Obama Is A Liar

Glenn Greenwald has been going crazy over this new FISA bill, and I'm glad he's out there writing about it because you won't see much coverage in the mainstream media. His web site goes back several days and includes efforts being made to keep those who forced this bill along, like Steny Hoyer, from getting re-elected. Glenn wants to see more progressive democrats replace these traitors. But the most disappointing thing is that Obama is now supporting it:

In the past 24 hours, specifically beginning with the moment Barack Obama announced that he now supports the Cheney/Rockefeller/Hoyer House bill, there have magically arisen -- in places where one would never have expected to find them -- all sorts of claims about why this FISA "compromise" isn't really so bad after all. . . .
Accompanying those claims are a whole array of factually false statements about the bill, deployed in service of defending Obama's indefensible -- and deeply unprincipled -- support for this "compromise."

Suddenly everyone is falling in line behind the Democratic presidential nominee. It has nothing to do with whether or not the bill should be supported, whether or not it shreds the constitution and makes us all subject to any kind of spying on our conversations, no, it's now about supporting our candidate no matter what.

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.

So much for Obama being this great constitutional scholar, apparently for him, the constitution can be brushed aside whenever he feels like it. I'm tremendously disappointed.

Making matters worse still, what Obama did yesterday is in clear tension with an emphatic promise that he made just months ago. As the extremely pro-Obama MoveOn.org notes today, Obama's spokesman, Bill Burton, back in in September, vowed that Obama would "support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies." MoveOn believes Obama should be held to his word and is thus conducting a campaign urging Obama to do what he promised -- support a filibuster to stop the enactment of telecom amnesty. You can email Burton here to demand that Obama comply with his commitment not just to vote against, but to filibuster, telecom amnesty:

bburton@barackobama.com

I sent an angry letter to Burton and suggest everyone do the same.

So Obama has lied about everything. He is not for civil rights and the constitution. He is not against the "old style of politics." He is simply lying to us about everything he stands for to the point were we can no longer know if he will even attempt any of the things he has said he would do. I had high hopes for him but they are gone now, I am no longer an Obama supporter and his banner has been taken off this blog over on the right. I've long fought against the idea that there is no difference between the 2 parties but right now there really doesn't seem like there is much a difference at all. The only difference is in rhetoric and promises, not in actions. If I vote it will still be for Obama because McCain is just too awful to contemplate, but I'm so down about it all right now I'm not sure I will even bother to vote because I'm not at all sure Obama will be any better.