been some hidden reasons, but it has sure worked out well. Tester was the blogosphere’s first victory over Chuck Schumer. Lamont was our second. For me, this was an important piece of revenge for Schumer’s role in clearing the field of pro-choice candidates in favor of Bob Casey, Jr. Casey, after all, will be one of my Senators. I didn’t like having my choices taken away in the primary. I love Sherrod Brown, but I don’t think Ohioans should have lost the chance to pick Paul Hackett. Schumer doesn’t want primaries. I think we need primaries in every race. I think we need competitively drawn congressional districts. But, back to Jon Tester.
Tester and Conrad Burns had a debate yesterday. And I want every Democrat to look carefully at how Tester responded to accusations that he is soft on Terrorism.
They also disagreed sharply on the U.S. Patriot Act. Burns said it is needed to intercept calls placed to known terrorist phone numbers and gives law enforcement the same tools they use to fight organized crime.
“I don’t think Mr. Tester understands this enemy,” Burns said. “We cannot afford another 9/11. I can tell you that right now. He wants to weaken the Patriot Act.”
Tester said the Patriot Act is eroding the very freedoms the terrorists are trying to take from Americans.
“Let me be clear. I don’t want to weaken the Patriot Act. I want to get rid of it,” Tester said.
Did you catch that? Jon Tester didn’t go wobbly. He didn’t talk out of the side of his mouth. He didn’t make a bunch of excuses, or say on the one hand this and on the other hand that. He just came out flatly and said he wants to get rid of the Patriot Act. That’s how it is done.
The sitting Senators down in DC need to pay attention to this. When it comes to legalizing torture and warrantless domestic surveillance, the answer is ‘I want to get rid of it’.
Stand up for our rights or you will see more primary fights than you know what to do with.
