Deep Thought

It's only ok to question a candidate's war record if he's a Democrat. If he's a Republican, the only proper way to discuss his war record is with unceasing worship.

Hands off His Saintedness

Rapidly becoming irrelevant due to their corporate culture, the mainstream press makes it known that St. McCain, Greatest Human in History, is not to be touched.

There is a real lack of self-awareness on the part of the media about how they are viewed by the masses. And it's obvious where they get it from....

Trumped

I am really disappointed about this.

Violating the Constitution does not protect the security of the American people.

I am so over the security vs. civil rights dichotomy. If you are willing to let the Constitution be undone by a police state, then you are by definition HARMING national security.

Principle

Putting aside for the moment the travesty that is the current FISA "compromise" legislation, it seems to me that Senator Obama should use this bill as the poster child for why we need to get lobbyist cash out of politics. As long as big corporations can use their mounds of cash to buy off weak-kneed politicians (regardless of party), there is simply no assurance that can be made that even citizens' most basic rights will be protected when those rights come into conflict with the interests of major corporations.

I think Senator Obama can make a convincing (and easy) case that this bill - which violates fundamental civil rights and the Constitution - was passed by the House simply because the telecoms bought the necessary number of votes. Without lobbyist dough, this bill doesn't get passed.

Telecommunications companies donated more money, on average, to Democrats who changed their minds last week and supported immunity for those companies' cooperation with administration wiretapping practices, a report by MAPLight.org finds.

Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T donated $8,359 on average, between January 2005 and March 2008, to 94 House Democrats who switched their stances and voted yes last week on the House's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) overhaul bill.The same companies donated $4,987 on average to those who consistently opposed immunity and voted no, the study finds.

The House FISA bill would likely grant telecommunications companies legal immunity for complying with Bush administration wiretapping practices after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

This bill must be filibustered.

Logic vs. Lunacy

This campaign presents two choices...a choice between real ideas to solve real problems:

What do you see as the gravest long-term threat to the U.S. economy?

Obama: If we don’t get a handle on our energy policy, it is possible that the kinds of trends we’ve seen over the last year will just continue. Demand is clearly outstripping supply. It’s not a problem we can drill our way out of. It can be a drag on our economy for a very long time unless we take steps to innovate and invest in the research and development that’s required to find alternative fuels. I think it’s very important for the federal government to have a role in that process.

and lunacy:

McCain: Well, I would think that the absolute gravest threat is the struggle that we’re in against Islamic extremism, which can affect, if they prevail, our very existence. Another successful attack on the United States of America could have devastating consequences. You’ve been a supporter of climate-change legislation that would essentially impose a penalty on the use of fossil fuel.

Bereft of useful ideas to solve real problems, John McCain and the GOP will play the fear card. The basic campaign theme literaly appears to be "elect John McCain, or we are all going to die!"

How can a major political party continue to be viable with a fringe idealogy?

Not Good Enough

Not good enough Senator.

King George can't be trusted to adhere to the Constitution or any other law. This FISA bill is unacceptable.

We need more & better Democrats.

To hell with Bush Dog Democrats.

No Telecom Immunity

Dear Senator Obama,

Please make a major speech against the latest Telecom Immunity bill and urge your fellow Democrats to vote it down.

Thanks.

I love the free market, but...

....it kind of, like, fails sometimes. And that's not cool.

Obama is disarming the GOP step-by-step. Today he drilled the GOP on economics. One of the GOP's tired old attacks against Dems is to assert that any Big Dem is somehow a socialist or hates the free market. Dems have not always responded well enough to these charges. Those days are over. Obama demonstrates:

HARWOOD: On your general approach to business, you have criticized trade deals as not in the interests of American workers. You've talked about Wall Street speculators tricking people out of their homes, you've hit corporations for outsourcing. Are you a populist, and do you have any concern that your agenda might end up doing some damage to a US and global economic system that, though it's struggling now, has delivered a lot of benefits to a lot of people over the last 25 years?

Sen. OBAMA: Look. I am a pro-growth, free market guy. I love the market. I think it is the best invention to allocate resources and produce enormous prosperity for America or the world that's ever been designed.

As I said before, I think what's happened is that the market has gotten out of balance. This isn't the first time it happened. It happens often, particularly during periods of great technological and economic change. It happened, you know, when we moved from farms to factories. It happened when we shifted from factories to the information age. We're still in the process of adapting to this new environment. And there are those of us who have done very well in this new global economy. A lot of dislocations have taken place. And all I've said is let's make sure that our economy takes into account not just the winners but also the losers in the economy.

Let's make sure that the burdens and benefits of globalization are fairly distributed. Let's make sure that we are investing in what's required for long-term growth. And I don't think there's any market advocate who would suggest that if our schools are underperforming, if our investment in basic science and research is declining, if young people can't afford to go to college, if our health-care system is broken and more expensive delivering less in terms of quality care than any other advanced nation, that those are good things for the market, then, you know, we should go ahead and make those investments, make those changes, to make this marketplace work better. That's my basic philosophy.

And on trade deals, I believe in free trade. And as somebody who lived overseas, who has family overseas, I've seen what's happened in terms of rising living standards around the globe. And that's a good thing for America, it's good for our national security. But what I also believe is that if trade agreements are written only with corporate profits and Wall Street in mind and not with its possible effects on Main Street, then we're only seeing half of the equation, and we've got to take those into account.

It's really not that hard. First, shred the foundation of the question. The worst habit of many Dems is to accept the basis of a question - either from GOP hacks or from over-paid pundits. Obama doesn't have this bad habit.

So after pivoting on the question, he then lays out all of the failings of the current economic situation - and he does it in a common-sense, pro-business way. It's very hard for the GOP to debate Obama in this way because it reveals their own intellectual dishonesty, to say nothing of their hypocrisy.

Obama is a transformation candidate - everyone sees that. But he's also a sound candidate - he does all the things well that all candidates should do well. Combined with his charisma and the historical circumstances, and he appears to be a leader for the ages.