Obama's seemingly sudden political deafness, or "triangulated transformation" should I say, is remarkable for how quickly it's happened. Wesley Clark was not defended by Obama for stating what should be obvious, that being a prisoner of war does not a foreign policy credential make. By the same token, scurrying away from a fight on matters such as FISA in order to avoid being called names by the opposition isn't much of a profile in courage either. Yet worse still, if Obama believes that legislation to be acceptable (and his only stated reservation regarded the immunity provision), then his political antennae are either deaf, dumb and completely inoperative to the demands of his party's members, or dismissively turned off.

Obama has shown scant regard for the netroots blogosphere who supported him early on. He has built a campaign organization that has sought to avoid hearing the voices of others who have every right--indeed, obligation--to speak on matters of privacy, war, economics and health insurance, to name a few. Sure, he's better than McCain, but that's a pretty low threshold.

There are various issues that McCain would be wise to focus on in the near future, issues where Obama will be compelled to take a position that may not be popular amongst supporters, in an attempt to further force Obama's hand.

I'll take this a step further and suggest, that first and foremost amongst these issues, is the issue of Iran generally, and in particular, the various resolutions, in Congress, calling for a naval blockade.

As I must always advise, I may be showing my ignorance of your system here, but isn't it inevitable that both McCain and Obama, if for no other reason than by virtue of being Senators, will have to take a position on at least the (Democratic-initiated!) Senate Resolution?

With regards to Iran, Obama dare not adopt a position that varies from McCain, even though I expect some supporters cling to the belief that he (still) favors diplomacy over military action.

(And in this same vein, I'll trot it out again: what I understand to be senior advisors to the Obama campaign, Tony Lake and Susan Rice, along with the comparable advisors to the McCain campaign (incl. James Woolsey), endorsed what I understand to be an AIPAC-derived Report on US-Israeli cooperation regarding the "threat" of Iran. As I further understand things, AIPAC is thought of as being the impetus for the Congressional Resolutions, too. See where this is going? Or am I misguided?)

When I first raised this, those who commented were skeptical, but I still believe that the Republicans will continue to proceed based on a simple premise (when I first proposed this, I saw it more as a gambit, but no more): that Obama, like the Democratic Party, will not repudiate the key tenets and "accomplishments" of the Bush era, especially in the area of war/military.

(Also looming on the horizon: withdrawal from Iraq. It ain't gonna happen, both Obama and McCain know it, but only one politician's supporters believe their candidate favors withdrawal.)

Olberman's mea culpa was just scratching the surface but he too backed himself into a corner defeding Obama's indefensable backing of FISA. Only over the past two years have I been following politics daily and what I have found is demoralizing. I have faith that people like Glen will continue to fight the fight but I think it's become like swatting an elephant with a ruler. It might sense something is coming into contact with it but it's hardly anything to worry about.

It's as if the U.S. has become a glitzy Third World country where it's leaders mine the population for profit and power through lie, and fear. The establishment has cemented it's power through collusion between the parties and has created a situation where a "third" or "fourth" voice will never be able to penetrate the skin it has grown. Our country has become filled with "low information voters" that were delibertly allowed to go to seed through the coalescing of the media to the leaders, and the creation of a class of pundits that act as a secure buffer between the people and their government. Sort of a modern,and sophisticated organization of what will soon end up being a totalitarian version of a Republic, if not a deadly caricature of one where anyone can speak their mind (so far) but no one is listening. I can see it in the anger and desperation in Glen's work, and of the numerous other articles on the web. It's frustrating to be living at a time when what was once good has been soured by the success of the neocon movement.

They have done it, right in front of all those "low information voters" that gave them an eight year head start and the weak kneed "opposition" party whose elected officials want their positions of power more than to do what is right for their constituents. One needs to look no farther than the polling to see how disenfranchised the electorate is.

Rome had a start, a middle and an end. So did the Egyptians and the Greeks. The American experiment is teetering towards ending the same way but not before it secures total dominance over a Constitution that once lovingly governed it's every move. Two more SCOTUS right wingers and the triad is complete. My Senior High School Civics and History teacher is rolling in his grave. ..

You've misreported Obama's position on what faith-based organizations would be allowed to do.

The would NOT be allowed to use faith in hiring decisions. This was misreported in some news accounts. But see the memo from the Obama campaign below and you'll see that it was in error. Please correct this in your diary.

"The new partnership will not endanger the separation of church and state, so long as a few basic principles are followed. First, if an organization gets a federal grant, it will not be permitted to use that grant money to proselytize to the people it serves, and the group will forbidden to discriminate against them on the basis of their religion. And groups will be required to comply with federal anti-discrimination laws in their hiring practices—including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin."

http://thepage.time.com/obama-campaign-memo-for-tuesday-july-1/