and don't hand me that national journal survey -- i really wish some campaign reporter or even someone on obama's staff would do a breakdown on its methodology. there is simply no way obama could be considered more liberal than kennedy, or feingold, or any number of true lions of the senate.

i would have liked to see obama make any of the crucial senate votes this year on a host of issues, none larger than the fisa bill that chris dodd singlehandledly shut down last winter. i am more than tired with the excuse that the campaign is too consuming for trips back to the capitol. if obama wants to lead, then he should show us how he would lead. DO SOMETHING.

seriously, the whole premise of obama's candidacy to nonprogressive voters has been that here is a black candidate who not only embodies the best of america's promise, he is nothing to fear. so i can understand this slide to the mythical center. don't upset the folks who aren't your base or give them any reason to come out and vote against you.

this breathtakingly cynical move got its most public display in 1996, when president clinton -- simply to dismantle a talking point for the dole campaign that had no chance anyway -- backed a republican welfare bill. keith olbermann, take note, just as now, the argument was: we'll take this off the table as a weapon for the republicans, and don't worry, we'll fix it later.

p.s. the welfare bill never got fixed. and the tone was set for government that turns its back on the neediest of its citizens. the fisa bill, keith, won't get "fixed." for you to believe in a secret plan makes you as credulous as those who believed nixon in 1968. (except you don't really believe, do you, keith? you are just feeling heat from your corporate handlers.)

as glenn amply demonstrates, this is part and parcel of the false shrine the washington political complex has built and kneels before. it's not leadership to reverse who you at least claim to have been. the republican lies told about democratic candidates for several elections now have been effective because they touch on a fundamental truth: people know when they're being played, and resent it. and this works into the repub strategy of putting mccain out there "as someone you know" -- even if we really don't.

once again, playing THEIR game by THEIR rules.

Wonderful! -

Glenn, please keep your laser beam trained on this set of issues.

Please attack the big lie about "strength" - especially "conventional wisdom" on elections spewed by Alter most recently on Olbermann.

Policy applications include Iran, Iraq withdrawal, diplomacy, and the entire Bush NeoCon foreign policy "preventative war" Doctrine codified in the "National Security Strategy" amongst other places.

Isn’t it interesting that much of the advanced surveillance technology currently in Europe and China, is driven by American companies that care not a whit for the damage they do to mar those countries liberties, but at the same time, have every intention of delivering even more advanced technology to their very own country for the solitary pursuit of profit. In April, Michael Chertoff announced that the government will turn the most advanced spy satellites in its arsenal on American citizens, and the announcement brought barely a whisper from the media.

Its both disturbing, and at the same moment amazing, that most Americans do not have any clue what the government does to protect their families and the rest of the United States from danger.

Meanwhile, the natural bias in American thought processes, tells us that our politicians and dedicated government personnel only have the very best of intentions when it comes to our welfare and the general protection of our interests.

What we are experiencing as a nation is nothing less than “Security Kabuki” Politicians driven by a need to appear dynamic in their approach to security, reckless in their implementation of laws that create more harm to the country than any good that might be gained from them, driven by a fear that doesn‘t exist, more concerned about perception than honest reality. Seriously, when have we seen any anti-terrorist program that delivered what the politicians promised to the public? We have government employees trying to do the best job possible, while being enmeshed in a huge bureaucracy that doesn’t always allow them to see the complete metric at work, and citizens too busy managing busy lives, to get involved as much as they should and need to.

All of these groups have one thing in common, they have become entirely unconcerned or entirely unable to see the full force and effect that those policies will have once fully implemented.

What these groups, along with the Congress and Senate of the United States have forgotten, is the first rule of a society edging towards the creation of the surveillance state.

That citizens should know more about their government, than their government knows about its own citizens. A dynamic woefully missing from the pending FISA legislation.

In fact, the greatest single exception to FISA, is the proportionality argument. Nowhere in the labyrinth reams of legislation is any indication of consideration for the public welfare. It should disturb every single American that absolutely no thought is given to oversight to something so egregiously invasive as FISA.

Growing government intrusiveness must be balanced by increased citizen control over the government. Whatever trade off to increased government power must be tempered by citizen checks and balances. This is the single most important issue that FISA faces, and one that the majority of Senators and Congressman have failed to act and answer upon.

Let's focus on the program of replacing problematic U.S. Reps and Senators. Barring catastrophe, Obama is going to be elected POTUS. He knows it, secret plans or not. As someone pointed out above, he is sure to replace our alms with ruling class gold, no matter his previous statements.

Our potential leverage is Congress. In WA-03 support Cheryl Crist against Brian 'Support The Surge and Telecom Immunity' Baird (and two Republicans). She hasn't made it to the ActBlue list yet, but she's winning converts out here.