Mr. Dodd Goes to Washington

I've been trying to stay out of the so-called "horse race" aspect of the 2008 election, mostly because it smells like horse ass. But you have got to give someone their due when they go to work for you, and so far only Christopher Dodd has done that. By go to work for you, I mean actually doing something rather than saying, over and over again from state to state, what you are going to do. The difference, to mangle the Bush administration's philosophy of change, is the same as walking down a road map to somewhere rather than agreeing to agree on building a road map to nowhere.

In that sense, Dodd has seized upon a strategy of action over diction. While campaigning hard in Iowa like the rest of the Democratic hopefuls, Dodd actually came back to Congress to do his job and filibuster the hell out of the offensively named Protect America Act. By heckling the halls of government for pretending to protect America while granting retroactive immunity to the telecoms like AT&T and Verizon that have compromised its constitutional freedoms while receiving industry favors for their efforts, Dodd achieved escape velocity back into reality. Those he left in his proactive dust like Biden, Clinton and Obama? Well, they decided that they favored the hyperreality of rhetoric, which is to say flurries of language with no intent to follow it up with substantive action.

Now, I'm not a doddering Dodd-ite, make no mistake about that. I've had my eyes on Obama. But you have to walk the walk if you're going to talk the talk. And as much as I'm not a fan of Dodd's stance on many things, I do remember sighing with happiness and gratitude when I found out he kicked the Protect America Act out on the street where it could freeze until January. Sure, he got help from other Democrats, like Russ Feingold, who is really the man that should become president of the United States in 2008. But Dodd took a plane and blew the ears off of noncommittal wafflers for eight full hours, saving all of our asses in the process. And for that, I have to give him his due.

Whether you do is up to you, and there's much time between now and then for Dodd to screw up. But his plan of action should be circulated from one of this nation to the next, by as many millions as possible, to remind the Democratic hopefuls looking to take America out of our new dark ages that you can say anything and you can't do everything. But you should do something, anything, to help Americans enter the post-Bush phase without a sneaking suspicion that they're about to get screwed all over again.

So thanks, Senator Dodd. We needed that. Badly.

VIDEO: MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON

Comments

[Rosanneofpgh]

Way to go, Chris!! Finally, a dem who isnt afraid to do what he was elected to do!! Where are the rest of the dems??

[Desiderata]

If John Edwards was still a United States senator, and yet remained in Iowa as did Obama and Clinton, to let Dodd stand alone__Edwards would have lost the vote I hope to make for him when my state votes.

Before today, I had no second choice. Now Dodd has become that for me.

Senator Dodd, you are no Jimmy Stewart. You are the real deal.

[Ravenlea]

Nice essay. It does feel good to have someone stand up for what's right. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington will always be one of my favorite movies. It just occurred to me, though, that while it's a lovely reminder of passion and idealism, it is also a reminder that corruption isn't as new as it feels at the moment.

Good for Dodd. Maybe I'll call his office and thank him tomorrow morning.

[bobbyvassallo]

I wish they'd name these bills what they are instead of what they'd like us to believe they are. Instead of "Protect America", why don't the start protecting the American citizen and the rights bestowed under the constitution. Bill of Rights? That's really what it was. I say "was" because I don't believe it exists here anymore. The spin doctors continue to befuddle the American public. We have been taught to believe that Militia is now a bad word, Patriot can't be anything but a good word and Protect America is just that. What a pile of uh, Ambrosia?

[Raven]

I'm an Edwards fan myself, so no love was lost on me today in the failure of the campaigning Senators.

But I must admit, as much as I have concerns about many of Dodd's positions, today he won my respect, a thousand times over.

Imagine what would happen if every single Senator who SAID they'd support Dodd's filibuster had actually shown up, ready to do something. Imagine, too, if that happened at each and every Democratic capitulation.

No, Dodd did this on his own, without any evident support from his colleagues on the campaign trail.

Sure, out here, we all spoke up. And this, finally, time they heard us.

But only because Dodd opened the way.

Today, one clear leader stepped forward. And, as been so often the case for the last 7 years, three stepped back.

And no amount of polling is going to change that.

[oldpotsmuggler]

How sad that this was even necessary. The issue was giving amnesty to entities breaking the law by commiting crimes against all of us. As I understand it, literally all of us. Is it okay because if we all suffered that is the same as none of us suffering?

We've reached the stage where something like this isn't even a partisan issue any more. With apparently very goddamned few exceptions (given the fact that only 40 Senators backing Dodd would have obviated the need for him to actually invoke filibuster) they all, from both sides, turned against their country. They turned against us, their employers. Their masters.

I mean, even admitting the likelihood that few or none will pay any concrete penalty for this abomination, why would any of them actually choose to defy us in this way? And themselves also, because the entire system of electronic communications was fed through the NSA filters.

What does BUSHCO hold over their heads to create a situation where Chris Dodd faces the need to take the floor of the Senate and defend us singlehandedly?