An illustration of why the netroots matter

Yesterday there was a great deal of speculation about whether Hillary Clinton had decided to bow out of her appearance at today's Leadership Panel, after an announcement of an appearance by two members of her campaign staff. At her campaign booth in the exhibit hall, a hand-scrawled poster saying "Hillary WILL be here on Saturday" was posted to dispel these rumors.

I can't help but wonder whether this gathering was in the minds of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as they cast their votes in opposition to legislation allowing President 26% to continue spying on whomever he pleases. Neither Clinton nor Obama are known as risk-takers, and both have been given to bellicose rhetoric of late in an attempt to show their national security bona fides. Especially given the TSA's admission last week that the so-called "Cheese Bomb Wannabes" that had given everyone (including me) the vapors just a few days before were completely bogus, it's hardly surprising that people would view the context of new threats with skepticism. Still, for these Senators to vote to allow a president who has already shown that he will spy on people suspected of nothing more than questioning his policies to continue to do so would have caused them to answer to their base today. So good on them for at least trying to keep this president in check.

There's no question that this legislation puts Senate Democrats between a rock and a hard place. If there IS another attack, those voting against giving Bush this authority will hear it from the Republicans and their Mighty Media Wurlitzer. But with an Administration that is already known to fabricate and publicize and exaggerate threats that either don't exist or aren't a credible threat solely for political gain as they move us closer to the police state of old Prescott Bush's dreams, one has to question what is the more real, significant and imminent threat to our freedom -- terrorists from whose attacks this president will claim he's protecting us when we know that he ignored warnings the last time, or an executive branch run completely amok as its members continue to try to exploit the fears of the citizenry in their quest for absolute, unshared power.