从FISA到选区重划:美国政治的‘原则’为何总在权力面前折腰?
当共和党人Jim Jordan为反对FISA搜查令而辩论,却投票支持放弃搜查令的延期时;当民主党人Jamie Raskin呼吁改革却投票支持原案时——我们看到的不是政治博弈,而是原则的彻底工具化。
核心观点:美国政坛最近在FISA和选区重划上的双面操作表明,所谓的‘原则’不过是权力博弈的装饰品,两党对同一行为的态度完全取决于谁在受益。
如果你需要用一个简单的例子来证明美国政治已经彻底沦为权力争夺的零和游戏,最近发生在华盛顿的FISA延期案和马里兰州的选区重划辩论应该被同时放在聚光灯下。这两件事看似无关,一个涉及国家安全监控,一个涉及选举地图的绘制,但它们共享一个令人不安的核心:政治人物的‘原则’极其柔软,可以随着所属政党的利益而随意弯曲。
先看FISA。美国众议院不久前差点以‘口头表决’的方式通过一项为期45天的FISA 702条款延期,这意味着几乎没有辩论、没有记录在案的投票,就轻松延长了一项允许政府在没有搜查令的情况下监控外国目标(但不可避免地会‘顺便’收集美国人通讯数据的权力)。是共和党众议员Thomas Massie强行要求记名投票,才让这件事暴露在阳光下。随后发生的一幕堪称政治讽刺的经典教材:Jim Jordan——这位多年来一直在福克斯新闻上发誓要‘为FISA增加搜查令要求’的保守派斗士——竟然领导了反对搜查令的辩论,并敦促同僚投‘赞成票’。原因很简单:特朗普要求这么做。
同样的剧情在民主党这边上演。Jamie Raskin在辩论中慷慨陈词,指出FISA 702必须进行两党改革以保护美国人隐私,然后——他投了赞成票,支持了那个‘没有搜查令’的延期方案。当一个人刚刚证明为什么某件事是错误的,然后立即投票支持它时,语言已经失去了任何意义。剩下的只有赤裸裸的策略:也许他认为与其让法案失败导致FISA失效,不如先通过再争取修改;但这恰恰印证了本文的核心观点——在紧急的‘国家安全’叙事面前,原则总是第一个被牺牲的。
转过来看马里兰州的选区重划。在Reddit上,一位用户提出了一个看似尖锐的问题:‘马里兰应该进行杰利蝾螈(Gerrymandering)吗?’他的论点是,既然佛罗里达、阿拉巴马、田纳西等共和党控制的州正在大搞杰利蝾螈,增加共和党在众议院的席位,为什么马里兰——一个民主党占优的州——不应该以牙还牙?这个问题的力量不在于它提供了正义,而在于它彻底解构了‘反对杰利蝾螈’这一所谓的‘两党共识’。当民主党人义正词严地批评共和党人的选区操纵时,他们是否真的反对这种行为本身,还是仅仅反对它被对手使用?马里兰的案例是一个完美的压力测试:当一个有利于本党的杰利蝾螈方案摆在桌上时,所谓的‘原则’往往会突然变得灵活起来。
这两件事放在一起,揭示了一个令人沮丧的真相:美国政治中不存在跨党派的固定原则,只存在当权的利益。对于FISA,共和党在特朗普时代之前坚决反对无搜查令监控,但一旦其领袖要求通过,原则就消失了;民主党则从支持监控(在反恐战争中)转变为要求改革,但当改革意味着可能让法案搁浅时,他们又选择了支持现状。对于选区重划,两党都在进行一场心照不宣的‘囚徒困境’:如果我不操纵地图,对手就会操纵;所以我必须操纵。所谓的‘反对杰利蝾螈’只是选举时的口号,一旦掌权,它就变成了‘对手的恶行,我们的必要手段’。
这种双重标准并非新鲜事,但它正在以前所未有的速度腐化公众对民主制度的信任。在FISA辩论中,只有111名众议员投了反对票(其中仅26名共和党人)。这意味着大多数议员选择了党派忠诚,而非他们曾经承诺的原则。更令人担忧的是,这种背叛发生在公众视野之下,却几乎没有政治代价。选民要么不清楚发生了什么,要么已经麻木,认为‘所有政客都一样’。这种绝望感恰恰是政治体系功能失调的根源。
当然,反方可以辩解说,政治本身就是妥协的艺术。没有人能完全坚持原则,因为治理需要权衡。FISA的情况可能确实存在正当的国家安全理由,而杰利蝾螈的支持者会说这是对对手不公平行为的‘对称回应’。但这些论点忽略了一个关键区别:原则与策略。当一个人公开承认‘杰利蝾螈是错误的’,然后转身实施它时,这不再是妥协,而是欺骗。当Raskin高声呼吁改革然后投票支持现状时,这不再是权衡,而是虚伪。
更深层的问题在于,这种虚伪已经内化为政治系统的运作逻辑。政客们不需要真正相信他们说的话,只要他们的行为能取悦党的核心支持者即可。对于FISA,核心支持者(无论是MAGA还是进步派)都有更紧急的关注点,所以出卖隐私权不会引发党内反弹。对于选区重划,核心支持者只关心结果——多拿席位——所以操纵地图不仅被容忍,甚至被期望。
如果有什么值得乐观的,那就是FISA投票中仍有111名议员说了‘不’。他们中的一些人可能出于真正的信念,另一些人可能只是出于对特朗普的厌恶,但无论如何,他们构成了一个可能抵制潮流的基础。对于普通公民而言,唯一的武器是投票时记住这些记录:不是看政客说了什么,而是看他们如何投票。当一个人支持他曾经反对的监控法案时,他放弃了要求你再次支持他的权利。同样,当一个人在选区重划上玩双面游戏时,他的‘改革’承诺不再可信。
这篇文章的观点无意于贬低所有政治家,但我们必须正视一个事实:当原则变得如此可塑时,民主制度的基础——理性辩论和基于共识的决策——正在被侵蚀。FISA和杰利蝾螈只是两个例子,但类似的场景每天都在华盛顿上演。问题不在于政客虚伪——这从来都不是新闻——而在于我们作为公民,是否愿意继续接受这种表演。答案很可能是否定的,但我们需要用实际行动来证明:记住那些在FISA投票中投了‘反对’的26名共和党人,也记住那些嘴上说改革却投票支持现状的民主党人。记忆,才是对抗政治背叛的最有效武器。
参考来源
- RT by @paulg: This is remarkable and you should watch this entire video.
- The House was going to pass a 45 day extension of FISA 702 (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act), BY VOICE WITHOUT VOTING, and Thomas Massie courageously forced a debate and demanded a recorded vote.
- Jim Jordan who has fought FOR warrants for FISA for years ironically led the debate AGAINST warrants and urged a YES vote for a clean extension WITHOUT warrants, which is what Trump is demanding even after FISA was used against him by the Democrats to spy on him and his campaign. Trump literally says give up your rights and just pass it and Jordan won’t go against Trump even though he wants warrant requirements.
