You’d think Democrats would support this.
The American Civil Liberties Union today cheered an amendment to the House Intelligence Reauthorization Bill that would prevent illegal domestic wiretapping by the government. The amendment, by Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ), will reaffirm the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) as the only legal means of collecting electronic intelligence surveillance. The amendment was passed late last night by a vote of 245-178.
But not every Democrat did support it. Specifically:
John Barrow (GA-12), Lincoln Davis (TN-04), Chet Edwards (TX-17), Jim Marshall (GA-08), and Charlie Melanchon (LA-03) all opposed curtailing the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping.
Two hundred and twenty-two Democrats voted to reiterate the FISA law. Five did not. Are these clowns actually afraid to oppose the President over this constitutional overreach? Just to give you an idea how cowardly these five men are, twenty-three Republicans crossed the aisle to vote with Schiff. Thankfully, there are still some vestiges of libertarianism left in the GOP. But these five Blue Dog Democrats are scarlet letter disgraces. They are worse than pathetic. They have no party loyalty excuse. They just forgot their oath of office. Cowards. And they think this makes them look tough. Pfft.