Comments on: O Senator, Where Art Thou?

By: Kirk James Murphy, M.D.

Kirk James Murphy, M.D. — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:25:24 +0000

Good question. Before Friday and his jump to announce he’d support the FISA amnesty (even before the Senate had taken it up), I referred to Barry The Privacy Slayer as Sen. Obama out of respect.

I have no respect for those who swear an Oath to uphold and protect the Constitution and then work to disable it.

So BTPS wants to be referred to as Barack. Great. I want him to use his splendid oratory for something beyond his ambition to vault his (well-tailored) butt into the Oval Office. I want Barry to use his splendid oratory to oppose and withold unanimous consent from each and every legislative step in the Senate between FISA and a final vote for passage. I also want Barry to publicly call on Reid to delay passage of FISA by all possible Senate rules.

When Barry The Privacy Slayer does that, then I’ll respect him as a defender of the Constitution. Until then, he’s merely a lecturer in Con Law: the law that helps megacorp cons evade liability.

By: maryinbelltown

maryinbelltown — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:13:45 +0000

Better to call his office than campaign office – she agreed with everything I said! Just exaggerating.

By: TobyWollin

TobyWollin — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:42:43 +0000

Just got an answer to my FAX and my emails from yesterday…among other things, Senator Clinton said:
“Now, the Bush Administration has vowed to block any surveillance legislation that does not provide retroactive immunity to telecommunication companies. I believe that granting retroactive immunity under these circumstances is wrong and undermines accountability. To that end, I supported and co-sponsored efforts to strip this provision from the FISA legislation. I was discouraged to see that amendment fail the last time it was considered in the Senate. In the weeks to come, I will continue to work with my colleagues to pass an improved bill, one that takes the needed steps to defend our homeland while also defending and respecting our Constitution, our laws, and our privacy.”

By: ondelette

ondelette — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:23:52 +0000

Now they are 5. Reid will also back Feingold-Dodd and Feingold’s efforts to strip immunity on the floor.

By: itchyfish

itchyfish — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:36:59 +0000

Identifying myself as an Obama volunteer, I called the Obama campaign to voice my support of stripping telecom immunity from the Senate bill.

“Dara” informed me that Obama now supports denying immunity to the telecoms.

Oh yeah, he supports it. Problem is, he seems to be providing as much support as a training bra.

By: PJEvans

PJEvans — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:34:35 +0000

Boxer’s come out against it. There’s a post up at the Great Orange Satan laying out the points of the four who have now spoken against this piece-o-crap bill: Feingold, Dodd, Wyden and Boxer.

I sent Boxer a thank-you e-mail. Said I hoped her respected colleague from the great (and very dry) state would come out against, but didn’t expect that to happen, based on her recent voting record.

By: rjhjr64

rjhjr64 — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:33:53 +0000

As an Illinoisan, Obama is my senator. When I called his Washington office and asked Obama’s stance, I was presented with a briskly-read, prepared response indicating that he WILL support the bill “even though he realizes it is not perfect”. When I asked if that meant he was reneging on his earlier promise to filibuster any immunity for telecoms, the rep at the office said I could “infer any meaning that I wanted to; this is Obama’s official statement”.

Nice. Broken promises already.

By: wobblybits

wobblybits — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:12:37 +0000

nope

By: wobblybits

wobblybits — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:11:10 +0000

Just a question, kirk. Why do you refer to Senator obama as barry? He has asked that people refer to him by his name Barack and to call him Barry seems I dunno a slam

By: ACitizen

ACitizen — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:33:03 +0000

Step One.