Love it!

Has Obama really flipped or just flipped out? Will he 'flip back' after the election?

There is too much at stake, as I keep saying...

That assumes that Bush would be afraid of offering a blanket pardon for anyone involved in the ILLEGAL wiretapping.

He isn't. They would have to have a sense of shame and one thing that’s clear through these 7+ years is that they have no sense of shame. I expect his pardon list to run into nearly, although I wouldn't be surprised if it ran over, 100 pages.

He's the dictator, remember. He's the deciderator and he deciderates that everyone gets a pardon. He has nothing, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to lose and a whole lot of 'legacy' to gain.

Remember Nixon? Poindexter? Ollie North? Slick Dick Cheney?

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Dean's opinion means a lot to Olberman apparently.

Wasn't John Dean involved in the Nixonian White House and Watergate?

Isn't it possible that his advice is coming over a forked tongue?

John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) was White House Counsel to U.S. President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. As White House Counsel, he became deeply involved in events leading up to the Watergate burglaries and the subsequent Watergate scandal cover up, even referred to as "master manipulator of the cover up" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was convicted of multiple felonies as a result of Watergate, and went on to become a key witness for the prosecution, resulting in a reduction of his time in jail.

He's lying. Don't trust him. Not now when the stakes are so high... He's giving aid and comfort to the enemies of the constitution like he did in the Nixonian Blight House...

Confession seems to do him well. Will we have to wait long for his confession again this time?

If you see my point, you'll see that Clark can be correct in his criticism of McCain and Obama can simultaneously be correct in rejecting Clark's criticism as inappropriate to the campaign.

Try turning it around: McCain would be correct if he compared Obama's experience to that of many other presidents and hit him for lacking experience. But Obama does not need to entertain such attacks: he campaigns as though both he and McCain are both qualified and differ only on issues. This is a wise choice, since Obama has the high ground AND the electorally popular position on virtually every issue. It's also true, because either candidate has enough experience to govern.

If he hits McCain on experience or supports by silence those who do, he forfeits this position. He has to rebuke Clark's reasonable attack as inappropriate if he is to maintain his consistency in a winning strategy.

casual_observer:

Your recent post on Obama as "tool" was very well considered, even by your high standards.

So I say this with the greatest respect: What you're advocating may be little more than "blind faith" unless you're expecting the government to be more responsive (not to mention, actually accountable) than recent history would suggest. How "accountable" has the Bush administration been? How "accountable" has the Democratic-majority congress been?

Don't get me wrong - I find your comment to be perhaps the wisest I've yet seen on this general subject, but I think the inescapable lesson here is that public pressure, at best, plays catch-up. The government creates the reality, if you will, leaving you to adapt and figure out what they'll do next.

As the recent FISA-based campaigns illustrate, otherwise a model of "effective" public pressure in action (even appeared to achieve something for a fleeting moment in time), proved ineffective against a government that remained one step ahead.

The result was a wonderful bipartisan compromise and a great day for civil liberties.

Thanks again for being on top of this.

The important issue of Fisa that many just don't seem to understand is the 4th Amendment.

Emptywheel has a good article about the criminal charges angle that I found interesting , informative and PACKED. http://tinyurl.com/4cqlhc

I have been reading comments on many of the blogs and all anyone talks about is the immunity (with many saying the rest of it is even better than the previous... for who?)There is a lot of misinformation out there (what a shock) and of course apologists, people attacking those who question, and those who are now saying they won't support him... yes, the same who called Clinton every name in the book and didn't understand a thing about her and the history of the neocon attacks and undermining of the Clinton administration.

I supported Obama from early on however little by little I could see something wasn't tracking that I couldn't quite put my finger on. There was some passive aggressive stuff going on which I didn't like but it was more than that. I started out "in love" with him but found myself growing uneasy and getting that feeling in the pit of my gut if you know what I mean. Sometime toward the end of February I became neutral and after a couple of weeks of even more research on both of them became a Clintonista as they say. I've never regretted that decision.

I'll vote for Obama but that feeling in my gut has remained and as you have pointed out in your article this list shows there is reason for it.

an aside, don't know the liklihood of this at all:

Something I hadn't considered before but read in a comment somewhere is that it could also threaten RvW because it is based on the right to Privacy. I'm not sure if tha Fisa will impact it or not but I thought it was an interesting conjecture.

Thanks again Glenn.

You are one of my daily stops, always look forward to reading you.

Today I must formally announce the definitive end of my support for Barack Obama. I went along with his vague ideas of change. I disregarded his support of illegal aliens. I ignored his racist pastor. I qualmed at his support for FISA (domestic wiretapping), I was angry at how he turned on Wesley Clark when General Clark voiced his opinion that merely being a POW doesn't necessarily make one perfectly qualified to be president.

Today Obama announced his support for government funded religious charities. What's more he voiced support for hiring and firing decisions based on faith.

I see no hope for change in the policies of the duplicitous man running for president. Knowing full well that it's already been decided that he will get it I understand all too well that change cannot happen because it is not allowed. It is with heavy heart that I hearby disavow any faith in the democratic party or the american political system in general. We, the people, put a new congress in power to end the crimes being committed in our names. They refuse to act. We, the people, came out in droves to support a man who voiced change. He lied.

Fuck this election. Fuck all elections.

We've all been betrayed, on 9-11, in 11-2000... we are all of us betrayed.

There is only one party, with two faces. Until we rise up, until we start burning shit down and forcing the change we crave, it will never happen. Divided we failed and hope for us being united is a pipe dream.

I'm done.