Spokesman for Barack Obama, October 2007, as reported by Greg Sargent:

"To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies."

As Glenn Greenwald points out in this very publication on this very day, Obama voted for cloture with retroactive immunity still in the bill. This is the exact, diametrical opposite of supporting a filibuster, then he voted for passage.

If saying "I will do X" then doing "Not X" isn't a flip-flop, then the phrase has no meaning whatsoever.

Speaking as a man who contributed hundreds of dollars to his campaign on the expressly stated promise that he would join with Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold in fillibustering FISA, I tell you now that I will never, ever, EVER let Barack Obama put this behind him.

He lied to me. He lied to all of us. And while I might still consider him a slightly better option than John McCain (although at this rate I half expect him to pull his face off at the inauguration to reveal Dick Cheney laughing underneath), the fact remains that I will never again contribute my time or money to his election. He gets my vote in November, and that is IT.

My time will now be spent targeting Democratic Representatives and Senators- including Harry Reid and Nanci Pelosi, who stabbed our party in the back. Within the next 16 years, it is my intention to see that not a single one of the men and women who voted for FISA immunity remain in the Democratic Party. And I promise you, one day I will see that immunity repealed, the FISA courts dismantled and replaced with full review in normal Federal Court, and those telecom companies ruined.

As for Obama... He can damn well be remembered as another Clinton, for all I care. It's no more than he deserves.

But I'm sure Obama would be happy to put FISA behind him until such time as he takes office, and would actually have the power to determine surveillance policies.

He already is elected -- as a Senator, who has sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution.

But if he doesn't consider the Constitution and its Amendments to be important, it's no wonder he doesn't consider his promises and oaths to be important, either.

Thank you.

"suggesting that the Democrat "flip-flopped" by voting for final passage -- are hard to credit, since Obama, unlike McCain, at least took seriously the tough choices involved in the issue" - Ed Kilgore [2008-07-09]

lets see...while trying to get the nomination he stated he'd filibuster any fisa bill that retained immunity for telecoms...then he secured the nomination and decided that telecom immunity and trashing the fourth amendment just wasn't worth his time and effort to stand up to

i'd say that's not only a 'flip-flop' but a big fu to anyone that values their constitutional liberties and those that are serving/have served/given their lives to defend.

and don't call us "those on the left" or a "lefty" - because we're not -- in fact I'd say we're pretty conservative being that we're for leaving the constitution intact

Obama the molten god.

It's a given that career politicians are bound by sacks of baggage (commitments, favors, nods, etc.) they must juggle throughout their careers, but I was hoping Obama would earn the White House relatively unburdened. This vote shows that I'm either naive or hopelessly optimistic. Now that he's bowed to the lowest expression of U.S. democratic governance in my thirty-some years on this planet, I have no choice but to trust him as far as I can throw him. He's still the lesser or all viable evils (though McCain isn't viable, just evil), which means I'll still vote for him, but what else is he capable of?

Obviously this vent stems from someone who thinks "the underlying bill is an unconscionable assault on constitutional liberties!"

Obama is an emptysuit just like I've been saying all along. the Lobbiest got to him-I've read where the Lobbiest have spent money like crazy to buy the votes they needed to get immunity not only that but Obama voted to give a criminal president even more power. What Bush did is a felony and he did it at least 30 times but yet Obama voted to let him off the hook and screw the American people there is no defence for that.The 17 traitor democrat's who voted to help Bush further destroy the fourth amendment and protect him from being tried as the criminal he is should all be voted out of office.I left the gutless democratic party in June and registered Independent. I want no part of the cowards.

That is all.

I also wonder, even as an Obama supporter, if he really did this out of political calculation or if he truly beleives the FISA bill is important to national security.

I don't know. Oh well. Right to Privacy be damned.

-Replaced the Repugs in Congress with Democrats, check.

-Figure they'll listen to the will of the people, check..

-Same-old, same-old..... oops.

Obama had voted against cloture and against the bill in the final vote, would that have prevented the bill from being passed?

While Obama is worthy of critique on this issue, I think it is irrational to focus the blame solely on him. Democrats leadership also deserves blame for this.

Let's not forget that every Republican voted for this. More Republicans than Democrats voted for this bill. Why aren't they being blamed?

The whole system in DC is fucked up, and folks on the left are blaming the one person who has promised to start fixing the system.

What can you people expect,? Obama voted PRESENT 130 time while a state Rep. in Illinois. I've posted this many times but some people just don't get it. As for the poster who said Obama could be remembered as Clinton only in his dreams--when it comes to being brilliant,smart and qualified to be president Obama is so far outclassed by either Clinton that it's a shame anyone would mention his name in the same breath as the Clinton's