FISA And The Unilateral Executive: Debating “A Dangerous Engine Of Arbitrary Government”

Alexander Hamilton statue via dbking.

To sustain individual liberties, we must consistently press elected officials to represent our rights in Congress.

Please call your elected Representative — and the Blue Dogs as well — and let them know that you expect them to stand for liberty: no telecom immunity, stand for the rule of law and vote for the Amendment to H. R. 3773. I am hearing the vote could come around 1 pm ET, although depending on GOP procedural shenanigans could be later. [Great statement from Rep. Holt on this today. (YouTube).]

Ben Franklin famously said that we have a Republic, if we can keep it. That charge to keep rests with all of us — we must continue to work toward "a more perfect union" every day. It is our responsibility to demand better government, so that liberty is never sacrificed with a whimper, but with as loud a bang as we can muster.

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay came up with an ingenious way to bring the Constitutional debate to citizens in NY state, as a way to encourage voters to ratify the Constitution over the prior Articles of Confederation. Today, the Federalist Papers are often used as a means of interpreting intent and background for various Constitutional provisions — there were 85 essays in total. Additionally, there were the Antifederalist Papers from Patrick Henry and others debating safeguards for essential civil liberties, which ultimately led to the Bill of Rights.

In one such Federalist essay, Hamilton wrote:

To bereave a man of life (says he), or by violence to confiscate his estate, without accusation or trial, would be so gross and notorious an act of despotism, as must at once convey the alarm of tyranny throughout the whole nation; but confinement of the person, by secretly hurrying him to jail, where his sufferings are unknown or forgotten, is a less public, a less striking, and therefore a more dangerous engine of arbitrary government. (emphasis mine)

While this discusses habeas corpus, the principle is analogous to unchecked domestic spying potential of the federal government versus the rights of individuals "to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects" subject to lawful warrant being obtained through a court under the Fourth Amendment.

The questions of essential liberties versus the unilateral power grabs of an executive who would be king are at the very heart of what our Founders debated prior to the American Revolution through to the Constitution and Bill of Rights. That these are again being raised by yet another petulant "King" George is a coincidence of ego and error, but when I read something like this, my patriotic ire gets fully stoked:

…Instead, voting for this bill would make our country less safe because it would move us further away from passing the good bipartisan Senate bill that is needed to protect America.

The American people understand the stakes in this struggle. They want their children to be safe from terror.

In Bush’s mind, either he holds all the power and gets everything he demands, or our children are unsafe. Well, here’s a thought for you Georgie: liberty and security are not mutually exclusive.

If we surrender the core of what we have stood for since our founding, then the terrorists make us cower in fear instead of standing tall in support of the rule of law and essential liberties. And we will have destroyed what this nation is at the heart without so much as a whimper if we sacrifice our essential liberties at such a cheap, fearmongering price.

Do we stand for liberty? I say yes, with everything I have.

The founding documents record the fierceness of the Founders fighting for the rights of the individual against the whim and tyranny of a monarch gone mad for more power. We are called today to do the same. The balance of liberty must be restored because its inherent value to us all is the cornerstone of democracy and serves as a balancing concern to uplift the rights of "we, the people."

We’ve made some progress, but there is more to do. Now, let’s get to work…

PS — We are still taking votes on the Blue Dog you think deserves a FISA wake-up call. You can cast your vote here…

Related posts:

1. Right/Left Coalition Forming Against Blank Check Government?
2. Feingold Asks Sotomayor about Executive Power
3. Uh, Which Civil Liberties Groups Pushed For A ‘Prolonged Detention’ Executive Order?
4. Executive Privilege and the Cheney Interview Documents
5. Corporate Vigilantism: Failing, but still Dangerous