Thank you. The most important comment made about this issue.

Posted at June 29, 2008 4:26 PM in response to John Dean clarifies his remarks on FISA (Olbermann apparently misrepresented his position)

Jonathan Turley, for all his brilliance, said the Constitution was in shambles and the United States would fall to ruin because Bill Clinton got a blow job and lied about it and it was vitally necessary to impeach him.

That kind of purity should not be dictating our every move.

We need to stop the circular firing squad that loses us elections.

Posted at June 28, 2008 7:26 PM in response to Obama Social Networking Group Seeks to Apply Pressur on FISA

"elected?" Don't you mean "nominated"? He hasn't been elected, does not have a bully pulpit until he gets elected.

The bill refers back to the Fourth Amendment and states unequivocably that all parts of the bill must be in accordance with the Fourth Amendment.

So, let's withdraw support from Obama, the only power he can actually wield right now. Let's weaken him, let's give McCain his "soft on terrorism" meme against Obama. And let's have the McCain Supreme Court adjudicate the constitutionality of the Fourth Amendment. Which was eviscerated over 40 years ago, and damage has been done by every President since, including Bill Clinton.

At least this bill makes the FISA court relevant again. Bush will ignore it I'm sure, but we have a bill which will make that harder to justify.

Do I want a perfect Fourth Amendment? Of course. But I have to ask you -- and this is from as avowed a liberal as you're ever going to find -- are there any ways you can put forward that can help us avoid terrorist attacks? Solve the problem of the intelligence agencies not communicating with one another? Addressing new technology and how it is used by potential terrorists? Of course eviscerating the Fourth Amendment is not the answer, but these are the questions that will come up in editorials, debates, town halls. What is the Left doing to make sure we minimize terrorist attacks? And when Bush trumps up a terrorist attack in October, you bet the Right will be laying these questions at Obama's feet.

He's not Superman. We get him elected, we give him a Congress that can get something done. And here's a newsflash: the rebuilding of Congress is going to take 12 years minimum. And no one is going to be more effective at making that happen than Barack Obama.

I repeat: the Fourth Amendment has been broken for generations. Obama giving the Republicans a meme to shatter his candidacy by standing up to this one bill is not going to fix the Fourth Amendment, and will contribute to President McCain.

I'm going to donate another $25. Because THAT's the power that we can give him right now, that he can use to change the trajectory of this broken country.

The Fourth Amendment included, in time.

Posted at June 28, 2008 7:20 PM in response to Obama Social Networking Group Seeks to Apply Pressur on FISA

It's not lack of interest, it's that the immediacy is gone. "If it's Tuesday, there must be a primary somewhere" is over. There are more varied issues, we're back to spending more time on the Bush administration (which always irked me that the primaries were more important than the crooks in the White House).

There isn't a "game of the week", so it's less intense.

Posted at June 18, 2008 2:51 PM in response to "Stop Talking About Hillary!"

Every American needs to read this post. Every child in every history or civics class in school needs to read this. Congress needs to read this.

God bless you, all that you do, and your loved ones who are patriots in every sense.

Posted at June 18, 2008 10:42 AM in response to WELCOME HOME, CAPT. TROY MILLS

I don't get this narrowing at all. McCain has looked ridiculous by any standard, hasn't made a case for shit, and Obama's done great. The Jim Johnson thing? Really? that would close up the gap when McCain's team is still over-run with lobbyists?

I'm surprised, frankly. Any ideas?

Posted at June 15, 2008 11:09 AM in response to Gallup: Obama's Lead Narrowing

Excellent rant. Needed to be said.

Posted at June 15, 2008 11:05 AM in response to Divide and Conquer

All I read was that Johnson got favorable loan terms from -- gasp! -- Countrywide. Who holds a gazillion mortgages, including mine.

I thought people with excellent credit got favorable loan terms, don't they?

Was there more to the story? If there is, I stand corrected. But someone getting a mortgage from Countrywide -- well that would eliminate almost everyone in America who has a mortgage.

Johnson referred to distortions and misrepresentations. Does anyone know the entire story?

Posted at June 12, 2008 12:47 AM in response to Obama Unpicks the Picker-in-Chief, and... Gotcha!

Don't worry. Unfortunately, Hillary and Bill bring terrifying baggage to the ticket. There's a compelling reason why the right wing still so desperately wants her on the ticket in any way they can get her. My personal hunch is that in addition to the past scandals they are ready to unleash, there are new things. The Clintons have not been vetted for 8 years. So reviled by the right wing that they won't need to hold fundraisers.

And then there's everything they said about Obama on the campaign trail, all on tape. And her undisciplined, rumor-mongering, pissed off staff and entourage.

Because Democratic voters chose between two Democrats has absolutely nothing to do with choosing between the Democrat and the Republican. Absolutely nothing. Besides, Hillary won't just be fighting her trumped up sexism that allegedly cost her the nomination -- she'll be fighting the real thing against the Republican machine. And then it becomes Obama's problem, too. That would be just swell.

If HIllary were on the ticket, she would be a shadow president, unable to work within the disciplined, low drama atmosphere which has been one of the keys to Obama's success. He doesn't have time to be on distraction control. And just because the press NEVER discussed Hillary and Bill's "black problem" that they themselves created, is there a chance there are some black voters who will stay home with Hillary on the ticket?

This myth that 18M voters are Hillary's to use as a monolithic club is ridiculous. Because there are some very viral, vocal "feminists" ready to vote for McCain makes me question what kind of feminists they really are. And this is coming from a 58 year old, white female and a feminist.

The party is coalescing. Obama's doing a great job at defining McCain (which so far hasn't been hard). But he'll have enough trouble fighting the lies on Fox News, the vicious swiftboating. He doesn't need Bill on the campaign trail going off the rails, and Hillary questioned about a policy position of Barack's and defining it in her smarmy non-answer that speaks volumes of her disdain. She honed that to an art form during the primaries.

Hillary will not be the VP. And by August, Obama will have such an excellent explanation for the person he chose, Democrats will readily see the wisdom of his choice. It will be someone who will not just play like it's a team, but believe in the team. It will be a synergy and chemistry we've never seen before.

Trust me. Don't worry.

Posted at June 12, 2008 12:37 AM in response to On the ground in NC, post-primary

I knew this would be true. But frankly didn't expect it to happen this fast. But when you see the stark contrasts between McCain and Obama, it's not that difficult to make the right choice.

You make an interesting point: how "well-liked" both candidates were to their supporters.

I'm extremely pleased with Obama's swift and competent change to GE mode. And let's be fair here: McCain has helped us greatly this week.

Expect the swiftboating to do McCain's job for him. He seems incapable of doing it himself.

No complacency, please. That's where we get in trouble. But the contrasts between the two candidates are crystal-clear.

Posted at June 11, 2008 2:05 PM in response to Obama is Winning Women voters - Including seniors