Question Time for Shadegg and HayworthI was disturbed to note
this post.
A Libertarian-leaning coalition, comprised of many conservative Republican groups, is now joining the chorus of Americans calling for a full Congressional investigation into George W. Bush's warrantless government eavesdropping program, The BRAD BLOG has learned.
In an open letter obtained from The Liberty Coalition, to be released publicly tomorrow, the group -- which features such noted true conservatives as former Congressman Bob Barr (R-GA) and the Republican Liberty Caucus -- is calling on Congress to hold comprehensive hearings into the warrantless NSA domestic wiretapping program. As well, the group calls on the Dept. of Justice to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the matter and stresses the need for Whistleblower protections to allow employees of national security agencies to come forward to testify to Congress about criminal behavior in their respective agencies.Well, you know how it is, how many "conservative Republican groups" are in that coalition and who are they?
The letter is signed on behalf of the following groups:
Republican Liberty Caucus
American Policy Center
Democrats.com
Fairfax County Privacy Council
Rutherford Institute
Former Congressman Bob Barr
Multiracial Activists
Cyber Privacy Project
U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation
Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances
National Lawyers Guild/National Office
Consumer Action
First Amendment Foundation
NCARL, National Committee Against Repressive Legislation
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR)
National Security Whistleblower Coalition
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
Velvet Revolution (VR)Okay, you know how it goes. Democrats.com is Fruitcake Bob Fertik and his group, so it hardly qualifies as conservative Republican. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committeee, I doubt, the National Lawyers Guild is a famed
communist front organization...
But the
Republican Liberty Caucus has some 'splaining to do. It bills itself as "The Conscience of the Republican Party", but apparently it's not a "social justice" organization. Rather it's something of a libertarian group.
Who's on it that we should know? Well, a couple of
congressmen are listed on the board:
John Culberson (TX)
Mark Foley (FL)
J.D. Hayworth (AZ)
Sam Johnson (TX)
Ron Paul (TX) [also former chair of the RLC]
John Shadegg (AZ)
Nick Smith (MI)
Todd Tiahrt (KS)
Paul of course is a former big-L Libertarian who joined the Republican party to steer it on a more libertarian course, so it's not surprising that he'd be on board. But some of the other members need to be pinned down as to where they stand on this call for an independent prosecutor and special whistleblower protections. Shadegg's my congressman and my office is in Hayworth's district, so I'm going to be calling them this morning. If you live in the district of one of these other congressmen, why not give them a buzz and find out whether they endorse this letter personally.
