Well, a lot has happened this evening on the battle over the King amendment. Michelle Malkin has all the details. Here's a summary:
- the amendment was stripped out of the bill by the conference committee
- King was incensed: "This is a slap in the face of good citizens who do their patriotic duty and come forward, and it caves in to radical Islamists."
- Senator Susan Collins (Rep, ME) attempted to put the amendment on an education funding bill
- that measure failed by three votes since it was not directly related to the intent of the bill (full vote results here)
- voting against protecting Americans: McCaskill
- voting in favor of protecting Americans: Bond, Roberts
- not voting: Brownback (what's up with that, Sam? hedging again??)
Not a single Republican voted against this measure - the entire opposition was from Democrats. As Malkin summarizes: "The Dems believe that if you see something, you should just shut up." Interestingly, several Democratic Senators who are up for re-election in 2008 voted in favor of this bill, while several freshmen Senators did not (i.e. McCaskill). This vote was a calculated risk - they know the American people want this amendment (duh, it's common sense!), so those who will face election first can say they were 'tough on terrorism' while those freshmen are relying on time to dim the memories of this vote.
Again, this amendment would protect anonymous American citizens who report suspicious behavior from being sued. There is absolutely no legitimate reason this measure should have been killed.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but remember which party is trying to protect you, and which party is taking calculated risks with American lives.
There's my two cents.
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