First of all, when I say vote Democrat at "every level", I DON'T mean a level where a more progressive candidate can win.

But with regard to the fifty state strategy...

I have often said that I would rather deal with a dog than its owner under most circumstances.

What about all those irresponsibly trained guard dogs and fighting dogs? Guess what. A mean or out of control dog usually has a meaner or more out of control owner behind it.

What is the point of this? Someone complained about strategies that bother to help Democrats win in conservative rural areas. Because the resulting Democrats are relatively conservative.

Son, what do you think that the Republican who would have been elected instead of that conservative Democrat would have been like?

I believe it's time, beginning today, to stop fooling ourselves that the Democrats are simply weak, wishy-washy flip-floppers and start admitting that they're in on it. They're as eager to begin the curtailment of what we the unwashed masses like to call "freedom" as any right wing idealogue. This FISA vote is nothing less than the entire government throwing down the gauntlet, daring the people to do anything about it. I can no longer buy any single argument for still voting Democratic come November 4th: not the social, the economic, the political, the military - nothing. How is it possible after this? It wasn't the Republicans who sold us down the river - it was the Democrats, who could easily have stopped this Bill in its tracks but did absolutely nothing to stop it, only to slow it down so we'd get used to the idea of losing what little privacy we still have. To paraphrase the great Henny Youngman: "How's the Constitution? It's up on the roof!"

A president with a 25% approval rating who is in charge of one of the most unpopular wars in American history has the power to bully an entire body of elected officials whose constituents put them into power to stand up to him in the first place and to protect the Constitution. Actions like this will be studied in the years to come as how our government even as "enlightened" as a constitutional republic is only as good as the men and women we elect. In other words, if our representatives have no backbone or ethics then the system breaks down.

I noticed McCain did not vote on the bill. Could that be an strategy to grab some Obama supporters without actually taking a stand on the issue? In essence trying to have it both ways?

I'm glad, Glenn, that you're finally starting to realize, as you stated, that the Dems are not in any way interested in protecting our civil liberties or of upholding the Rule of Law. I am glad of this simply because it has been clear for some time, in my opinion, that the Dems and Repubs. are totally in cahoots with their intention of having the ability to monitor and collect the personal information of every citizen and every non-citizen. Power is information, and as I've pointed out in posts before it is not necessary that any information that is collected be acted on immediately, the necessity is to have the information archived for use whenever those in charge see fit. This is control in our modern, technological era. Power is the ability to menace whomever (everybody) by making it clear that you or I can be recorded, filmed, listened to or even disappeared without notice or due process or anything like a standard of Law. Some say, "If you've done nothing wrong then you have nothing to fear." That, as we well know, is utter bullshit. As has been made all to clear by BushCorp, the rules can be changed in a completely subjective fashion, therefor whatever any of us might do may not be technically "wrong" today, but can easily be made "wrong" tomorrow if it suits the purposes of those who decide what right and wrong are. In this way dissent is meant to be crushed and/or repressed. Glenn, I'm sure you are familiar with Foucault and his elaboration upon the theme of the Panopticon? Well, that dream of order and control, as Foucault described, is very much alive and well today, and growing ever more exacting and invasive. Technology has allowed for the Panopticon to have an ever greater reach and breadth of influence, and the process continues.

My gut feeling is that McCain is lazy. He had other things to do, so that is probably an easier explanation. He's missed quite a few votes over the years.

If the media wasn't as friendly to him as it is, we'd see alot more of the gaffes and incredibly stupid things he and his team are saying.

He was dissing social security the other day and now says what he said was misconstrued.

His top economic advisor just said that there isn't a hint of a recession right now, it's all in our heads and Americans are just a bunch of "whiners".

I mean, @Electro Robot - er, @Robot2 - uh, @Robot3? - wait, it's "James T. Kirk" now, isn't it? Damn, son, you've got more noms de guerre than Lev Bronstein!

Anyway:"Look, practically speaking most of the countries in the world routinely spy on their citizens with no legal restraint at all. You're always saying we're the worst of the worst. So there you have it."

So you're saying, "Everything is everything?" When did you become such a moral relativist?

Sad to say, but this bill (along with his plan to continue giving tax money to "faith based" groups) really made me lose faith in Obama and realize that he is just another politician pandering to GWB. At least Hillary Clinton (who I didn't like but maybe should reconsider that in hindsight) voted "no" on this disastrous piece of legislation.

This is what dems do...run to the republican side on all but the most trivial of issues. There is n opposition party just the money party.

The constitution and the rule of law have become virtually meaningless to those who can afford to live above it. Little Hitlers must be destroyed wherever they are found. Nearly our entire government needs to be replaced. The America we knew is dead. The so called terrorists have already won..."look at what we made America do to itself" is the terrorist motto.

Our congress has made a farce of our democracy. It's members are bought and sold at will.

I worked hard to get "Progressive" Senator Claire McCaskill D-MO elected to the senate because she claimed she would change how government does business and make a difference. She has voted identical to Senator Kit Bond R-MO on all the issues. Here she is campaigning for Obama...WHY? Unless he too will vote just like Bond. I stopped believing anything they sat and they McCaskill took down her contact web site because she has stopped listening. This is the change you can believe in...single party rule...the money party... with it's two faces.