We have to agree with Jeffrey Rosen in his New Republic article Civil Right reminding us that it is the libertarian ultra-conservatives like outgoing Representatives Dick Armey and Bob Barr who have advocated most stronglyfor our civil rights since September 11. The Democrats have not. But that is nothing new over the past few decades. We wrote about this issue two months before the 1996 elections when Barr opposed expanded wiretap legislation proposed by Clinton. (See, Partisan Politics vs. The Bill of Rights, published in The Champion.)

As everyone knows, politics makes strange bedfellows. It is good strategy for us to form coalitions with groups from the opposite end of the political spectrum when an issue arises that we both support. We are glad Barr was defeated because of his ultra-right wing views on drug offenders and the death penalty. But we appreciate his views on civil liberties and privacy and the extent to which he went to protect them. As Rosen points out,

"...the alliance between the libertarian right and the civil libertarian left remains vital even if it has little obvious grassroots support. At a time of national trial, this alliance has done more to check executive overreaching and to defend individual liberty than the big-government liberals running the Democratic Party, who have been all too happy to respond to demands by the public and the president for security above all."

Matthew Yglesias, one of our favorite bloggers who we read every day and almost always agree with, is having second thoughts about Rosen's article. He says, "I think this concern for civil liberties sometimes goes too far and one might even want to call it “paranoid”.

We believe our civil liberties must be assiduously protected. Once they start to slip, they go quickly. Once we remove them for one group, it becomes easier to do it for the next group. Once we begin making exceptions for catostropic events, the exceptions will become the rule.

We don't believe in giving an inch on core constitutional rights. The Second Amendment is only one away from the Fourth. As the old saying goes, give them an inch and they'll take a mile."

We'd also like to point out that not all Democrats in Congress are weak on civil liberties. In particular, Colorado's Dianna DeGette and Mark Udall have been constant supporters. If you know of others, feel free to put them here in the comments section.