Biodun @ 128

Get Tough @ 111:
…
let’s not hold it against Obama. Obama has extended his hand across the isle to die-in-the-wool Repubs his whole political career, while maintaining his stature as a true progressive.

What are some examples of his Progressive policies or stances?

Obama has had his balls out for sometime now but the Blogs don’t like him, and I have no idea why. He is a superstar–the only chance to change things and end up on monuments.

I haven’t followed his speeches or policies very close. Is there anything he has proposed or supports that is different than Joe Lieberman (Obama’s mentor)?

FISA is not and was never meant to cover either purely domestic or purely foreign intelligence surveillance. For the foreign cases, there has never been any restriction on the US surveilling foreign to foreign communications. For domestic cases, you establish probable cause before a judge and get a warrant.

FISA before it was gutted covered communications where one end was domestic and the other foreign. You needed a probable cause but the bar on this was set very low and almost no FISA requested warrants have ever been denied by the FISA court.

There have been several rationales put forward for gutting FISA: that it was cumbersome, that it prohibited foreign-foreign communications routed through the US, etc.

If you have been listening to the hearings, you will have heard the term reverse targeting. If the government says it is targeting a non-citizen individual outside the US, then it can without going to FISA listen in on conversations where one end originates in the US. It is a way of doing an end run around FISA.

You may also have heard the term minimization. Supposedly irrelevant or inconsequential communications originating in the US or involving US citizens would be discarded. But the people who are doing the tapping are the ones who are making the determinations on who is really being targeted and which conversations should be “minimized” i.e. eliminated. And we have only their word that this is being done. In other words, they are saying Trust us which if experience has taught us anything about this Administration is not a good idea.

Such a clear explanation. Thank you Hugh

Brisingamen @ 164

Little Mister Obama has expressed to much fondness of the nuclear option WRT other countries for me to comfortable with the thought of him having access to the football.

I’d like to see Edwards/Dodd on the ticket.

‘fondness of the nuclear option WRT other countries’

I’m curious and don’t quite understand what your are saying. Do you mean that he likes too much the possiblity of having control of our nukes or that he’s too willing to allow other countries to also enjoy the same nuclear capabilities that we have?

I watched Obama during the Condi Rice and John Bolton nomination hearings he rolled over. While Kerry, Kennedy, Boxer, Lincoln Chaffee and a few others played hardball. I was not impressed with Obama at that time,and I can’t quite get those hearings out of my brain.

Get Tough @ 111

Obama has had his balls out for sometime now but the Blogs don’t like him, and I have no idea why. He is a superstar–the only chance to change things and end up on monuments.

Little Mister Obama has expressed to much fondness of the nuclear option WRT other countries for me to comfortable with the thought of him having access to the football.

I’d like to see Edwards/Dodd on the ticket.

‘fondness of the nuclear option WRT other countries’

I’m curious and don’t quite understand what your are saying. Do you mean that he likes too much the possiblity of having control of our nukes or that he’s too willing to allow other countries to also enjoy the same nuclear capabilities that we have?

Waccamaw @ 135

Thanks for the heads up on Scahill on DemNow. Know I’m prejudiced but it did appear he ran the idiot from the “professional” organization with “peace” in its name off the track. Am glad to have the bit about these people hating to be called “mercenaries” confirmed…….will insure that I never refer to them by any other name.

LOL.
i agree, scahill wiped the floor with the other guy….
and amy, as always, did a great job of being fair and asking good questions.

p.s. as i keep saying, democracy now! is the best daily news program in the english language that i know of. was very surprised to learn that many progressive blog readers (and writers) don’t listen/watch on a regular basis. i now consider it my duty that if anyone at FDL isn’t watching DN! it’s not because they don’t know about it. *g*

i agree with you about the “taking turns” and “bickering”… and i am no fan of “slick willie”. but that doesn’t mean obama is going to be better than clinton. in obama i see something i see in too many dems in congress… i don’t see him standing up and fighting for principles, i see him as trying to go along to get along.. (except that he was certainly willing to call out the blogs in a way he hasn’t called out the Rs in congress) and i think these times need more than that.

but mostly obama is a cipher to me. maybe he’d make a great president… but i just don’t have enough evidence to conclude that yet.

I have no use for Obama, and this is why. He punches down and kisses up. Remember the Obama Myspace fiasco? He can talk all he wants, but actions speak louder, and I haven’t seen actions from him that are worthy of much respect.

Obama has had his balls out for sometime now but the Blogs don’t like him, and I have no idea why. He is a superstar–the only chance to change things and end up on monuments.

Little Mister Obama has expressed to much fondness of the nuclear option WRT other countries for me to comfortable with the thought of him having access to the football.

I’d like to see Edwards/Dodd on the ticket.

LS @ 80

They are falling like flies, left and right. Must be Brisingamen’s spell ;>

oathbreakers beware!

Hmm, I seem to have awakened the Law of Unintended Consequences, as well. OK, I don’t care what comes along to bite them from behind, as long as it gets rid of them… :-D