Waiter, there is a fly in my soup. [View all]

[silvershadow]

(pick your own favorite punch line, there are many).

Once was a time at DU and elsewhere when Democrats were gnashing teeth about the Patriot Act, FISA courts, etc. Heck, DU practically single-handedly funneled the outrage and angst that people felt about GWB and all his, shall we just call them antics? It was not only a welcome place to be, but it also elevated the discussion to the national stage, really. I honestly believe that. I was here in the first days, and all throughout.

While we Democrats didn't always win on the issues, we at least got our voices heard and in fact ridiculed relentlessly as the Faux noise machine kicked into high gear in support of the wars, the spending, etc. There was a time when this place was crawling with those who disagreed with the way things were going. Kucinich lovers. (He's maybe the only one who ended up voting against it). When GWB was pretzel-nut, it was palpable. We couldn't wait until he was replaced. Kerry campaigned on it. Obama campaigned on it. And DU was giddy at the prospects. We were gonna fix it. You just wait.

Now, here we are, 13 years on, and this place looks like it has been infiltrated by inter-lopers. I don't know how else to phrase it. I know there are some trolls and disruptors around regularly, and I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about those that still don't get that it's not about Snowden. It's about the Constitution and the rule of law. You and I would go to jail for stealing $50. They steal $50 Billion with impunity. You and I would go to jail for wiretapping our neighbors. They do it with impunity. You and I would go to jail for lying to Congress. Just another's day's work in Washington.

So, please forgive me if I take offense to some of the un-critical thinking that gets bandied about. You see, I haven't budged one millimeter in 13 years. I am still waiting for this patently unconstitutional construct that has been foisted upon us, by the same critters that foisted GWB on us, (under whose leadership virtually every disastrous change to America occurred), to be fixed. To so casually dismiss it on the pretense that Snowden committed crimes is preposterous. I am not dismissing Snowden's actions, either...if he committed crimes, he will eventually face the piper. But to focus on him is so distantly secondary to the real issue just boggles my mind.

The Patriot Act was supposed to sunset at least twice, but it remains, 13 years later. Ok, if it needed to be, fine. We got Bin Laden. Great. We needed to. But we didn't get him by building a gargantuan database that would make Hoover look like Helen Keller without fingers- by storing this massive database in perpetuity. I hate to say it, but I don't think the United States of America will ever get back to the way it was before GWB- not in my lifetime. There's a fly in my soup, and that's not the only bug I'm concerned with.