COTUS Interrupts Us by Doug Wrenn

COTUS Interrupts Us

By Doug Wrenn

March 06, 2008

Leave it to analogy-obsessed, quirky me to find a common thread connecting spying and baseball. And only in America, would The Congress Of The United States (COTUS) provide all the necessary ingredients for that bizarre recipe.

Congress recently failed to act on the Protect America Act, which would have renewed legislation pertaining to FISA, or the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act, which instituted a special court for intelligence matters, including wiretaps. The PAA also provides for protection and secrecy of telecommunications companies doing the government's bidding in such covert operations.

I have previously come out against warrantless wiretaps by the Bush administration. I still hold firm on that opinion. Judges, like doctors, are often on call. While the average American courthouse enjoys leisurely bankers' hours, opening the docket at about 9 or 10 am, wrapping up shop by 4 or 5pm, and enjoying a leisurely lunch for an hour or two in between, our boys in blue are out there hitting the bricks to keep us all reasonably safe on a 24/7 basis. So when they get a hot tip and need to kick in a door at 3am or else the bad guy and the evidence will be gone by dawn, time is precious. But the cops still need a warrant. Hence the judge on call. This scenario exists at local, state and federal levels. FISA theoretically provides that same service to our intelligence community, when they choose to use it.

I understand that the FISA bill is outdated and that modern technology with cell phones, etc. has surpassed it. That's understandable. Born during the Ford administration, FISA is no spring chicken. It does need to be updated. That does not mean we throw out the United States Constitution with the baby and the bath water. Much like with the Patriot Act, I am neither in the "Yay" nor "Nay" camp with the Protect America Act. Neither bill should be repealed and neither bill should be left untouched, but both could be improved with some thoughtful tweaking, and thus striking a reasonable balance between our liberty and our security.

The Dems, said they opposed the bill. That's fine, so debate it and give it an up or down vote. But no, common sense and decency aren't in their playbook, especially in election years, so in their typical and adolescent manner, the Democrats let the bill "sundown" and our intelligence ops are now stuck out there in the field, holding the bag, and you and I are now that much more in danger because of it. Unfortunately for us, al Quaeda has not "sundowned," not yet, anyway.

Yet, everything must come to a grinding halt to drag in Clemens and the boys in to hear chapter and verse about steroids in baseball. Huh? That's right, baseball, that kids game that most adults are so obsessed with. Being a national past time does not qualify, however, for being a federal function.

In fact, Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution specifies the functions of COTUS. Investigating steroids in baseball players somehow didn't make the cut. I would venture that somehow, someway, somebody hung his hat on the Interstate Commerce Clause within that same article, and of which prominent author, pundit and legal scholar, Mark Levin, has written and commented. He has also excoriated those who abuse that codicil by now so commonly and ridiculously stretching it beyond its intended limits. Perhaps this fiasco is one such prime example.

In politics, perception is reality. Currently, the American people are rightfully perplexed as to why their national security, the primary duty of our federal government, is back shelved, while COTUS "plays ball."

Now we have the FBI investigating Roger Clemens for allegedly lying to Congress, yes, "lying to Congress." What irony! That's like an unpaid prostitute going to the police and pressing charges against a customer for theft of services.

When then Committee Chairman Fred Thompson was heading the Senate Government Relations Committee investigation of communist Chinese influence into our electoral system during the Dark Ages (AKA: "The Clinton years"), many of his subpoenaed witnesses simply refused to show up. I recall watching the hearings on CSPAN, and poor old Fred was just sitting there, lamenting about it and doing little else. But now the FBI is investigating Roger Clemens because he allegedly lied to Congress about steroid use to play better ball. (Meanwhile, a antional crime wave is now rising like a surging tide with unchecked, tsunami-like force, as movie buffs everywhere are scrambling to flagrantly and cavalierly violate federal law by copying their favorite flicks onto blank VHS tapes and CD's in the cloistered secrecy of their homes everywhere, despite the threatened and imposing $10,000 fine, and with impunity while our gallant G-men are now otherwise distracted by this unspeakable atrocity in professional athletics! Ohh….the humanity!)

The hallowed halls of Congress have now become the shallow halls of Congress, the House of Representatives, more akin to the "House of Reprehensibles," and the Senate, simply a sinful sinecure without a cure. As of this writing, Real Clear Politics.com shows that the disapproval rating of Congress is 68.3%. COTUS actually is in worse shape than POTUS (President Of The United States), as President Bush's dismal disapproval rating is slightly better, at 61.2%. Given that most of our electorate is apathetic, asleep, generally clueless, or distracted by reading the sports page or watching some mindless reality TV program, the fact that 60 some odd percent of them polled are abysmally unhappy with how their elected officials are running the country is at least slightly significant. In baseball parlance, you could easily get better stats by surveying passersby during their lunch hour on the Boston Common as to how many of them are Yankees fans.

When Ma Pelosi and her dastardly Democrat gang of goombas took over the COTUS from the newly ousted and forcibly retired Republicans, they promised change. And change we got. More Post Offices have been renamed in this past session of Congress than any previous one I can ever recall. Meanwhile, Hillary and Obama are also promising "change." This election better get decided soon, because even within our bloated federal bureaucracy, they are starting to run out of buildings to rename. So much for change. Meanwhile, all these blowhards keep espousing "the will of the people." What a crock. All they ever do is usurp or impede the will of the people. Nobody listens. Nobody cares. Nothing really changes. Same ol', same ol.' Business as usual, and forgive me, but just more "inside baseball." Meanwhile, our real and significant problems remain, or are getting continually worse to no avail. Congress, or at least, this current gaggle, has outlived its usefulness.

Given its current track record, if COTUS continues to interrupt us, maybe it would be best if it just pulls out altogether.

"Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."

(Mark Twain)

Doug Wrenn