Remember when Senators Leahy and Sanders cast two of the only votes against the craven, legislative mugging of ACORN that terrified Dems joined Republicans in enacting? At the time, Leahy commented “Just as I would be against banning other specific organizations on the right or on the left from applying for competitive grants, I believe it is harmful, even though popular, to approve an amendment like this.” And beyond being a matter of principle, it was a matter of basic Constitutionality, as our founding document prohibits Congress from singling out a single organization for petty punitive action in this way.
You may also remember a couple voices in the legacy media that just couldn’t believe Sanders and Leahy (Welch, unfortunately, snatched up a pitchfork and joined right in, much as he did with the congressional censure of MoveOn after Republicans didn’t like their ads). They couldn’t get their brains around it.
What were they thinking? Vermont Republican Party Chairman Rob Roper called the pair out of touch with common sense… Expect to see and hear about the votes Sanders and Leahy made for months — maybe years to come.
The Caledonian Freakshow Record:
Challenge Leahy and Sanders on this vote. Please don’t let it be said that Vermont has become so liberal its senators get a pass when they stand in opposition to morality and honesty.
Yesterday’s word? The ACORN-bashing law was tossed out prevented from being implemented by a judge. Why? Duh, because it’s an unconstitutional “bill of attainder.” Just as everybody who stopped for ten seconds to think about it said at the time.
So, what on Earth were Sanders and Leahy doing voting the way they did? As should’ve been obvious to folks like Remsen at the time, in voting against a plainly unconstitutional partisan hit job, they were doing their jobs.
What would prevent the same precedent being used to keep companies like Backwater under gov’t contract if opposition to it was clearly political. I guess there’s probably a formal process through which congress can rework its contracts that isn’t a reactionary public hanging…
I believe that we will see apologies on the editorial pages of the Freep and the Calendonian Record forthwith.
I believe in Santa Claus.
I believe in The Easter bunny.
I believe in the Tooth Fairy.
I have mixed feelings about Smokey The Bear.
The ACORN vote and the Moveon.org censure are like pocket sized versions of the shock doctrine.
The right wouldn’t get anywhere with these exercises if the media and politicians that may know better didn’t readily join the mob without thinking.
It keeps the fires burning.