With apologies to William Butler Yeats

ON JULY 4TH, AMERICA CELEBRATED THE RULE OF LAW. ON JULY 9TH, THE SENATE WILL VOTE TO BURY IT.

Those words form the banner headline of a full-page ad that will appear in the Washington Post tomorrow.

And then sometime tomorrow--barring a miracle--the Senate of the United States will probably vote to subvert the Constitution rather than fearlessly defend it. Senators who have fallen under the corruption of political expediency, and who should, if they were faithful to their oath of office vote 100-0 against the FISA bill, will vote to pass the abomination.

Goodbye true Democracy. We are no longer a nation of laws but a sham Democracy with some sort of quasi-king who breaks the law, baldly admits it with a sneer, tells the American public he will continue to break it, and expects others to break the law at his mere suggestion. Back in the 50's this would have been seen as creeping totalitarianism.

The tyrant, its hour come round at last, is slouching toward Washington. Watch it and weep.