Mehlman: Democrats have "concern for terrorist civil liberties"

Here's some items you should be aware of just in case you get the insane urge to reach across the metaphorical aisle and make peace with a Republican today… On the heels of George W. Bush signing the torture bill into law this week, Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Ken Mehlman has sent an e-mail to GOP supporters calling this debasement of our national creed "an important reminder of what we can accomplish when the president and Congress work together for the safety of America."

We expect a charlatan like Mehlman to depict the rubber-stamp, GOP Congress bowing to Bush's every whim as an example of how they "work together" -- no harm, no foul. That's his job.

But, of course, Mehlman didn't stop there. In the e-mail -- with a subject line of "Saving American Lives" -- the RNC chief conveyed to his GOP brethren that this law was a reason to not even consider voting for a Democrat in three weeks, saying the "Democrats in the House voted against interrogating terrorists."

He followed that incredibly misleading line of crap by declaring that Democrats in both the House and the Senate "voted against this bill out of concern for terrorist civil liberties" and asking his followers to "take a stand for a stronger America by doing everything possible to ensure that these Democrats aren't given even more power in Washington."

Appearing on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann Tuesday night, George Washington University Professor of Constitutional Law, Jonathan Turley, described exactly how hideous the law signed by Bush truly is.

"People clearly don‘t realize what a fundamental change this is about who we are as a country," said Turley. "What happened today changed us. And I‘m not too sure we‘re going to change back anytime soon."

"And people have no idea how significant this is. What, really, a time of shame this is for the American system. What the Congress did and what the president signed today essentially revokes over 200 years of American principles and values."

And the chairman of the RNC tells millions of people that defending that same Constitution is really Democrats being concerned about "terrorist civil liberties."

Meanwhile, the RNC sent another e-mail just this morning from the Religious Right's 2008 presidential favorite, Sam Brownback (R-KS), also reinforcing their line that Democrats love terrorists -- and, despite no evidence that this is in the cards, will also raise their taxes.

Writes Brownback: "Will we turn over control to the Democrats who want to raise taxes across the board, weaken our ability to fight an effective War on Terror, and launch impeachment hearings?"

Well, he may be right about that impeachment stuff. But think about this kind of thing and how the GOP has for decades set the tone for this method of smearing Democrats, before you sing Kumbaya with any Republicans today.