FISA: Obama and Warrantless Wire-tapping

Anyone who reads hear regularly knows that my attachment to the Obama campaign and presidency is of a strategic nature more than anything. That is not to say I don't get behind his policy (I do, especially his foreign policy), but that for me, the change he will bring has already happened, and will continue to "trickle down" through community organizing the likes of which most of us have never seen in our lifetime.

But on policy for a moment (or in this case, lack thereof) there is one issue that Obama (all of the Democratic candidates this year, in fact - except Biden and Dodd) have steered clear of: Retro-Active Immunity for Telco's. All have stated their positions on the issue, and Obama has since reiterated the same after clinching the nomination. But what boggles me is the missed opportunity to cling to a truly defining issue, and protect the rule of law at the same time by remaining removed from the battle over (unnecessary) FISA reform, even more so as a Blue Dog driven cave-in to the President again seems imminent. Silent Patriot:

Wouldn’t it be nice to have leaders in our own government who were willing to protect the rule of law and our cherished civil liberties from the tyranny of fear mongering?

If Senator Obama truly wanted to prove himself as a leader and strongly rebuke the past 8 years of privacy abuse and lawlessness, he would use his standing as presumptive nominee to rally Democrats (and some honest Republicans) to propose a new bill that closes any real “intelligence gaps,” but demands that the telecoms defend their conduct in a court of law to determine whether or not they broke the law. That shouldn’t be a controversial proposition. The telecoms can’t break the law just because the President told them they could.

This is a perfect opportunity to expose the criminality of the Bush administration and salvage the remaining privacy rights we have left. All we need are courageous leaders willing to go to the mat over it.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

Edmund Burke
Irish orator, philosopher, & politician (1729 - 1797)

Defending our constitution could be a rallying point for House Democrats and the future president, drawing our line in the sand over an issue that is nothing short of an assault on the core principles of the Democratic Party, and what it means to be an American.

I'd like to see Obama step up on this one.

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