"It is not all that I would want. But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as President, I will carefully monitor the program, review the report by the Inspectors General, and work with the Congress to take any additional steps I deem necessary to protect the lives - and the liberty - of the American people." Barry Obama
Posted by peter at June 21, 2008 09:15 AMthere was a rec list diary at daily kos that boiled down to this: leave barack alooooooooooone!
i expect politicians to compromise and sell out. that's why i never bought into obama's hope & change schtick. but exactly on cue, the obama bloggers are proving that they are the change. they will no longer be idealists. they will no longer care about the issues. whatever their idol does is fine. cult of personality, hero worship, faith over facts. where have we seen that before?
Posted by Turkana at June 21, 2008 09:26 AMWhere have we seen this before? Well, the other guy didn't have his own "Seal".
And the other guy didn't get away with declaring "Mission Accomplished." Obama did. He went to Iowa to declare victory after his loss in Kentucky.
And now he's declared himself president with his very own Seal.
Obamamus Hubris. He makes Bush look like an amateur.
I was heartened when Barrack Obama became the Democratic nominee and the titular head of the party. The potential for change, not merely political, but cultural as well with our first black candidate for president with a legitimate chance of election was significant, but I now know how deep that change runs. Skin deep. That would appear to be the only change that our watershed candidate is offering.
Posted by Retired Catholic at June 21, 2008 10:56 AMThe democratic party is proving to be as abusive as Ike Turner.
Tina would be gone by now.
Posted by TIKI AL at June 21, 2008 11:18 AMParadox, God bless you. You always say what I am feeling and thinking.
Our Party leaders don't need us or care what we think or want. Fine, let's see how they find money to further their anti-American policies. It won't be coming from my purse.
Everytime a Democrat calls here to extract money from my pocket, I tell them my contribution will come when they start acting like Democrats and not before. Fuck 'em.
I'll give money to anyone running to unseat the 11 Democrats who supported the FISA Bill.
Posted by Judith#1 at June 21, 2008 11:21 AMCongratulations!
"When the FISA scandal first broke in 2005 I had an embarrassing evolution of crestfallen naiveté, for some basic searching of Bush video archives soon turned up a 2004 clip of Bush babbling a series of FISA rationalizations, followed by a total 100% screaming lie by Bush that in regards to American government surveillance on its citizens since 9/11, why, 'nothing’s changed.'"
One run-on sentence = one paragraph.
Posted by Bagley at June 21, 2008 11:41 AMJudith there were over 100 Democrats voting for the FISA bill. There will be over twenty in the senate to support it too. Saint Obama won't save you from this one.
Posted by peter at June 21, 2008 12:44 PMSome things have changed.
Friday evening, I was at Atlanta's High Museum of Art visiting its new exhibit, "Road to Freedom, which is a collection of pictures from the Civil Rights movement from 1956 to 1968.
While I was there, U.S. Rep. John Lewis showed up unnannounced and did a walk through the exhibit telling those luckily present about the pictures and his personal experience surrounding each event. For those of you who did not live through that time, John Lewis, next to Martin Luther King, may have been one of the most influential leaders that led our nation to end Jim Crow. Mr. Lewis's talk was extremely moving as he recounted his arrests. I watched him look, mayby for the first time at his arrest records which filled a display. I think he was deeply moved by the exhibit.
As he was leaving, I had a chance to speak with him personally about the FISA bill that he had just voted against. He said, "We must not let them destroy the Constitution."
Things have changed. A wonderful and talented part of America now participates fully in the national life that only suffered oppression 40 years ago.
Mr. King and Mr. Lewis were both wiretapped by the FBI. Now, our government is regularly wiretapping all Americans and the destruction of the Constitution is ongoing. The Black Leader, Obama, has now come out in favor of that violation of the Fourth Amendment. The nation sleeps while the basic constitutional guarantees of Liberty are lost.
One thing that has now changed is my view of the Democratic Party, and particularly Barak Obama.
Now, Barak Obama, the legatee of the bravery and vision of MLK and John Lewis, has joined the ranks of those who, for short-term gain and long term power, willingly abandon the Constitution.
I just hope John Lewis can sit down with Obama and tell Obama about the real meaning of freedom and the evil of joining the Authoritarian Party.
Obama has now actively joined in the destruction of the Contitution for his own aggrandizement and search for power. I no longer see any reason to support him for any purpose.
Barak Obama's slogan is now appended to AT&T's,
"Your World Delivered direct to the NSA, YES WE CAN and I will"
He is just another politician groping for power just like Bush, Cheney, and Pelosi. Worthless!
All of my money and support this year will go to thoes in the House and Senate and other candidates who yet fight the fight against eternal war and government oppression.
Posted by Nobody at June 21, 2008 01:25 PMParadox - that "vegomatic primary process" line is a beaut! Love it!
Posted by the young Judith at June 21, 2008 02:52 PM
Yes, it is disappointing. Seemingly progressive and unifying Obama is sacrificing the right wing administration's intrusion into personal lives for his perception of the need to look strong on terrorism so what happened to John Kerry in 2004 does not happen to him...I believe this is the psychology of it. Hang in there, and hope for Senator Feingold to filibuster!
