Barack Obama, caving on FISA: 15 electoral votes...
On January 29, 2008, Obama said:
I strongly oppose retroactive immunity in the FISA bill.... No one should get a free pass to violate the basic civil liberties of the American people - not the President of the United States, and not the telecommunications companies that fell in line with his warrantless surveillance program. We have to make clear the lines that cannot be crossed.
In late June of 2008, Obama changed his mind:
The bill legalizes many of the warrantless eavesdropping activities George Bush secretly and illegally ordered in 2001. Those warrantless eavesdropping powers violate core Fourth Amendment protections. And Barack Obama now supports all of it, and will vote it into law. Those are just facts.
(Emphasis in original.)
Barack Obama, caving on the U.S. not being a rogue nation in a league with Saudi Arabia and North Korea when it comes to the death penalty: 23 electoral votes
Asked about today's US Supreme Court ruling that sentencing someone to death for raping a child is unconstitutional, Obama said he disagreed with such a broad ban."I have said repeatedly that I think that the death penalty should be applied in very narrow circumstances for the most egregious of crimes. I think that the rape of a small child, 6 or 8 years old, is a heinous crime," he said, adding that if a state determines the death penalty should apply in such cases, they should be allowed to impose it.
I guess I was lucky that I was never sexually abused as a child, but what Avedon says:
I do know that I'm glad no one was executed "on my behalf" to satisfy adults who, as usual, would have been more interested in their own outrage than in my needs. That would only have added to the burden.Yeah, I know, it's an outrage when someone sexually assaults a child. We find it inexplicable - especially when it's their own kid or one they know and have in their care. We have every reason to be offended by it.
But you know what? It didn't ruin my life....
I'll tell you what's pretty horrible and shocking, though: having the authorities asking you a lot of prurient questions because they are so obsessed with "getting the guy that did it" that they completely overlook what it's doing to you. I hated that.
And that's all just leaving aside the fact that sometimes they aren't even guilty.
Barack Obama: spineless.
I can't vote for John McCain come November, but how can I vote for Barack Obama, either?
(Technorati tags: Barack Obama)
Barack Obama is not spineless. He is a politician. I know we all managed to forget that during the primary season, when he stirred multitudes with compelling oratory, but the fact remains: his job is to get elected, stay elected, and (hopefully) begin to reverse the effect of the neocons' toxic regime...in that order.
Clearly you know much more about the details of this bill, constitutional law, civil rights, and what's best for our country than Barack Obama
Well that's kind of the point, isn't it? Of course Barack Obama knows exactly what he's doing. If he didn't know, then we would be calling him stupid instead of spineless.
Barack Obama is not spineless. He is a politician
Here it is, the failure of democracy in two perfect sentences. Elina, the next time you find yourself making clever jokes about how there's no good politicians anymore I hope you take some time to realize that it's YOUR fault, not theirs.
So, defending the Constitution -- which is already a requirement of his oath of office as a senator, and will be if he is elected president -- is "too liberal" these days?
Yes.
To borrow from Kevin Smith: Democracy would be great if it weren't for the fucking voters.
By the way, what html tags do you use for quotes, I'm accustomed to using q /q.
Use the "blockquote" command to quote.
If defending the Constitution is no longer an American value, then there is no more America.