To act according to your principles is to do things that will result in the world moving closer to your ideal world, if only a tiny bit. For example, if Obama had acted according to his declared principles on this legislature, he could have protected some of our liberties... but instead he decided to support the members of Congress who wanted to use this to get other things on their agenda done, and to protect themselves from political fallout. Our job now is to demonstrate that there is political fallout for failing to protect our principles. But to do it responsibly and in a way that will help move us towards our ideal nation. For example, concerted attacks on the Democratic members of Congress that led the negotiations for this selling of our liberties. Giving money to People for the American Way, the ACLU, Cindy Sheehan, ACTBlue instead of Obama and the Democratic party and letting them know you are doing it. Showing that there is a benefit to standing up for our rights and a cost for not.

But, at this point, there is no viable 3rd party or independent candidate. The nation isn't ready yet (remember, this is the nation that supported the Republicans in 2002 and 2004 while they were openly attacking our Constitutional rights and laughing at the electorate's cowardice). Getting McCain elected will move us further away from the goal of restoring our freedoms... and with 4 out of 9 supreme court justices openly pissing on the Constitution, global warming, peak oil and all those other environmental disasters where the world really can't stand another 4 years, with our economy in the tank because of endless war, the open corruption of every government agency, etc. etc. etc..... perhaps now is not the time for pointless gestures.

All of you whiners, go watch the end of Life of Brian. Several times. Until it sinks in. The world is on the cross... falling on your swords ain't gonna do a damn bit of good.

Looking at the 15 who voted against Cloture, I wondered how many of those Senators were among the 23 who voted against giving Bush the power to go to war with Iraq in 2002. So, I went to my copy of Senator Byrd's "Losing America" (a highly recommended read) and looked at his list of "Profiles in Courage". The overlap was:

Boxer

Durbin

Feingold

Leahy

Wyden

I would add Byrd and Kennedy to that list, even though they didn't vote on cloture, since I suspect it may have been for health reasons in both cases (does anybody know if Byrd is doing ok? This seems like his type of debate).

These are the best we have in the Senate. Remember them, and be proud if you have helped them get elected in the past, and support them wholeheartedly in the future.

Oh, and Boxer for VP! (although she seems to be a pretty crappy speaker...)

I don't have to, because I have seen the LAST 40 years of what a difference it has made to have a Nixon, a Reagan, a Bush I or a Bush II compared to a Carter or even a Republican-lite like Clinton. I have watched homeless appear on the street, years of ignoring the beginning of the AIDS crisis, the destruction of the FCC leading to the current godawful MSM, the cost of housing and health care increase by 10 times while the minimum wage has barely doubled in the same time period. The rise of the SUV because of our lack of increased fuel standards, the skyrocketing national debt, the decline of our schools, deregulation leading to the protection of corporations rather than of consumers or workers or the environment etc. etc. etc.

While fortunately, science and technology progress and there are many other forces in the world other than the POTUS so good things have happened as well as bad, I have a hard time pointing to anything good that was actually initiated by a Republican president. I do remember a bunch of things initiated by Carter that bore fruit during the Reagan years that were good. And I remember many, many, many bad things that have been initiated by Republican presidents that I have a hard time imagining a Democratic president having done.

I am worried about what irrepairable damage will be done to the environment and the creation of an actual police state over the next 8 years, let alone 20. Because I have been paying attention, I know just how bad things are and how much worse they can be.

Everything is Negotiable

well, no. The Laws of Physics aren't. The fact you will eventually die isn't.

so, you need a qualifying statement... like

In Politics, everything is negotiable.

or In human interactions....etc.

Which brings up the interesting, noble fallacy our country was founded on...

We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men our created equal and they endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights...

In reality, people aren't created equal, and no "right" is inalienable... but it is a lovely ideal on which to base a government and a system of laws. Ole TJ certainly knew a thing or two about the uses of hyperbole...

As NCrissieB noted on Daily Kos, our individual 4th amendment rights were pretty much given up with the Patriot Act. What this legislation does is remove the bureaucratic hurdle of getting an individual secret warrant from the secret court so they legally use the massive data collecting apparatus they have already set-up without having to bother with individual warrant.

Not an insignificant thing, but people, the 4th amendment has been toast for years. Anybody remember what the vote count was on the Patriot act?