"This Administration has put forward a false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we demand. When I am president, there will be no more illegal wire-tapping of American citizens; no more national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime; no more tracking citizens who do nothing more than protest a misguided war. Our Constitution works, and so does the FISA court"

He will clean it when he is president and has a governing majority. I just don't get why folks hang this on Barak. Everyone including our hero Glenn Greenwald think they own him. This bill does not waive criminal liability. Make Glenn Greenwald attorney general.

If Joan really thought that Obama's sellout was "unforgivable," there'd be a consequence, right? But without any consequence, what we need to understand is that when Joan Walsh says "unforgivable," what she means is "forgivable."

But of course, by saying something that is meaningless, or is contradicted by whatever comes next, Joan sounds just like Obama.

So perhaps this is the perfect Obama endorsement.

Hell no, it is not just about getting Bush. It was not just the telecom immunity that was dreadful. It is about actually understanding just what our goverment is doing when they spy upon us. Getting Bush would just be gravy. It is about dismantling the system that the Bush Administration has put in place -- with the kind assistance of Democrats like Rockerfeller, Pelosi, Reid, and Hoyer to pursue all sorts of ugly things in the name of national security and by scaring us about terrorists. It is about a balance between our national safety and our constitutional rights. If we protect ourselves at the expense of all the values that we hold dear, then the result is inevitable: We lose our freedoms, we lose the respect of our allies, we lose the high ground, we lose our very souls, damn it!

I am not spoiling for a fight. I want people to see that this is much bigger than Obama or Clinton or this election. With increasing executive power the president gains so much control over our lifes as to become a virtual dictator merely by keeping us in a state of war. Thus, it is to the advantage of any president seeking the unbridled powers of a dictator to keep us in a state of war. Bush, with Cheney's theory of a unitary executive, has been arranging near dictatorial powers.

With the power to pluck out the communications of any citizen without oversight, the president would be in the position to spy upon the communications of any American -- including political opponents -- without bringing this spying before the FISA court for up to 90 days (I think that's right). Can you not imagine the opportunities for blackmail and political extortion?

Bernbart, were you alive with Richard Nixon resigned his office? When he said: "When the president does it, it's not illegal?" (I may be paraphrasing here.)

Because I an neither rich nor stupid, I will vote for whomever the Democrats nominate, but I don't have to like it.

Obama continues to demonstrate that he does not have the courage to be president. He has a history of ducking hard calls. Throwing General Clark (who is a better man, any day, than either of the assumed candidates) under the bus for saying something that was clearly true and needed saying is another example. God only knows what kind of administration he will run.

My greatest solace these days is my conviction that John McCain is even less fit to be president.

This really tears it for me; there's nobody left I'm willing to vote for. Why isn't there an armed insurgency in this country?

Were you alive when Julius Caesar was stabbed on the steps of the Roman senate? What are you Smith, some worldly wizened old wise woman with a flickering spark in her eyes? Or just some garden variety old hack grinding an axe in an elegant disguise?

The new FISA bill does NOT allow warrant less wiretaps without FISA court over sight. Have you read the new FISA law? The amendments that got defeated were all about the telecom immunity.

Yes I was around when tricky DICK was president. "Don't change "bleep" in the middle of a screw vote for Nixon in 72.

Good God, you lot sound like jilted lovers and I can't help but wonder if you demand such ideological purity and obesiance of the others in your lives. So Senator Obama is a human being, a politician, a man who has made a decision you don't like. So did 73 others. You lot are as blind, rigid, and unwilling to consider shades of gray as President Bush.

Clearly, Obama isn't perfect. Was John Kerry? Al Gore? Was Hillary Clinton? Did each one of them meet every single one of your rigid ideological criteria? Does McCain?

Part of being an adult is developing the ability to choose between the lesser of two evis. It isn't Obama's fault that you had unreasonable expectations that somehow, this election would be different. Some of you need to grow up.

At the risk of sounding woefully ignorant, does anyone know what rule(s) would stop superdelegates (or any delegates for that matter) switching their vote to hillary at the convention and shifting the nomination to her?

the fisa vote depresses me, but the brandenburg gate thing just leaves me speechless....

I have to semi-apologize (I can't quite go all the way) for my criticism of your comments on Obama before he clinched the nomination. You were right - he's was far uglier than we could have imagined.

On the other hand, despite her FISA vote, I have no reason to believe Hillary is any better. In fact she made many equally as ugly votes after she was skewered on the Iraq vote.

Basically the Democrats, just like the Republicans, are compromised to the core. Sure, there's a few good people out there, but the system as a whole is an abject failure. Unfortunately the foxes are guarding the hen house, so the chances of things improving anytime soon are minimal.

Our new mantra should be "question establishment". It doesn't matter if you're Democrat, Republican, a judge, a reporter, a whatever - if you're part of the "establishment" your motives have to be questioned. Because once people get into places of power and influence, their souls become corrupted.