Letters to the Editor
Greenlabormike
Published Letters: 14
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This shouldn't even be an issue.
[Read the article: Democrats bear responsibility for restoring habeas corpus]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The Democrats need to restore habeus corpus. Period.
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The Betrayal Runs So Deep
[Read the article: What Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and Fred Hiatt mean by "bipartisanship"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What makes the betrayal today so complete is looking at the number of "progressive" members of Congress voting Yea. Folks that the netroots supported so aggressively in 2006. One that especially galls me, because she has been held up even in just the last few days for her courage in standing up to this bullshit is Nancy Boyda. Some of the others are unsurprising, but still depressing as Freshman elected in 2006 to fight Bush, and others (Udall) seeking higher office on the same premise - Altmire, Arcuri, Bean, Sestak, Shuler, Carney, Cazayoux, Gillibrand, McNerney, P. Murphy, Sestak, Shuler, Space, Udall, Yarmuth.
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Glenn, I think your analysis on Obama doesn't go far enough...
[Read the article: What Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and Fred Hiatt mean by "bipartisanship"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Since his statement, I read someone actually call him the lesser of two evils. This is what he is being reduced to - the lesser of two evils. If that becomes the mainstream analysis, then he is in big trouble.
But looking at this from another angle, for Obama to play this kabuki theater is to destroy almost every virtue that he claims to have over McCain. Think about it. If he "tries" to remove the immunity provision and subsequently fails, then how is he able to claim that he can take on special interests and win? That he can work with both sides to make things happen when others can't.
If this plays out as you suggest (and I have no reason to think it won't), then a huge seed is suddenly planted in people's minds that Obama might be a good guy, but he doesn't quite have what it takes to really shake things up. And his whole campaign really depends on maintaining his image. McCain's campaign may be incompetent, but Karl Rove isn't so stupid that he can't take that seed and make it sprout into full-blown doubt about Obama's lack of experience and leadership.
Obama is playing with fire, and I truly don't understand the calculus here. What's the payoff for him?
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This also explains Obama's vote.
[Read the article: The motivation for blocking investigations into Bush lawbreaking]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've been wondering why no one has discussed this angle, at least with a fact supported non-conspiracy minded angle. Political opportunism never quite explained why the Democrats caved on this issue.
Presently, we just don't know (and possible never will) what Pelosi, Reid, Rockefeller, Harman and other Democratic leaders knew, said, and approved about these programs, so we are left to speculate. But the fact that they were given information about the program, never raised any objections, and have now successfully covered up the entire program, it's hard to come to any conclusion but that they were covering their own asses to avoid possible scandal, resignations, indictments, or even jail time.
It also provides a more compelling explanation why Obama ultimately went along with the FISA betrayal. It's not hard to guess that Congressional leaders convinced him that if the truth was revealed during his administration, it would be a major scandal that would bring down Congressional Democratic leadership with resignations and possible indictments during his Administration.
If I'm Obama and I'm looking to be President, and I have a full agenda of domestic and foreign policy objectives that require Congressional action, the last thing I want is Congress to be paralyzed with scandal and corruption charges. Better to hide the Democratic mess now by voting for retroactive immunity, take my lumps with the base, knowing that I'll still be elected, (figuring that I can fix the mess later on if necessary) and have a clear field so I can focus on my own agenda. The fact that the Fourth Amendment is eviscerated in the process? Unfortunate collateral damage in the name of the greater cause of my Administration.
Obviously, there's no proof that this is what Obama was thinking, but it makes a whole lote more sense than a lot of the accusations that this was a calculated gamble to move to the "middle." Obama is not dumb, and one would have to be exceptionally stupid to believe that voting for the FISA bill would sit well with young voters and independents who are the most likely to sit home on election day, much less attract independent and "centrist" voters. No one except Bush and the Telecoms liked this bill, and it was painfully obvious to see what was the politically astute vote to win more votes in November. A "yea" vote for FISA wasn't it.
I'd like to be proven wrong, but I just don't see any other angle to explain Obama's behavior here.
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Thanks Glenn
[Read the article: Al-Marri and the power to imprison U.S. citizens without charges]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]On not just this entry, but for everything you've written so far. Every time something like this decision comes out, I feel like I've slipped a little bit further down the rabbit hole. Not to mix metaphors, but it's like I woke up in orwellian bizarro-world and everything I was taught as a child by the establishment to hold dear about America and the Constitution is now reviled, ridiculed, and ignored. "You actually expect that the Government has to charge you with a crime and conduct a trial before imprisoning you forever? What are you, a Communist?" The level of cognitive dissonance in America is reaching an unsustainable level. At least I hope so.
That said, I agree with what someone else here wrote that this decision appears to be based upon AUMF, and that the right to hold enemy combatants only lasts as long as the AUMF remains on the books. As depressing as it is that a Federal Court has ruled that Congress can pass simple legislation that effectively suspends core constitutional rights, the silver lining would appear to be that this travesty of justice can be ended by repealing the AUMF. Your thoughts?