I'd like to believe that contacting the representatives and voicing my opinion would a very effective way to make the Senators reconsider their decision. Unfortunately, I don't think this is the case. It is clear that the Senators have made their decision to prioritize getting re-elected, rather than ensuring they are sticking to their political values.
The American Civil Liberties Union is an organization dedicated to protecting our civil rights. The ACLU even has a process of looking at politicians' voting records on civil liberty issues and then using this information to calculate a "score," which indicates how pro civil liberties each politician is. You can view this scorecard on the ACLU website here. After the most recent session of Congress, our own Illinois Senator, Dick Durbin received a score of 91%, placing him among some of the most pro civil liberties politicians on the list. This is why it is strange that he passed a bill that as Doc O'C mentioned in his post, is "the greatest threat to civil liberties Americans face" according to Forbes magazine.
Why would a politician who is notably pro civil liberties pass such an act? Did he simply change his mind about our civil rights?
The most glaring explanation is that he was afraid of being labeled as a candidate who does not support the defense of our country, jeopardizing his chance of being re-elected in the upcoming election. Is this a justified fear? Would this be a justified label? Is this a proper excuse for passing this act?
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