Jay Rockefeller Facing Democratic Scorn in West Virginia
Will 2008 be the year that Senator Jay Rockefeller loses power? If some Democrats back in West Virginia have anything to say about it, yes.
Unfortunately, it’s not just Democratic voters who have a say in the matter. Big corporations are trying to help Senator Rockefeller spend his way to re-election. Money flows to Jay Rockefeller from corporate executives who love the way that Rockefeller does special favors for them.
Oh, and what nasty favors those are. One of them is the FISA Amendments Act, which gives the Bush White House to spy against you, without any search warrant or oversight, through electronic communication networks like the Internet, cell phones, and telephone landlines. What a lot of people don’t realize, is that the FISA Amendments Act also gives the power to physically search your home or office without a warrant.
What’s important to the big corporations, however, is that the FISA Amendments Act gives legal immunity for any corporation that helped the Bush White House spy against American citizens, even though it was illegal. Any self-respecting Democrat would never vote for such a thing.
Jay Rockefeller, however, doesn’t seem to have much need for self-respect. He’ll take the money instead. After receiving huge amounts of money from executives in telecommunications corporations, Jay Rockefeller announced that he would support the FISA Amendments Act.
That was a betrayal of Rockefeller’s oath of office. It was also a betrayal against the Democratic voters of West Virginia. It wasn’t the first time.
Jay Rockefeller has a long history of betraying Democratic voters.
Think back to 2002, with Rockefeller’s vote in favor of starting the Iraq War. Or consider the Patriot Act, which Jay Rockefeller voted for without even reading. Then there’s the Military Commissions Act, which revoked the power of habeas corpus, and legalized torture.
Over and over again, when time came for Democrats in Congress to show some backbone and stand up for the Constitution’s guarantees of freedom, Senator Jay Rockefeller left his backbone at home.
The Democratic congressional primary for West Virginia is on May 13. If you’re a West Virginia Democrat, show up, and vote for anybody but Jay Rockefeller.
