Where are Clinton and Obama?
Posted by
Kevin
John Edwards just came out in support of Dodd’s filibuster of the FISA bill that contains telecom immunity. Just a recap, the telecom companies spied on Americans at the Bush Administration’s request without warrants and in clear violation of the law. Now they want to be protected from the consequences of those actions. If this bill passes, the Bill of Rights is quite literally dead, becasue we will have established the principle that private entities should not be held accountable for breaking the law on behalf of the government. And the moment that happens, you can be sure, the government will rush to use private entities to do what courts will not allow them to do.
And please spare me the nonsense about “we must have it to prevent the terrorists form killing us all in our beds!”. if that was true, then why did the companies in question shut down the program after the FBI became delinquent on the program? And more to the point, stop being such a damn coward. The Constitution has kept the country strong and safe and free through a foreign invasion, a civil war, two world wars and a cold war with a nuclear powered enemy. And we are supposed to rush to throw it away becasue a couple of failed goat herders got lucky once? The bill contains the fixes necessary to adopt to the new technological advances. That bill could pass tomorrow, if the telecom immunity was removed. But the White House prefers protecting their own asses to protecting the country.
The question now is where are the front runners? Why are they not in DC, right now, holding a press conference where they clearly state that they will be supporting the filibuster of this cowardly provision. If they showed leadership on this issue — and the right position is the position that is widely supported across the political spectrum — this provision would almost certainly be dead. Support form the campaign trial wont do it. This is a critical juncture in American history and either front runner has the opportunity to make a very real difference with just a little bit of effort. Get back to DC, Senators, and prove that you deserve to be President.
You can encourage them here, and reward Edwards for his good behavior here.
[…] Kevin of Lean Left wonders why Clinton and Obama have yet to come out in support of Dodd’s filibuster of the FISA bill, like John Edwards has. Maybe it is because they actually have a chance of being elected. […]
Pingback 1/24/2008
[…] • Lean Left: Lean Left: The question now is where are the front runners? Why are they not in DC, right now, holding a press conference where they clearly state that they will be supporting the filibuster of this cowardly provision., and They’re just politicians: They aren’t going to save us all with a well timed legislative victory and a cheery wave to the camera. Every single one of them will, at one point or another, betray something you consider vitally important to get something else, usually something you think is ridiculously over-valued. (as they say, read the whole thing…) […]
Pingback 1/28/2008
Mr. Obama with the help of his supporters and the press is using race to avoid tough questions and even deflect casual observations turning them into racial slurs. America’s Macbethian obsession of cleansing its hands of its racial past seems to have become all consuming. What tough question or casual observations will now become off limits in deference to Obama’s race? How will our political discourse be affected? These questions must be faced and addressed lest we neuter our conversation. We supposedly want to be racially color blind. This is impossible when race is being used to limit/manipulate political speech.
Comment 1/28/2008