A few days ago, I reported that Rhode Island’s United States Senator Sheldon Whitehouse was waffling back and forth, unwilling to take a position on the FISA Amendments Act.

Well, now that the final Senate vote on the FISA Amendments Act has been taken, that’s changed… sort of.

First, Sheldon Whitehouse took to the floor of the Senate and condemned the FISA Amendments Act. He called it a “naked intrusion” of Congress into judicial responsibilities, “picking winners and losers as we like”. He said that the government spying programs the FISA Amendments Act legalizes “broke faith with the American people”. He blasted the FISA Amendments Act, warning that the law, “misapplies the substantial evidence standard, trespasses constitutional boundaries, and breaks dangerous new ground in American law.”

Then, Sheldon Whitehouse turned around and voted in favor of the FISA Amendements Act - as if none of what he had said before mattered.

Senator Whitehouse represents Rhode Island - a progressive state. There is no plausible argument for the claim that Whitehouse needed to vote for the FISA Amendments Act because of constituent pressure. Whitehouse merely capitulated to George W. Bush for personal reasons. For that reason, Sheldon Whitehouse has been declared the sorriest senator ever.