- Chip Roy, Warren Davidson, and Keith Self joined Thomas Massie and made strong cases as to why Congress must add warrant requirements to FISA 702 and why a Central Bank Digital Currency must be banned and how both are powerful tools of control and surveillance and violation of your privacy and liberties.
- And Jamie Raskin (D) gave compelling arguments as to why bipartisanship is needed in the House to make reforms to FISA 702 yet after doing so he voted YES to a clean 45 day extension of FISA 702 without warrant requirements, which makes no sense. Why demand change and then literally vote for what you just argued against? However never forget under Biden and Democrats FISA 702 was used to spy on hundreds of thousands of Americans.
- Also, the Republican controlled Senate and its leader John Thune will not vote for a ban on Central Bank Digital Currency, saying it’s dead on arrival in the Senate. And neither will the Democrats.
- To sum it up, Americans are literally losing our precious privacy and freedoms right now under Trump and Republicans, yet Democrats are no better and have made no major policy changes that caused them to lose in 2024. They are only winning because Trump and Republicans have betrayed the most important campaign promises.
- 111 members of Congress voted NAY (NO) to the 45 day FISA 702 extension without warrant requirements for Americans so that your government can spy on you. Some voted NO in a partisan manner and because they hate Trump and some voted NO because they truly want change.
- Either way, those who voted NO should be recognized.
- Out of 111 ONLY 26 Republicans bravely voted NO. Here is the list of GOP NOs and pictured is the full list of both D’s and R’s who voted NO.
- Republican NO votes:
- Begich, Biggs (SC), Boebert, Brecheen, Burchett, Cammack, Cloud, Collins, Crane, Davidson, Downing, Fry, Fulcher, Gosar, Hageman, Harshbarger, Higgins (LA), Kennedy (UT), Luttrell, Massie, Miller (IL), Ogles, Perry, Roy, Self, and Tiffany.
- But after all this, the House passed the clean 45 day extension of FISA 702. After years of Trump and Republicans campaigning and demanding on Fox News that warrant requirements must be added to FISA, nothing changed.
- The promises they made to you are broken.
- The only thing that matters is voting records, none of their words. Words are meaningless puffs of air.
- If your Representative is not on this list, who voted NO, then you should tell them you are withdrawing your support and not voting for them. On both sides of the aisle.
- It doesn’t matter anymore whether you vote Republican or Democrat.
- Behind the veil, they are one and the same.
- Lastly, KY-4 your Representative Thomas Massie is a giant among men in Congress and fights for you harder than the entire House and Senate combined.
- Don’t be fools, vote for Thomas Massie!!! - https://nitter.net/FmrRepMTG/status/2050193715063300532#m
- Why Empty Office Buildings Are Costing Mid-Sized Cities Like Portland Millions - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H35FjMDdkSg
- cmv: most everyday progressives are just would-be benefactors and hypocrites - https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/comments/1szrlib/cmv_most_everyday_progressives_are_just_wouldbe/