I Love My Congressman!

Every time I read about more abuses of power by our current President, I first get angry, then I go looking for what is being done to combat it or, at the very least, bring it to light. Most of the time I find ordinary Americans doing the heavy lifting, bloggers, historians, scientists, a few intrepid reporters, even fewer working columnists and sometimes even the rare politician. But always among those rare politicians, is my own Congressman, Rep. Jim McDermott. In my household, he is honored as the rock star he is, and for the few of you who have similar representation in Congress (Michigan’s 14th district comes to mind), I’m sure you know what I mean.

Why am I choosing to praise my Congressman now? Well, I write him fairly regularly just to say thanks, but late last night I read that the NSA has been conducting extensive data mining on millions of Americans’ communications habits without the proper authorization and that I had switched from the one carrier that had refused to turn over their records. Pretty depressing.

I had switched from Qwest (the only telecommunications company to refuse the NSA the information they wanted without a warrant from the FISA court) over a stupid customer service issue that seemed important at the time, but in retrospect, is nothing compared to what they were willing to do to protect my privacy. Needless to say, I will be calling Qwest in the morning to have my service switched back because, I believe good behavior should be rewarded.

So, after reading this devastating piece of news, I went in search of more information and stumbles across this, a blog post from my Congressman on the Huffington Post. Yes Mr. McDermott, you are right, it is getting cold in Washington DC, where the President’s approval rating is below freezing and the only thing we have to keep us warm are the embers of our charred Constitution. My Congressman says, “In a nation where free speech is the last line of defense against absolute power, they don't want you to know, because the more you know, the worse they look.” Amen to that! So let’s speak freely about their abuses of power and proclaim loudly that, although they may not care for our Constitution, we think it’s pretty swell, and we’re willing to do whatever it takes to protect it. Kicking them to the curb would be a good place to start.