That’s how one observer recalled Harold Ford’s message to a recent gathering of bloggers.

It’s a troubling statement on its face, but it is particularly shocking when one considers the source:  Ford is the executive director of the Democratic Leadership Council, which was co-founded by Bill Clinton.

Meantime, another illustrious Democrat, Charles Schumer, is quoted by a New Yorker reporter as saying that voters don’t care about civil liberties.

It is mind boggling that elected officials—such as Chuck Schumer and every single member of Congress who voted for the  Fourth-Amendment-offending FISA—cannot see that their words and actions are in diametric opposition to their oath of office, which requires them to “protect and defend” the Constitution.

That is why I feel the work of the People’s Campaign for the Constitution is so important.

What happens when the people sworn to defend the Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic” become the domestic enemies of the Constitution?

It seems clear that “We the People” have to take responsibility where our elected leaders have defaulted on theirs.

There was a time that I would have not worried too much about some of the shocking crimes being created in the name of our “democracy.”  I would have looked up and seen the heroes out there, both in and out of government: the Daniel Ellsbergs, the Thurgood Marshalls, and the Sam Ervins would have set our nation back on the right track.

While Sen. Sam Ervin was considered a rock-ribbed conservative, he was just one of a multitude of legislators who could be counted on to defend the Constitution, regardless of how unpopular that decision might be—the polls be damned.

Where are they now?

It is apparent that our leaders think the perks and privileges of power are far more important than the principles of our democracy.  In short, if it doesn’t poll well, it gets the short shrift. Fear is not a patriotic virtue, but courage to stand up for the Constitution is.

I thank the People’s Campaign for the Constitution for helping provide us with the courage that we all need to build a movement and restore our constitutional rights and protections.

Tags: Constitution, PATRIOT Act

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