Do the Right Thing 3

As my faithful readers are by now well aware, one of my favourite themes is the exhortation to Do the Right Thing. For a refresher, you can check here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. Well, you know the old expression: if it's worth saying eight times, it's worth saying nine times...

Once again, the Democrats (with a few noble exceptions), are trying to prove to a public seriously dissatisfied with the Republicans, that they're not really much better as an alternative. The Senate Intelligence Committee has overwhelmingly endorsed Michael Hayden's nomination as Director of the CIA. What's with these people!? The guy is complicit in the illegal NSA spying on Americans and won't even testify that he'll comply with the law and most of the Democrats on the committee sing his praises!

What are they afraid of? This is one of the times when it would be easy to do the right thing. This is pathetic.

Digby and Glenn offer some insight into why this is happening but understanding it doesn't make it commendable.

Digby:

National security has the Democrats so spooked they are paralyzed and for some reason they don't seem to understand that every time they retreat they look like they are frightened of their shadows --- and thus appear to the American people to be incapable of protecting the country. And what's depressing is that their primary political concern can be rather easily alleviated by doing the right thing and standing up for their principles. George Bush has no credibility. Perhaps some people don't grasp the significance of the illegal wiretapping per se, but they are certainly open to argument if someone would care to make one. It's not as if they trust this president to make good decisions.

More importantly, for electoral purposes, the Democrats simply have to show that they are willing to fight this weakened unpopular president or people will see no point in kicking the bums out --- and certainly will not believe that the Dems are capable of taking on someone of real strength. As bad as it was in 2002 and 2003, how pathetic is it that the Democrats rubber stamping Bush when he's at 29%? How unpopular do his policies have to get before Democrats take the side of the majority?

Glenn:

In other words, there are serious questions about whether Gen. Hayden will comply with the law and whether he believes in the rule of law, so perhaps it's not a good idea to install him as CIA Director. Is there some reason Democrats were afraid to make that clear, straightforward, critically important point?

Yet again, Senate Democrats show that they have no more concern for the rule of law and for the excesses of this administration than Senate Republicans do. Due to their really pitiful passivity, they are every bit as much to blame for the excesses and abuses of the administration as the compliant Republicans are.