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By Ellen Ratner
Karma and Dogma on Evesdropping
By: Ellen Ratner

The other day I was driving around Washington, D.C., trying to make sense of the news that Congresswoman Heather Wilson, R-N.M., had issued a statement questioning the Bush administration's warrant-less, FISA-less and lawless use of wiretaps to eavesdrop on Americans. What puzzled me was that Rep. Wilson is no lefty.

She's the first Air Force Academy graduate to serve in the House. Moreover, she's a Rhodes Scholar, and holds masters and doctorate degrees from Oxford University. And if this isn't enough, in 2000 the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also awarded her its Spirit of Free Enterprise Award. With her resume, I'd award her the Red State Rep of the Year Award for almost any year.

So I wondered what was up. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a sports car zipped in front of me and I noticed its bumper sticker: "MY KARMA JUST RAN OVER YOUR DOGMA."

And just as suddenly, everything made sense. Heather Wilson is the leading edge of a split in the Republican Party over Bush's illegal wiretapping. The reason is that the Republican Party's genuine, traditional karma of small government, strict constitutional construction, rigid adherence to due process and a temperamental unwillingness to revise any of the foregoing on the mere say-so of some temporary occupant of the White House – just ran over Bush Dogma. And what is that Dogma? That the legitimate presidential war powers contained in the Constitution can be used to nullify the rest of that grand document, especially the Bill of Rights.

Let's try an experiment, shall we? I want you to guess who made the following statement:

The men who wrote our Constitution were quite familiar with armed conflict. Even in time of war, they feared a strong executive with a standing army that might erode the precious liberties that they had risked everything to secure.

The American Civil Liberties Union? George Soros? Ted Kennedy? No – it was Rep. Heather Wilson, member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, chair of the Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence, member of the Republican Policy Committee and chair of its Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs.

And she's no voice in the Republican wilderness. Consider last week's Senate hearings. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tried to lecture lawmakers about the law and was sharply rebuked – by Republicans. Sen. Lindsay Graham characterized Bush's arrogant and high-handed tactics in refusing to get congressional approval for his wiretapping adventures as "very dangerous" that might actually jeopardize a future president's ability to defend the United States by asking Congress for the necessary tools. Bush' refusal to seek congressional authority, Graham declared "could basically neuter the Congress and weaken the courts."

King of the Red State Republicans Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas made his case on similar grounds, asking that Bush come to lawmakers for future approval and oversight "so we can sustain support for the war on terrorism." According to the Baltimore Sun, Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, trying to be polite, even asked if Bush would let the FISA courts review the NSA program, restoring a minimum of due process and judicial review to the process. It would raise "public confidence," Specter insisted. Even on this softball, obvious-as-the-nose-on-your-face proposal, Gonzales was, according to the Sun, "noncommittal." What arrogance!

My rightwing friends who still blindly support this administration (a diminishing number, I might add) are fond of pointing to national polls suggesting that the American people overwhelmingly support the president's high-handedness on the wiretap issue. But I've been around Washington and so-called "polls" too long to be fooled. The best poll – maybe the only poll that matters – are the concerns of legislators.

Their survival depends on getting home-state opinion exactly right, and based on congressional Republican unhappiness with Bush wiretapping, I'll bet dollars to donuts that these men and women are getting an earful from constituents. And why not? Republicans eventually deserted Richard Nixon over his violations of civil liberties and I predict they'll do the same with Bush. It's a split in progress and it will eventually (soon) force Bush to come before Congress and do the right thing – obey the law.

You see, Republican karma is lawful – but in order to protect the country, Bush dogma needs to be put to sleep.