Yesterday in the Senate, four Democrats voted to help Senate Republicans push through a law that would make permanent changes to allow the government to conduct massive electronic dragnet espionage operations against the American people – involving American citizens even when they aren’t suspected of any crime.

The law, called the FISA Amendments Act, would thwart privacy agreements between businesses and their customers, forcing corporations to help government agents spy against law-abiding American citizens.

The law also allows electronic spying to take place against American citizens without any reason given, without judicial review, and without real congressional oversight. No one outside of two people appointed by the President of the United States would have the ability to stop the spying, or even to know what the spying really is. The President would have the power to read your emails, listen to your telephone calls, and watch everything that you do on the Internet – and nobody could stand in his way.

That’s the sort of absolute government power that belonged in the Soviet Union. It does not belong in the United States of America – the Constitution forbids it. Yet, President Bush doesn’t seem to care about that.

Neither do four Democrats seem to care about the Constitution, or the privacy of American citizens from government spies. The following four Democratic senators joined George W. Bush and the Senate Republicans to support the push for uncontrollable electronic spying against you by the government:

Mary Landrieu of Louisiana
Mark Pryor of Arkansas
Ben Nelson of Nebraska
Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas

These four Democrats deserve to be turned out of office in shame by activists of their own party. They all have a disgraceful history of voting for right wing Republican interests, and against Democratic values over and over again.

It just so happens that Mark Pryor has a progressive rival, not within the Green Party, but from the Green Party: Rebekah Kennedy. It’s time to send a message to the Arkansas Democratic Party that they cannot continue sending Republicans in donkey’s clothing to Washington D.C. Rebekah Kennedy deserves the support, not just of Arkansas Greens, but of rank-and-file Arkansas Democrats as well.

Mary Landrieu is also up for re-election, but there’s no progressive rival standing against her yet. If no one stands against Landrieu for the 2008 Senate election, then the best option for Louisiana Democrats of good conscience is to show up on Election Day this November, but refuse to cast a vote in the Senate election for either Landrieu or her Republican challenger, John Kennedy. Both are unfit for office.