Like an oasis in the desert

By Carol Gee

It was an amazing thing to watch, this strange thing called "leadership." But there it was, this cool guy from Connecticut, his face getting red, saying "No, not this time!" He was saying it on the floor of the Senate In Washington.

And a few of his friends stood up for him -- Senators Kennedy, Wyden, Nelson and Feingold, particularly, but generally he was on his own.

The opposing Republican Senators he faced yesterday got really red in the face, too. Their arguments for the bill were absurd distortions of the issues, avoidance of the truth about the illegality of the actual warrantless wiretap program, etc. The most absurd was the one accusing us "conspiracy theorists" of being fear mongers, trying to make people fear their own government, of all things. Talk about pot and kettle!

His compatriots were in Iowa, gathering next year's votes. Senator Dodd managed to gather some votes that truly mattered to our country's future today. Our public pressure appeared to aid this courageous man in one of the biggest fights of his career, because Senator Reid pulled the bill from the floor until next year.

If it had not been for this one man who exercised leadership at a critical moment, I might be writing a lament tonight. But I am relieved. I am no longer undecided. You have my vote, Senator Dodd, whether you have the required "electability quotient" or not.

Bravo. You are like a cool drink of water in the desert to us.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)