I remember, when I was a kid, watching the evening news with my family and seeing Senator Barbara Mikulski on the TV screen. I asked my mother who she was. My mother told me that Barbara Mikulski of Maryland was a politician who fought for the rights of ordinary Americans.
This weekend, that positive memory was forever tainted for me. Now, whenever I think of Senator Mikulski, I will think of the way that she helped George W. Bush trash the Bill of Rights.
Barbara Mikulski was one of the Senators who voted in favor of the already infamous Protect America Act – voted for it, in fact, before she even had a chance to read it carefully. She ought to be ashamed of herself.
There is no need for the Protect America Act. There is no grave terrorist threat. Just this summer, the Bush Administration was told that there is no serious credible evidence of a terrorist attack being planned against any target inside the United States.
Yet, Barbara Mikulski joined with George W. Bush to vote for the new Republican law. Now, all America is left having to deal with the consequences of Senator Mikulski’s moral weakness.
The law expands the power of Alberto Gonzales, who has lied to Congress, crafted a torture program for the Bush White House, and used his power as Attorney General to help Republican politicians evade prosecution for corruption.
Apparently, Barbara Mikulski thinks that kind of record makes Alberto Gonzales just the right kind of person to give expanded spying power too. Perhaps she wasn’t considering that Alberto Gonzales has already presided over rampant abuses of spy powers against Americans for political purposes, and has been caught covering up the extent of that abuse. Yes, it certainly seems that Barbara Mikulski wasn’t thinking about that – if she was thinking at all.
The new law that Mikulski thought was such a great idea gives Alberto Gonzales the power to go up to anyone in the United States and order that person to help him set up a spy operation that eavesdrops on the telephone conversations and emails of fellow Americans. If the person refuses to help Gonzales spy on fellow Americans, then Gonzales can have the person thrown in jail. if the person tells anyone what Gonzales is up to, the person gets thrown in jail then too.
Alberto Gonzales gets to set up the spy operations to eavesdrop on Americans private conversations, but there is someone to oversee Gonzales and make sure that the spy operations do not violate the rights of any Americans. I’ll give you one guess who that person is… and if you guessed Alberto Gonzales, then you’re correct.
Seriously, this law sets up Alberto Gonzales as the person who watches to make sure that Alberto Gonzales does not break the law while spying against Americans. Barbara Mikulski seems to think that Alberto Gonzales is worthy of that kind of blind trust. Do you agree with her?
I don’t know what’s happened to Barbara Mikulski, but the next time I see my mother, I’m going to let her know what Senator Mikulski has done to the cause of American freedom, and see what she says.
Shame on you, Senator Mikulski, for disillusioning my mother. Do you have any integrity left, any at all? You’re up for election in three years, and I cannot think of a reason that any Democrat in Maryland ought to vote for you. You have broken faith with all America.
