"Let's end this here." Lets do.

Exceprt from the current draft of the legislation:

‘(A) ensure that any acquisition authorized under subsection (a) is limited to targeting persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States; and

‘(B) prevent the intentional acquisition of any communication as to which the sender and all intended recipients are known at the time of the acquisition to be located in the United States.

Limitations- An acquisition authorized under subsection (a)--

‘(1) may not intentionally target any person known at the time of acquisition to be located in the United States;

‘(2) may not intentionally target a person reasonably believed to be located outside the United States if the purpose of such acquisition is to target a particular, known person reasonably believed to be in the United States;

‘(3) may not intentionally target a United States person reasonably believed to be located outside the United States;

‘(4) may not intentionally acquire any communication as to which the sender and all intended recipients are known at the time of the acquisition to be located in the United States; and

(5) shall be conducted in a manner consistent with the fourth amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

In short, nobody has shredded the constitution ... except, wait ... the president!

The issue that Obama caved on was telecom immunity. He did it because without immunity, Bush would have vetoed it and they did not have the votes to filibuster.

Hate him for that. Hate him for changing his mind about filibustering. But for crissakes hate him for what he actually did! Don't just make things up, silly fools! Read the legislation.

So many words that Obama said are being put in his mouth that are not true. The problem is that every interview is a "gothya" interview.

The Hillary pretenders(right wing trolls) in here are now trying to validate Hillary's position. Yet Hillary did not support Minors access to abortion without a a parents consent, until she was arm twisted to get a pro-choice rating.

Just like the FISA issue, the issue of reproductive rights is always discussed in terms of black and white. Obama did make a mistake in trying to explain grays areas, but he in no way has back tracked on his support of Roe.

What Obama should have said: I have always supported a woman's right to privacy as guaranteed Roe V Wade. Because Roe gives equal protection to the woman and the fetus it has worked very well for us over the years.

I voted against the so-called Partial Birth Abortion Ban as I believe that health should be considered for late term abortions. Serious health consequences do arise late in pregnancy and the decision to continue a pregnancy should be based on the woman's decisions under her doctors advice. This is an issue of privacy.

I believe we can all work to prevent the need for abortions by preventing unplanned pregnancy. That is why I support funding for Family planning, comprehensive sex educations and affordable health care for women and their families.

I heard Obama said that women who have these procedures should undergo counseling beforehand?

What Obama said was that he does not support a mental health exemption for late term abortions (not merely those using the so-called "partial birth" method, but ALL late term abortions, regardless of method).

Here's his actual quote:

I have repeatedly said that I think it’s entirely appropriate for states to restrict or even prohibit late-term abortions as long as there is a strict, well-defined exception for the health of the mother. Now, I don’t think that ‘mental distress’ qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term. Otherwise, as long as there is such a medical exception in place, I think we can prohibit late-term abortions.

It's insulting on many levels, not the least of which is the inherent assumption that women undergo this incredibly stressful, painful, involved procedure on a whim using a catch-all 'mental distress' loophole for doing so. It also trivializes mental illness as somehow less legitimate or worthy of consideration than physical illness (try explaining that to the pregnant woman from whom you're withholding antipsychosis medications).

I don't think Obama meant "mental distress" is the same as mental illness. He should have not even mentioned the mental distress. However, under Roe in the third trimester before the Later term ban, no woman can get an abortion, except for health or life reason, so Obama was basically reaffirming his support of ROE in his statement. The problem in talking about casual reasons it does play into the antis rhetoric. Abortions are NOT perforemd late term for casual reasons. Problem is the anti also include second trimesters as their view of late term.

There is a big difference between mental distress and mental illness and to say Obama was refering to mental illness is a stretch. Besides there are all kinds of other ethical medical guidelines from AGOG that deal with ethics in regard to mentally ill and reproductive health issues.

Rambling Roes I believe is a right troll and I not beleive that Rambling supports Roe v. Wade either.

I haven't read all the letters yet but I have a question for Joan.

How can you be betrayed by someone you were never loyal to in the first place?

Good one!!

I've spent the last 20 minutes checking in and repeatedly deleting offensive and obscene comments, so I'm closing this thread. Thanks to those who participated in good faith; others might want to check our terms of service, because you're not complying with them. And you know who you are.

just let the man do what he must do to win the Presidency.

You all know that what ever politicians say during a campaign is null and void once they are elected.

Obama is the guy for change.

McCain 4 more dreadful years of death and destruction.

And you won't have to deal with deleting offensive or obscene comments.

Just look at the system that Dailykos.com has, and put something in place exactly like that. It is a great and effective way to weed out those aren't interested in genuine discussion.

I say this as someone who loves reading salon and engaging in spirited discussion and debate, and hates to see that ruined by comments from potty-mouthed and mean-spirited people.