Obama's progressive positions are wholly subordinate to his political ambition. Is anyone surprised? Not Hillary supporters who had to listen to boatloads of crap about his "new politics." Is there anyone left who still believes that Obama would have voted "no" on the authorization for military force if he'd actually been in the senate in 2002? What he's demonstrated is that there is no position so deeply held that it can't be compromised for the sake of winning the presidency. I'm not outraged by his move to the center, I'm enraged by his hypocrisy.

OK, Ms. Walsh, since you have nothing positive to say about either presumptive candidate, just exactly for which of these men do you plan to vote? It seems like you are saying you won't vote at all. Super. That's what your readership needs to hear. They won't vote either, and then everyone will be happy badmouthing whichever candidate wins. Way to go.

I think the Media is the threat; not either of the presumptive candidates.

I think ignorant voters are almost a larger threat.

What a horrible idea! Why if Hillary had compromised on her health care plan 15 years ago, I'd have had health insurance when they diagnosed my son's epilepsy. I could have paid for his medicine. Then maybe we wouldn't have ended up living in the car when my daughters appendix ruptured and maybe I'd have gotten that check up before the lungs were totally gone. Yea, thanks Hillary for not compromising.

Now attorney's can't sue the telecoms. Have you seen the justice department lately? They are all loyal Bushies.

Joan, your comments about Obama's egotism and grandiosity vs. McCain's continued neocon craziness on Iran, etc., sum it up for me as well. Most presidential elections are a choice between bad and less bad, but this one seems to underline that point more than most. Which is why this contest still strikes me as a toss-up. But the result may hinge more on McCain than Obama: if he finds his voice and appears more credible -- which may or may not happen; he's done it before -- he will win over Obama's "unknownness." If not, the voters will throw up their hands and take the big chance, thinking, "If this is the best the system can come up with, why not?"

Are the religious Obama worshipers that (apparently) think his shit don't stink. To them, there is literally NOTHING he could do, or fail to do, that would bring stink to his shit.

Here is it, barebones and simple for even the dullest amongst the insane Obama-worshipers and supporters: basic constitutional and civil rights are NOT "single issue politics". It is NOT a "left-wing position" or a "partisan issue". It is the most basic American issue in existence. It is the end-all, be-all of this nation's existence. People have literally placed their own lives on the line to give us the 4th Amendment (and all the original 10 Amendments, literally, and some beyond the original 10).

The Bill of Rights is NOT negotiable. Not a single basic human and civil right is in the catagory of being "horse-traded".

The Constitution exists NOT to limit our freedoms and liberties, it exists solely to restrict the government. What you are seeing here is the deliberate dismantling of what once was (arguably) a legitimate government of, by, and for the people by both parties for the sake of corporatism, plain and simple. Obama, Reid and Pelosi ("leaders" with the full power to have prevented this atrocity from EVER seeing the light of day on the floors of Congress), Hoyer, and ALL the Dems and Repubs that voted for this bill are NOT serving the people, they are serving corporatism. Full stop. They are NOT serving your best interests and they cannot. EVERYTHING they do is poisoned by corporate giveaways, outsourcing, etc.

Obama is NOT who you think he is, even when you try to "justify" his unconstitutional vote by claiming that he never was a "progressive". That is weak self-justification for you to vote for Obama NO MATTER WHAT. I was NEVER an Obama supporter, and never a Hillary supporter. They were both clearly bland corporatists, through and through. Obama seemed better overall because of his clearly stated positions (except for his VASTLY inferior healthcare proposal) on key issues (Iraq Debacle, FISA). He, as we see now, was simply flat-out LYING. He KNEW he was lying to our faces but did it anyway because he serves himself and his corporate masters above and beyond the Constitution. NO American that loves or actually believes in the Constitution and Bill of Rights can vote for either McCain or Obama. Doing so is trading in that which cannot be traded. THEY ARE NON_NEGOTIABLE! Full stop. No equivocating.

This is NOT a single issue, it is the ONLY issue.

First of all, I’m extremely disappointed in Obama’s vote and I think it was a serious blunder. I think it was important to hold telecomm’s accountable for law-breaking, even if it was conducted at the government’s behest, and we missed a serious opportunity. I also don’t get the logic: I can’t imagine FISA is going to win Obama more votes in the center than it potentially lost him on the left. Overall, it was the wrong thing to do morally and politically.

However, I find Joan Walsh’s columns on Obama to be insufferably disingenuous, one-note and smug. For an unabashed Clinton backer like Joan to criticize Obama for not being a “progressive” is a laugh. Hillary Clinton’s entire Senate career was built on a series of equally awful votes and based on the reflected glory from her husband, a triangulating big business shill if ever there was one. I don’t for a second believe Joan ever “admired” Obama and I can only imagine her joy at the opportunity to trash him for something legitimate for a change, as opposed to the typical guilt-by-association dead-ender crap she’s been harping on for the past year.

In truth, Joan was so committed to the idea of a woman president that she was willing to overlook all of Hillary Clinton’s myriad flaws and she still can’t get over the idea that Obama flat-out beat her candidate fair and square. All this outrage-ginning is just bluster. Joan is suffering from sour grapes. It is as clear as the proverbial sky.