Barack in the Middle

So Barack is getting it pretty good of late from us liberals. Seems some of us thought that we had a leader on our hands, someone who would fight for some key guarantees we Americans take for granted.

It turns out we were wrong. Barack has decided that now is not the right time for controversial votes, so he up and gave Bush what he wanted on FISA. In today's New York Times, Gail Collins writes that this is what Barack preached all along. Apparently, we liberals were duped. According to Gail, the FISA vote:

Put[s] some restrictions on the government’s ability to wiretap[, and] is
better than nothing, even though he [Barack] would rather have gone
further.

Really? Because to me the vote legalizes the criminal actions of this administration and the telecom industry while allowing for increasing privacy violations.

Barack is the one who has been duped, Gail. And he and his advisors better get back on point before bad votes like this leave a stain his charisma can't clean.

Why the Democrats Suck

While you were enjoying your summer the last two days, the Democratic controlled Congress rewrote our laws for government wiretapping. The Democrats gave the Bush administration everything. The government can begin reading your emails and bugging your calls just like if you flipped off Jack Bauer in traffic.

Slate's excellent legal affairs columnist, Patrick Radden Keefe, wrote a piece which will explain to you exactly why this bill is so horrid. FISA, the previous law protecting us from an obtrusive government, existed since the bad old Watergate days. The Democrats then lived through a corrupt Republican administration, and passed laws to stop another Nixon from bypassing our Constitution. The Democrats we have today? Yeah, not so much. Why not give an even worse Republican expanded powers? Ugh.

The Sprints and US Cellulars of the world, the folks we all pay monthly so we can drunk text at 2 AM, the very companies who allowed the government to browse through your phone records without your knowledge, were granted immunity. And yes, our very own Barack Obama voted for the bill.

Somebody remind the Democrats exactly what an opposition party means, please. Nancy and Harry, it means you vote No. No. You just vote no.

Ick. Just about makes you want to party with Ron Paul.