Posted by consider wisely always at June 21, 2008 03:24 PMSa 21 Jun 2008
15.40 PDT Los Angeles
It's some, but precious little, comfort to read numerous very passionate, eloquent reactions like Paradox's. My own story: by chance, the DCCC called me Friday afternoon - I always know it's them, b/c my cell phone just says "unidentified caller." 99% of the time I just don't answer. I seized this opportunity, though. Apologizing up front to the poor schmuck reading his spiel, b/c I know he's just working the phone bank, I let loose demanding they remove me from every list they ever keep anywhere, and please tell the clowns above you "not one goddamned dime, not one goddamned syllable, in support of Hoyer, Pelosi, or any of these bastards. Ever." He stumbled and mumbled a bit, but then I just hung up. I know it won't do any good, but it felt good for a couple of hours anyway.
Posted by Mel Strom at June 21, 2008 03:47 PMI wish John Lewis were our nominee, not Barack Obama.
Posted by Reality at June 21, 2008 03:53 PMThere is an excellent post by Rep. Rush Holt about the FISA Bill at TMP Cafe.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/06/20/why_i_voted_against_the_fisa_a/
Posted by Judith#1 at June 21, 2008 03:59 PMNice that Turkana found another opportunity here to make silly comments about the Obama "cult of personality". That's right: the 17+ million who voted for Hillary Clinton were obviously hard-headed, unsentimental people, but the 17+ million who voted for Obama were obviously Koolaid drinking zombies. What other explanation is possible?
Turkana is also a star at grasping at anecdotes and making sweeping generalizations from them. Turkana sees someone on a blog somewhere make lame excuses for Obama's waffle on FISA and immediately jumps to the conclusion that all those zombie-like "Obama bloggers" are falling all over themselves to sanitize Obama's screwup. Funny, when I looked at DailyKos on Friday evening, I saw some of those lame excuses, and I also saw people expressing anger about the Democrats' FISA vote and Obama's waffling. Could it be that even OBAMA KOOLAID CENTRAL aka DailyKos is more complicated than Turkana's cartoonish representation?
Posted by joel dan walls at June 21, 2008 05:38 PMjoel,
were you aware that clinton is no longer running? were you aware that she is no longer relevant to the presidential race? are you an adolescent who has to always say- well she's worse?
three whiney diaries made the daily kos rec list. hundreds of recommenders. so, yeah- i'm just making things up. good thing we have sane people like greenwald and digby and sargent and even jack balkin to counterweigh the cultists.
Posted by Turkana at June 21, 2008 05:48 PMCall your senator. The ACLU has a script for the tongue-tied:
I am a constituent calling about H.R. 6304, the Hoyer/Bush FISA bill that just passed the House of Representatives. I urge you to vote "NO" because:
1. The Hoyer/Bush FISA bill allows for mass and untargeted surveillance of Americans’ communications.
2. The Hoyer/Bush FISA bill contains blanket immunity. It basically guarantees lawsuits against telecom companies will be dismissed. Ongoing lawsuits may be our last best hope of exposing the extent of illegal spying.
3. If leadership will not lead, it is the responsibility of every lawmaker to lead on this issue. You need to do what your constituents and the American people demand. Bowing to pressure from Republicans, the White House, the telecommunications companies and even Democratic leaders is unacceptable.
Sorry Consider Wiesly Always, the Senate is already bought and paid for with the exception of a handful of still honest humans.
Pelosi, Obama, Reid, and most of the rest are now card carrying members of the Authoritarian Surveillence Party along with all of the GOPS. No input from the constituents makes any difference anymore.
Don't forget Pelosi and Reid have known all along about the spying and all approved funding for it and Main Core.
The deal is done. The Democratic Party is the same as the GOP. All are Authoritarians. I just wonder how much longer it will be before they just drop the sham of even having elections since the outcome is simply managed by crooked electronic machines.
History teaches us that the pendulum will eventially swing back, but it will be awhile.
In the meantime, quit worshiping false idols like Obama and look for the few politicians that actually act and vote to protect American Democratic values. It is around that small group that all money and effort must be spent. All other contributions to the "Democratic Authoritarian Party" just hurt.
Pelosi, Reid, and Obama, like Spector, just act to depress us by pretending that they are out there fighting for true American Values, scarfing in $millions from those who are suckered, only, at the last minute to turn and vote against the democracy for their own aggrandizement.
Great scam!
Hey,
I am an expat who was considering moving home when Obama won. Now, I have resigned myself to lifelong exile, on the beach "down under". Life could be hell in the USA, but at least I am comfortably numb in a beautiful location, where the Authoritarians are slightly less intrusive than in the failing empire of the USA..., and for you Obama hope and change guys, can you now accept that Daschle IS calling the shots, CHANGE my ass.
Posted by kcbill13 at June 21, 2008 07:25 PMSorry, and not a dime to the DNC, DCCC, or any Democratic fundraising except for aCt Blue candidates to primary the 105...
Posted by kcbill13 at June 21, 2008 07:27 PMNo pony for any of you.
Posted by Radix at June 21, 2008 07:54 PM"No pony for any of you."
Nope, but we sure are getting the horse sh*t.
Posted by Judith#1 at June 21, 2008 08:33 PMYes, Judith, it's the dung heap on top of the Constitution.
B.Clinton got impeached for perjury. What is it called when pols take an oath to protect teh Constitution and shit on it instead?
Posted by Sharon at June 21, 2008 09:09 PMTreason.
Posted by Deb at June 22, 2008 12:16 AMDeb, you beat me too it. Treason by a Traitor. Didn't we use to hang traitors?
Posted by Judith#1 at June 22, 2008 08:05 AMWhat Joel said about turkana.
What Deb said.
What nobody said both times.