Trust

ReddHedd at FDL writes:

We have a President, not a King -- no one should be allowed to act above the law. Period. Especially not a man who was elected to serve the people. Such a man should be held to a higher standard, because public service ought to be a noble calling -- the Constitution must be upheld in our own nation, or we have already lost whatever battles we claim to be fighting in the name of freedom and liberty elsewhere.

For every step we take away from the notions of liberty on which this nation was founded, Osama Bin Laden laughs a little louder. By turning away from liberty, we are becoming that which we fight against, something that we managed to avoid even at the height of the Cold War. That is cowardly and wrong, and America is a better nation than that.

On behalf of all the Pat Fitzgerald's and James Comey's and all the rest of the public service professionals who are simply trying to do their job by following the law and the rules, I am beyond angry. What this Administration has done to the American public and the Constitution and our notions of liberty is bad enough, but to add this additional burden to an already difficult job for law enforcement and national security professionals -- when the law need never have been broken in the first place for lawful surveillance to have occurred under FISA -- is shameful, wrong and incompetent. And the President and his Administration should be held accountable for it.

It is worth noting that public servants stood up to the Administration about this policy: DoJ employees refused to rubber stamp this because it was outside the law; NSA employees refused to participate in the program; and there have been reports of fierce arguments within the Administration hierarchy as to the constitutionality of all of this. This did not occur without some staunch opposition -- yet the Preznit chose to move forward regardless. His choice, his consequences.

Whatever action is taken by Congress or the Courts in the coming months, I ask only that they put the nation first. They must earn our trust every day -- for all those members of Congress still in their districts on holiday, start earning the nation's trust right now. Step up and do your damn job. There is a reason that Barney Fife wasn't the Sheriff. What's your excuse for letting the Preznit continue being Barney Fife?

Amen to that.