June 21, 2008 11:13 PM UTC

Rep Udall does the right thing on the FISA bill

•  
• by: DavidThi808

From Representative Udall’s statement on the FISA bill we have:

The FISA bill we considered today would compromise the constitutionally guaranteed rights that make America a beacon of hope around the world.

Today’s vote was not easy. I stood up to leaders of my own party and voted against this bill, because I took an oath to defend Americans and our Constitution, and it was the right thing to do.

That duty is most important when it is most difficult. We can protect our nation while upholding our values, but unfortunately, this bill falls short.

And this is a very brave thing for Udall to do as he is running for Senate.

Of course, it is Representative Tom Udall that did the right thing even though it may hurt him in his Senate race.

And a note to Mark Udall – the most important thing you do in Washington is how you vote on key issues. The key component of your race is you will vote differently than Bob Schaffer.

Well in this case Milquetoast Mark voted identically to how Bob Schaffer would have voted. If Udall will sell out the constitution and the rule of law to get elected, is there anything (other than winning) the he actually considers sacrosanct?

Is there a single example of a vote where Milquetoast put doing the right thing ahead of getting elected? If so, I’d sure like to know about it.

Update: Is there a single example of a vote in the last 2 years where Milquetoast put doing the right thing ahead of getting elected? If so, I’d sure like to know about it.

Just one example, that’s all I’m asking for.

Update 2:

Talk about a difficult election, Gary Trauner is running in Wyoming which is a much harder race than Colorado (and he has a credible chance). Here’s the statement of a candidate I would be proud to help elect:

Wow!  Is that what it’s come to?  Our federal government says you must do something, even if it is against the law, and we “need” to do it?  Well, I don’t care whether it’s the Republican Leadership in Washington DC or the Democrats in the House, I’ll proudly tell them – and you – where I stand on warrantless wiretapping, the rule of law and protecting our national security:

• I want to ensure that my children, and all of our children, are safe from terrorist attacks by beefing up our intelligence capabilities, protecting vulnerable targets, proactively taking out terrorists such as Al-Qaeda in their hideouts in Afghanistan, Pakistan and around the world, and working to remove safe havens for terrorists by winning the battle of ideas, not simply the battle for Tikrit.
• I believe in the Constitution and rule of law, the two things that define our great American experiment. We must not gut our freedoms in order to save our freedoms.  If we do that, those who use terror as a tactic will achieve their goal – after all, what would we be fighting to protect?.
• We can protect our nation without sacrificing everything our founding fathers and millions of veterans fought for; the FISA law, already updated in 2001 after 9/11 and recently patched to fix some omissions due to changing technology, works.
• I would rather bring Osama Bin Laden to justice than help large corporations avoid justice.
• If we value our Constitutional rights such as the 2nd amendment right to bear arms, we better think twice about ignoring other Constitutional rights, such as the 4th Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure without a warrant and probable cause.  Because once we cherry pick the Constitution, someone will eventually come after the rights we hold most dear.