BlackPerspective.net

Obama Poised To Sell Us Out On Civil Liberties

July 3rd, 2008

Before we get into the particulars of this article, understand that this still can be stopped. The vote in the Senate is not til next week; call Obama, your Senators and the Senate leadership and tell them to pull back from the brink:

Barack Obama - (D-IL) Presidential Nominee (202) 224-2854

Reid, Harry- (D - NV) Majority Leader(202) 224-3542

Durbin, Richard- (D - IL) Assistant Majority Leader (202) 224-2152

Byrd, Robert C.- (D - WV) President Pro Tempore (202) 224-3954

Go here to get contact info on any Senator you want.

As I’ve noted here before, being for someone and criticizing them are not mutually exclusive. But I’m far more for my priniciples and beliefs than I am for any individual; and I do not belong to the Cult of Obama.

Right now he’s still probably getting my vote, but he’s working on making me stay home with bullshit like this.

Politico writes

Netroots jilted by Obama FISA stand

When former Sen. John Edwards dropped out of the presidential race, the progressive Netroots took their affections to Barack Obama, defending him against attack from Hillary Rodham Clinton and others.

But with his support of a government surveillance bill that offers retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies — a bill that he vowed last year to filibuster — the honeymoon has ended.

Disappointed over his position on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the online activists feel jilted and betrayed and have taken to questioning his progressive credentials. One prominent blogger, Atrios, has even given him the moniker “Wanker of the Day.”

“He broke faith,” said Matt Stoller, a political consultant and blogger at OpenLeft.com. “Obama pledged to filibuster, and he is part of that old politics, in this case, that he said he wasn’t. It will spur us to challenge him.”

I’ve had necessity to criticize both Atrios and Stoller here previously; but I certainly agree with them on this one; and I’m not part of the progressive movement; I am however a part of the “give me liberty or give me death, don’t shred my constitution and capitulate to corporat power” movement.

Obama’s Statement On FISA Compromise

In this statement on June 20th Obama said that “It does, however, grant retroactive immunity, and I will work in the Senate to remove this provision so that we can seek full accountability for past offenses.”

I haven’t seen evidence of any such work. The provision is still in the bill which was supposed to be voted on this week before Senators Feingold and Dodd got it posted poned until next week, and Obama never changed his stance of support for the bill. Is this not just a signal, but a major action by Obama to let corporations know, that when push comes to shove, they will still have a friend in the White House?

Obama continues in that statement “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.”

So in other words, “just trust me”. Hmmm, isn’t that what the last president told us? I trust actions more than words.

The House approved the legislation 293-129 according to the Washington Post.

This marks something of a reversal of Obama’s position from an earlier version of the bill, which was approved by the Senate Feb. 12, when Obama was locked in a fight for the Democratic nomination with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).
Obama missed the February vote on that FISA bill as he campaigned in the “Potomac Primaries,” but issued a statement that day declaring “I am proud to stand with Senator Dodd, Senator Feingold and a grassroots movement of Americans who are refusing to let President Bush put protections for special interests ahead of our security and our liberty.”

Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) continue to oppose the new legislation, as does Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). All Obama backers in the primary, those senior lawmakers contend that the new version of the FISA law — crafted after four months of intense negotiations between White House aides and congressional leaders — provides insufficient court review of the pending 40 lawsuits against the telecommunications companies alleging privacy invasion for their participation in a warrantless wiretapping program after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“The immunity outcome is predetermined,” Feingold wrote in a memo today.

Obama came down on the side of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who argued that a provision in the new law reaffirmed that FISA, and that act’s courts, gives the final say over government spying. President Bush has argued that a war-time chief executive has powers that trump FISA.
“It restores FISA and existing criminal wiretap statutes as the exclusive means to conduct surveillance — making it clear that the President cannot circumvent the law,” Obama said today.
Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), the most prominent Republican opponent of the compromise bill, issued a statement today calling that exclusivity provision “meaningless because that specific provision is now in [the] 1978 act.” Specter said Bush just ignored existing law in starting the warrantless surveillance program.

Obama should have continued to stand with Dodd and Feingold instead of playing election year politics. He’s stabbing away at my support for him.

This, along with this week’s reaffirming of his plans to greatly expand the military; do not exactly make me excited about this guy; and show all kinds of hints of capitulation to power and money.

About The Blog

Yobachi Boswell is creator and publisher of BlackPerspecitve.net. I’m a writer, activist and political watcher based in Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve also been know to do some spoken word and MCing in my day.

I created this site to give new voice to socio-political issues that are in need of thoughtful consideration and redress.

Click the "More About The Blog" link for rest of this statement.

Also, if you like what you see, subscribe for a once a day email to be sent on days when we post; by entering your email address in the feed burner subscription box below.
More About The Blog...

Subscribe via email

Buy Obama

Site Meter

Subscribe Via RSS

Podcast

Podcast Commenting

Click here to comment on the podcast messages. Click on the title of the message you want in order to comment. Or you can comment to the post which the podcast may refer to.

Get This Badge

Taser Abuse Awareness

Stop the Electrocutions and Executions! (175px)great free widgetsWidgetbox