In the spring of 1980, for an exercise in my eighth grade class, we were asked to name our heroes. In front of my whole class, I named you. I didn’t live in San Francisco. I never had. But even at the age of thirteen I knew who you were and what you had done for the city you then served as Mayor.
When you became a Senator I voted for you with pride, and continued to do so until I moved out of California in 1997. Even after I moved, when your campaign fundraisers called me, I contributed. Not much, perhaps, but I did what I could.
But over the past few years, your positions politically have shifted from center to so far right I no longer recognize you as a Democrat. The right wing screaming heads on the radio wouldn’t know what to do if they couldn’t characterize you as a “San Francisco liberal” — which they can only do because you still live there, more or less.
When you authored the PERFORM Act in 2006, I quit sending money to your campaign. To gut the principles of fair use to benefit the profits of record companies is terrible.
But yesterday you decided to endorse the appointment of Michael Mukasey, despite the fact that he will not acknowledge the fact that waterboarding is torture — and this after it was revealed that former Deputy AG Daniel Levin told President Bush it was — because he had undergone it himself!
With that move, you lost the last of the respect I once held for you. I have nothing left but contempt.
I’m sorry, but your argument that “first and foremost, Michael Mukasey is not Alberto Gonzales,” is not good enough.
Not. Good. Enough.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
You should be ashamed of yourself, Senator.
So what if the President makes Mukasey the AG in a recess appointment? That argument isn’t good enough either. The Senate managed to stand up to the President in the case of John Bolton, and the world didn’t come to an end. And that was when the Democrats were in the minority! What’s the good of having a majority in Congress if you are just going to roll over for the President anyway? It is no wonder that Congress’ approval ratings are less than half the President’s, and his are pathetically low.
From hero to contemptible in two short steps.
For shame.