"Dung Heap" Headed For the Trash Heap?

The U.S. Senate has voted to amend S.A. 3, the "Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act", removing Section 220 from the bill. Section 220, among other things, would have restricted the ability of groups like the National Rifle Association or ACLU from sending out email alerts asking readers to contact their congressperson. It would have even required bloggers (a group near and dear to my heart) to go through the time and expense of registering as federal lobbyists if they were to write an article urging their readers to contact Congress. If the McCain-Feingold Incumbent Protection Act was the “camel’s nose” slipping under the tent, then Section 220 was the neck, with the “body,” an absolute ban on political speech, on its way. Thanks to the hard work of the very type that Congress was seeking to ban, this outrage was stopped.

Among the 43 Senators (all Democrats by the way) voting to keep this malicious gag rule was Iowa’s very own demagogue Tom Harkin. The same Tom Harkin who, only a short while ago, was one of only 16 senators to vote against a measure that forbid government officials from arbitrarily seizing your property (in the form of your guns) after a disaster, leaving you defenseless against roving thugs. The same Tom Harkin who said that six billion dollars of taxpayer money was “pencil dust.” The same Tom Harkin who said that the Second Amendment only protects the right of states to maintain a “National Guard.” The same Tom Harkin who raised his hand and swore an oath to fairly judge an impeachment proceeding, then labeled the prosecution’s case a “heap of dung” before actually hearing it. The same Tom Harkin who fights for the “little guy,” the “common people,” the “poor and downtrodden” from his home in the Bahamas.

When asked to explain his recent vote restricting free speech, Senator Harkin clasped his hands over his ears and shouted, "The voice of the People is like the buzzing of flies to Senator Harkin!" Okay, I made that part up. Harkin didn't say that... but I bet he wanted to.

There is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel however. Rumors abound that “Dung Heap” Harkin may not seek reelection in ‘08. That would give the Republicans a good opportunity to pick up another seat in the Senate, it they don’t screw it up.

There’s speculation that western Iowa’s U.S. Rep. Steve King might try for Dung Heap‘s senate seat. Though I’m a Libertarian, I could vote for King without holding my nose. Another good candidate for the GOP would be Nora Springs farmer and ex-Marine Bill Salier who sought the Republican nomination to go up against Harkin in ‘02, but lost the nomination to a moderate weenie who Dung Heap quickly made minced-meat of. Both Salier and King are strong defenders of the Second Amendment, but probably pretty hawkish on the war on terror and the privacy infringements that go along with that. But regardless of who the Republicans run, it would be an improvement over that socialist charlatan Dung Heap Harkin.

By the way, since ol’ Dung Heap voted to ban people like me from urging people like you to contact him, why not drop him a line? Let him know what you think about political free speech.

The “Honorable” Tom Harkin
United States Senate
731 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-1502
DC Phone: 202-224-3254 DC Fax: 202-224-9369
Email Address: http://harkin.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm

What the heck! As long as we're at it, we should thank Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley for voting to strip Section 220 from S.A. 3, a vote in favor of free speech.

The Honorable Charles E. Grassley
United States Senate
135 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-1501
DC Phone: 202-224-3744 DC Fax: 202-224-6020
Email Address: http://grassley.senate.gov/webform.htm