I’m working in Chicago this week, and so yesterday I went to the protest there as a part of the nationwide World Can’t Wait demonstrations against the extremist agenda of George W. Bush and his followers.

If you haven’t been paying attention to any news other than the Mark Foley sex talk scandal, you probably have forgotten about the really big news from this month:

Habeas corpus has been suspended. Torture is now legal. The President now can throw anyone in prison without criminal charge.

The Military Commissions Act, which will be signed into law by President Bush any time now, creates a gaping hole in the middle of the Bill of Rights. I think that’s dangerous and frightening. The trouble is that many Americans seem quite happy about the new arrangement. They don’t seem to worry, believing that they don’t need to worry about being thrown into prison by George W. Bush… after all, they’ve never felt the need to speak up against the government, so they’re safe.

It’s particularly disturbing to me that many Democrats are going along with the new nationalist Homeland America. In my own congressional district, in Upstate New York, many Democrats are saying that they’ll still vote for Michael Arcuri, even though Arcuri has announced that he supports the Military Commissions Act. It’s what Michael Arcuri needs to do to get elected, they say, so it’s fine with them.

Go team, go. Whatever it takes to get elected, right? Now that we’ve done away with the protection from cruel and unusual punishment, will freedom of speech be the next to go? Would that be a worthy sacrifice to the Arcuri for Congress campaign?

Here in Illinois, they have the same problem. It was creepy for me to go to the protest against Bush downtown, and then get back to my hotel room to see an advertisement for Democrat Melissa Bean.

Melissa Bean is the Democratic incumbent in the 8th congressional district of Illinois, but the truth is that she doesn’t act like much of a Democrat in Congress. Melissa Bean has been a supporter of George W. Bush, and when it comes to the Military Commisssions Act, Melissa Bean is true to nasty form.

Melissa Bean voted for the Military Commissions Act.
Melissa Bean voted to rescind habeas corpus rights.
Melissa Bean voted to legalize torture.
Melissa Bean voted to give President Bush the power to lock anyone up that he wants.
Melissa Bean voted to give amnesty to war criminals.
Melissa Bean voted to end enforcement of the Geneva Conventions.
Melissa Bean voted to replace justice with kangaroo courts.

I don’t know how any Democrat in the 8th congressional district of Illinois can, in good conscience, vote for Melissa Bean. Representative Bean has betrayed America’s freedoms. She has betrayed the Bill of Rights. Is that what the Democratic Party stands for these days?

Shame on you, Melissa Bean. If you’re the new face of the Democratic Party, then maybe it’s time for me to leave the Democratic Party.