OpEdNews » Obama Silent as Democrats Give Bush More Spying Powers

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Tag(s): Bush Admin; Congress House Legislation; FISA; FISA; Obama-Barack
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June 20, 2008 at 12:23:42

Obama Silent as Democrats Give Bush More Spying Powers

by Ari Melber Page 1 of 1 page(s)

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Democratic leaders in Congress are poised to grant new spying powers to President Bush and arrange retroactive amnesty for telecommunications companies accused of illegal surveillance, according to a deal announced Thursday evening. Today's New York Times describes the legislation, which the House could vote on today, as "the most significant revision of surveillance law in 30 years" and a "major victory" for the lame duck president. If passed, the bill would constitute the largest capitulation by Democratic leaders since winning control of Congress, an especially striking setback as Democratic voters rally around a presidential nominee who has flatly opposed Bush's spying policies -- and repeatedly promised to challenge the corruption, doubletalk and "politics of fear" that rule Washington.

Yet Barack Obama has been mostly silent as the House caved into White House demands for more surveillance power this week. He has advocated civil liberties and accountability during previous clashes over surveillance, voting against a White House spying bill in August, but Obama has sidestepped the issue this week, despite pleas from supporters. "If Obama remains missing much longer, it may be necessary to issue an Amber Alert for him," wrote Glenn Greenwald, an attorney and Salon blogger who rallied activists to raise over $115,000 in two days to run primaries against Democratic incumbents who undermine the rule of law.

Obama's quiescence on this fundamental issue is disappointing, but not new. In February, I criticized him and Clinton for going MIA during an earlier spying stand-off, when a coalition of liberal incumbents, netroots activists and the civil liberties groups ACLU and EFF successfully beat back Bush's threats to stop a similar bill. Now things are just worse, for Obama and the Congress.

Obama has a much larger mandate to lead the party, yet he is ducking this battle. There is no rationale for Congress to fundamentally alter surveillance policy for Bush's last five months in office, but instead of doing oversight they are granting him more power. The Supreme Court just issued a historic opinion rebuffing Bush and Congress for compromising the Constitution, through the President's lawless detention policies and the Democratic Congress' attempt to authorize them in the Military Commissions Act, yet neither branch appears chastened. And politically, the Democrats' promise of change, reform and accountability risks a hollow ring when they continue to endorse more of the same corporate handouts and failed Bush agenda.

From The Nation.

Ari Melber is the Net movement correspondent for The Nation magazine, the oldest political weekly in America, and a writer for The Nation's 2008 campaign blog. He is also a columnist for The Politico and a contributing editor at the Personal Democracy Forum, a nonpartisan website covering technology's impact on democracy. Melber served as a Legislative Aide in the U.S. Senate and was a national staff member of the 2004 John Kerry Presidential Campaign.

Email: amelber(at)hotmail.com
Facebook Group: Net Movement Politics
MySpace: MySpace.com/arimelber
Monthly writing distribution list: Google groups

As a commentator on public affairs, Melber has been quoted by publications such as The New York Times, Roll Call, and Time, and appeared on national radio and television, including CNBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, C-SPAN, FOX, MSNBC, NPR and Air America, on programs such as "American Morning," "Washington Journal," "Power Lunch," "The Live Desk," "Weekend Live with Brian Wilson," "MSNBC Reports with David Shuster," "Your World with Neil Cavuto," "MSNBC Election Night After Hours," "MSNBC Live with Contessa Brewer," "MSNBC Live with Amy Robach," "MSNBC Live with Chris Jansing," and "MSNBC Live with Alex Witt," among others.

Melber has been a featured speaker at forums sponsored by the Harvard Law School, Yale Political Science Department; Campaign for America's Future; Young Democrats of America; Democracy for America; New York's Blogging Liberally; YearlyKos 2006, the first national netroots convention; and YearlyKos 2007. He also served on the Advisory Committee to the YearlyKos Leadership Forum for seven presidential candidates in August 2007.

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3 comments

NOBODY WITH TO MUCH TRUTH IT HURTS
RICH SHANOBODY WITH TO MUCH TRUTH IT HURTS

OBAMA SILENT

OR COULD IT BE HE'S THINKING AH WHEN I BECOME PRESIDENT THIS WILL GIVE ME MORE CONTROL OVER THE SHEEP. WE ARE HEADING TO , (YOUR PAPERS PLEASE ) THIS IS STRAIT FROM HITLERS PLAY BOOK. OH BY THE WAY HILTERS PLAY BOOK WAS WRITTEN BY THE SAME GLOBAL ELITE THAT ARE IN CONTROL OF OUR GOVERNMENT AND THE MEDIA.

by RICH SHA (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 106 comments) on Saturday, June 21, 2008 at 3:41:32 AM