What kind of bizarre backroom dealing has been going on between George W. Bush and the Arkansas Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Senate? Until this last weekend, the Congress was moving toward an impeachment of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Now, Alberto Gonzales is beyond the law.

You see, this last weekend, the Congress passed, all of a sudden, the Protect America Act. The law was passed so quickly that almost no one in Congress had time to actually read it. Yet, they voted for the law anyway, taking it all on faith that everything would turn out all right, somehow.

That includes the Arkansas Democrats in Congress. All but one of them voted for the terrible new law. Only Representative Marion Berry refused to vote for it.

Why?

The law gives Alberto Gonzales the power to start spy programs that are help absolutely secret. Alberto Gonzales now has the power to issue orders to anyone, forcing them to work as his assistants in setting up spy operations against Americans. If Alberto Gonzales issues an order to you to participate in one of these spy operations, you must comply or be thrown into prison. If you are given one of these orders, you cannot tell anyone that you are spying for Alberto Gonzales. If you tell anyone, breaking the secrecy of the program, even if you’re just telling your husband or wife, you can be thrown into prison.

The Arkansas Democrats in Congress, except for Marion Berry, voted in favor of this. Why?

The Progressive State Directory writes, “This law gives Alberto Gonzales, the man who has been caught lying to Congress, breaking the law, abusing his powers for political purposes, and spying against Americans in violation of the law, a big fat reward for his wrongdoing. Apparently, the Democrats in Arkansas think that’s a great idea.”

The Protect America Act is so profoundly against American values, almost completely undoing the Fourth Amendment in the Bill of Rights, that it boggles my mind to see that four out of the five Arkansas Democrats in Congress voted in favor of it.

Democrats Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor in the Senate voted for the Republican law to expand the powers of Alberto Gonzales. Democrats Mike Ross and Vic Snyder in the House of Representatives voted for it too.

I’m left grasping at straws to try to explain this profound betrayal of American civic values. Were the Arkansas Democrats blackmailed? Was there a quid pro quo? Were the Arkansas Democrats already involved in the spy program in some way, even before it was legalized?

I am genuinely baffled. Surely, it could not be that the Arkansas Democrats were actually afraid of the political clout of George W. Bush, the worst President in history, with an approval rating below 30 percent. Surely, the Arkansas Democrats couldn’t that clueless.

If anyone with more insight into this political mystery is reading, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this matter.