Is Obama Siding With Bush on Illegal Wiretaps?

OK, I'm freaking out again...

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Someone please tell me that President Obama does not want to give further immunity to these criminals? And especially not engage in the same behavior?

Update by DCDemocrat: This is Keith Olberman's take on the President's usurping of new and unprecedented authorities. If President Obama thinks his supporters are going to fall in line like a bunch of Bush Automatons, he perhaps belongs to the wrong party. The Democratic Party is the party of thinking and principled Americans:

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BELATED Weekly Strategy Session: Where Do We Go From Here?

Hi, everyone! I'm sorry that I haven't been around much lately. I've been violently ill since Monday night, and I'm just now beginning to rediscover life outside my front door.


So anyways, let's talk about what's been happening this week while I've been suffering on my sickbed. First off, the horrid "FISA Amendments Act" capitulation crap passed. And worse yet, our nominee Barack Obama voted for it. So will this HUGE mistake of his prevent me from
supporting him? No! But has it been dampening my enthusiasm? No doubt it is!


So what should we do to hold Obama accountable while continuing to support him against John McBush? I really need your help here. Should we write to him asking why he broke his promise to us? Should we take some of that extra money we were planning to send him and give it to Hillary instead? After all, Hillary did the right thing and opposed the fonal bill while Barack ultimately agreed to the capitulation to Bush on FISA.


And while we're talking about Democrats doing the right thing, let's expand on this thought. While this blog is dedicated to electing Barack Obama as our next President, we certainly refuse to stop there. We also want to send more progressive Democrats to both houses of Congress, more Democrats like Hillary Clinton with real courage & backbone, who will hold President Obama's feet to the fire and pass the legislation that he's promising to make into law. So now, I want to ask you... Who else should we be supporting here?


We'll certainly always have Hillary's back... She's earned our respect many times over. But still, who else should we be pushing for? Which Democratic House & Senate candidates do you like that we should take a closer look at? Which organizations supporting Democratic Congressional candidates should we give a thumbs-up to? Since C4O is your community as much as it's mine, I'm opening the floor to all of you. Which candidates and organizations should we support in order to elect more "Hillary Clinton Democrats" to Congress?


OK, so are you game for this week's strategy session? Need a quick review? That's fine. I'll remind you what's on the agenda:


- What to do with Barack now, after the FISA disappointment

- Supporting Hillary for getting FISA right

- How to elect more Democrats to Congress who will show real strength, just like Hillary


Get it? Got it? Great! Let's start the session!

Some of Us Care

The media have spent the last days or so deconstructing the secret coded messages being sent by the Obama campaign and his VP search:

Obama Stirs Some Intrigue Over VP Search
Obama, Clinton raise New York cash and V.P. speculation
Veepstakes: Meeting with the Vetters
Vetting Undercover
1201 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Or they're talking about the Rev. Jesse Jackson:

First Thoughts: The Jesse Jackson Flap
Treacherous Sound Bite
It's Jackson vs Jackson on 'Ugly' and 'Demeaning' Obama Remarks
Jesse Jackson Apologizes for Remarks on Obama

I live overseas, but I have a feeling that more people saw discussions of the political implications of Rev. Jackson's desire to castrate Obama or images of Sen. Obama entering DC office buildings for top secret meetings than saw debates over FISA and Senator Obama's flip-flop.

Some of us haven't forgotten Obama's flip-flop and we haven't stopped talking about it. It's not just the Clintonistas who are angry (but I think we're the only ones enjoying the anguish of the Obama people). I was surpised to come across this blog post at Barack Obama's community blog website. Here's an excerpt. It's worth a visit, even if you aren't supporting Senator Obama. (I understand how difficult it is to visit that website. This Clintonista's stomach turns every time he visits Hopeland.)

Today was a dark day indeed. Our candidate, the candidate of change “we can believe in,” certainly changed his position on filibustering a terrible FISA bill that added new categories of warrantless surveillance and granted immunity to the big telecom companies complicit in the Bush administration’s warrantless spying.

Instead of offering strong, principled leadership on this issue, and using his power as the Democratic nominee to bring along the minority of Democratic Senators who supported this atrocious legislation, he and they joined the solid Republican bloc to ratify the most egregious aspects of the Bush administration’s approach to warrantless surveillance and enable an immunity deal that will in all likelihood forever prevent the public from learning the full truth behind Bush’s illegal domestic spying. We’re talking about a Democratic Congress here – facing a Republican president and a Republican party experiencing historically low public approval ratings!

SNIP

Today’s vote was also a personal blow to millions who believed that Sen. Obama was a different kind of politician. The members of this group are only the tip of the iceberg.

ACTION ALERT: Call Harry Reid & Ask Him to Save Our Privacy Rights!

This just in from DFA... Here's another thing we can do to save our 4th Amendment rights!





Clintonistas for Obama Reader-

Today may be our last chance to stop senators from voting to pass the so-called FISA "compromise" bill.

Last week, thousands of us called our own senators. Thousands more DFA members personally delivered our message to senators at their district offices. And tomorrow every senator will receive DFA petition signatures from members in their district demanding they stand up to President Bush and vote against the "compromise."

Yet there is still one person who can stop this bill today: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Call Senator Reid right now and demand he pull the FISA "compromise" bill which will lead to retroactive immunity for telecommunication companies who spied on Americans.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Washington DC: 202-224-3542

If the DC number is busy - Try reaching his district offices:
Reno Office: 775-686-5750
Vegas Office: 702-388-5020

CLICK HERE TO REPORT YOUR CALL

Suggested script:
"I'm calling to ask Senator Reid to use his power as Senate Majority Leader to pull the FISA "compromise" bill from the floor which will ultimately grant retroactive immunity to telecommunication companies who spied on Americans."

This is it. We have stopped President Bush from getting his way and letting AT&T and Verizon of the hook four times.

It is up to us to stop it again.

Thank you for taking action. Thank you for everything you do.

-Charles

Charles Chamberlain, Political Director
Democracy for America

P.S. If you haven't signed the Senate Petition to Stop Telecom Immunity yet or sent it around and asked your friends and family to sign, you still can. We will deliver the signatures first thing tomorrow morning to every Senator right before tomorrow's votes.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN

ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Senator to Support the Dodd-Feingold Amendment & Save Our Privacy Rights!

How well do you know your Senators? How often do you communicate with them? Do they listen to what you have to say?

Well, now's a good time to put your relationship with your Senators to the test. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) is asking us to get a hold of his colleagues and ask them to support an important amendment. He & Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) have introduced an amendment that woul vastly improve the current FISA compromise bill by removing retroactive immunity for the telecom providers that aided & abetted George W. Bush in illegally spying on us.

http://tools.advomatic.com/7/fisa

If you can, please make the calls ASAP. It's important that we save our Constitutional rights. Our Fourth Amendment privacy rights are at stake. The calls won't take too long, but the difference you'll make will be HUGE!

http://tools.advomatic.com/7/fisa

Please make the call today. Let's get out and save our Constitution!

Declare Your Independence...

From illegal domestic spying!

What could possibly be a better way to celebrate the 4th of July than to ask our members of Congress to protect and defend the Constitution? Next Week, Congress will consider legislation that undercuts the 4th Amendment by ignoring our privacy rights, allowing for warantless wiretapping, and giving blanket immunity to telecom companies that aided and abetted the Bush Administration in violating the 4th Amendment. That's why we're making a special request here at C4O today.

Please read this important message from DFA Chairman Jim Dean and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI). And please, ask your members of Congress to do whatever they can to oppose this "FISA compromise" bill that violates our privacy rights.

Thanks.