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Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA) (house.gov)
First it was her stance on the death penalty, and now it's her stance on the USA PATRIOT Act.
Rep. Mike Capuano continues to make real distinctions between his legitimately progressive record and the record of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.
This time, Rep. Capuano took AG Coakley to task on her “on-the-record” position on the USA PATRIOT Act as opposed to the one she just expressed recently.
Rep. Capuano has the rare distinction of being on record as actually voting against the USA PATRIOT Act every time it has come up in the house. He is one of the very few who can say that.
AG Coakley has tried to hold a similar position. In a recently released position paper, AG Coakley said the USA PATRIOT Act, “sacrificed some of our most treasured civil liberties." However, in June 2005, around the same time as the re-authorization of the first version of the USA PATRIOT Act, she was involved in a panel discussion at Middlesex College when the topic came up. Here is what she said at the time as reported by the Lowell Sun:
“Your insurance company knows more about you than the federal government does, when people don't understand how things work, they're willing to say 'Can't do it, won't do it,' and they tie the government's hands."
Well, that would suggest that the people are too stupid to know when their civil rights and liberties are being violated. It's also a very Neo-Con-ish stance from the supposedly progressive Coakley. At a forum at Suffolk University today, AG Coakley accused Rep. Capuano of taking the quote out of context, and tried to shore up her position to the Boston Globe:
“I’ve done that my whole life, protecting people's rights as well as keeping people safe. I think the criticism is misguided.“
In this particular case, it would seem like the criticism is warranted, not misguided. AG Coakley was anointed before the Special Election was even announced by the Democratic Party Machine in Massachusetts. Essentially, it was “her turn” in their determination; much like it was then-Lt. Gov. John Kerry's “turn” when he ran and won his Senate seat years ago.
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