Stardate 20011025.1005 (On Screen and On Sensors): It's too easy, and a bit dangerous, to make facile judgements about how a given legislator will behave based solely on his party affiliation. The "anti-terrorism" act just passed the House, but before it did a provision was added to it requiring judicial overview of the Carnivore email-interception system. It was inserted by a Democrat, right? Nope, it was inserted by House Majority Leader Dick Armey, a Republican from Texas. On the other hand, a top Represenative on the House Appropriations Committee has come out with a call for President Bush to substantially raise defense spending. A Republican, right? Nope; it was Norm Dicks, a Democrat from Washington. Perhaps "bipartisanship"
isn't dead. Or perhaps this crisis has suddenly made our Representatives realize that their primary duty is to serve the nation, not to serve their parties. One can hope.
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