I was just reading a Dana Milbank column from early 2006 about your appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference [the American Conservative Union's annual convention in Washington], and it seemed as if you didn't get a very warm reaction when you were opposing some of the administration's policies. I've talked with some other conservatives about this -- do you think that the conservative movement has become tied to the president and his policies?
I think the problem is that many conservatives have allowed themselves, in recent years, to view the conservative movement as not simply consistent with, but completely incorporated into, the Republican Party. That has caused, I think, significant problems and sort of warped the views of many conservatives -- who have sort of allowed allegiance to a party, that is, the Republican Party, or an administration, that is, the George W. Bush administration, to trump what they know in their heart of hearts is a much better approach, and that is a true conservative approach.
So the conservative movement in recent years has suffered from allowing itself to become captured by the Republican Party, and it has lost, in many respects, its independence, the power that comes from being a true independent, principled movement, the conservative movement. These issues have become very complex because of that. So, for example, when you go to speak to a group of conservatives and you are critical of the way the current administration has been denigrating civil liberties and individual freedom, many conservatives rally to the defense of the administration because they support the administration.
But I think that's changing, and you can see that, for example, just in microcosm in the group that Bruce Fein has pulled together for the AFA. David Keene, a very well-respected, longtime leader of the conservative movement, and Richard Viguerie, likewise a longtime expert on grass-roots movement on the conservative side, joining with Bruce and me to say, "Look, there are some issues here that are much more important than a political party or a particular administration and true conservatives need to band together and work for these civil liberties." So I think it really means a lot when you have leaders like that who come out and highlight what we're doing here.
We've been talking about civil liberties since 9/11. You voted for the Patriot Act -- what role did that play in any loss of civil liberties, and what do you think of that vote now?
It's a vote that I would not cast now, knowing how the powers in the act have been abused, and [seeing] how vast not just the Patriot Act powers but other powers that the administration has simply taken for itself or that Congress has granted have increased dramatically the power of the federal government. These are of great concern to me, and that's why I worked very strenuously in '05 and '06 to try to have the Patriot Act amended and some of its provisions that were up for renewal rescinded. That's why I've worked so very hard, also over the last few years, to bring attention to the real problems, where you have unfettered power for an administration, any administration, such as was granted in the Patriot Act. These are very serious problems, and even though there were some worthwhile provisions in the Patriot Act, which is why I voted for it back in '01, looking back on it now and seeing how it has been used and abused since then makes very clear in my mind that that act should not have been passed in the form that it was.
You were one of the House managers during the Clinton impeachment trial -- looking back now, what do you think of that period?
Of course, it was a different administration, different issues. The issues in the impeachment related to the sanctity of our judicial system, obstruction of justice and perjury by a very high government official, which I think certainly, even today, are very worthwhile and important to uphold: the principle that no individual is above the law regardless of their position, that when a person takes an oath in open court to tell the truth they do so, and that if they demonstrably have not done so they should pay a price for that, and the public should know about it. So I think the issues that we addressed in the impeachment were very, very important.
Speaking of that, Sen. Chuck Hagel [R-Neb.] recently speculated aloud about impeaching President Bush. Given your own experience, what do you think of impeachment when it comes to this president?
Some of the issues that we've looked at, and that have come to the public's attention in recent years, I think are extremely serious and ought to be inquired into by the Congress. On the issue of warrantless electronic surveillance, Congress still does not have a full and accurate view of what has gone on and what continues to go on with regard to what seems to me to be a clear violation of the terms of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by the administration. That's just one small area that I think Congress definitely needs to look into. Where they take it from there depends on what they find out, but it's certainly something that needs to be looked at.
About the writer
Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.
Story finder (3 ways to search Salon)
Salon Directory (browse by topic)