Okay in the last 6 hours since I logged onto here today I've basically seen the discourse be focused almost squarely on the FISA issue. Fair enough, it's a very important issue. I personally hope the stupid "compromised" bill never gets the chance to reach our idiot President's desk. I think also that our representatives should be contacted to show--*civilly and without hysterics*--our displeasure with the bill and express our desire that they vote it down or, in the case of the Senate, Filibuster the piece of crap back to the drawing board as has been done time and time again already. What I'm sick of hearing is this whole call to arms for our presumptive nominee for Prsident to speak out today or lest the various threats from no longer donating to even voting third party.
Now I understand the convenience in looking only to him to "end" the bill, you know because every Democrat will listen to him, right? WRONG. Every person in Congress knows where he stands on the FISA issue, he's made numerous past statements on it in the past and we have his own voting record and support of filibustering it as evidence. You honestly think that him speaking out is going to stop a few crooks in our own party from acting in their own self interest? You and I both know that the reason for this bipartisan consensus is because top Dems have their own hands soiled by this crap and face their own troubles in the future. Well screw them, they'll get theirs hopefully but it surely won't be while we have Bush in office.
However, we have 435 representatives in the House, and 100 Senators, 99 of which are gasp NOT Obama. And hey, guess what! We have had prominent people in either house call out the FISA bill as the piece of crap that it is, and hey here's another revelation: it hasn't been voted on yet. House still has to vote on it, and even then it has to go to the Senate still. If you want the bill to die, the House is probably a lost cause but all we need is 40 Senators to filibuster, am I right?
Let me get to the point I make in the first part of this diary: contrary to what you all want to think, Obama is not God--not of the country, not of the Senate, and definitely not of Washington. He likely cannot stop a few rogues from voting on the stupid thing, you know that whole issue regarding free will and all. I understand the sentiment that because he's our nominee that he should "take charge" and call this bill out. While it would be nice and effective, seriously the oft-accompanying crying out in blind rage and herd-mentality whining for it has gone very quickly to the point of risking self-destruction.
Don't get me wrong, I support contacting him and his people--AND everyone else in Congress--in telling him to voice his non-support for the FISA bills and to call for what will inevitably be a filibuster. Now does he actually have to do it now, when we have pretty much days before it even reaches the Senate? Does he have to say something while he's busy getting a Presidential campaign going (something most of those other people in Congress don't really have to deal with)? Does he have to do it before he even reads the bill so he can at the very least give clear reasoning to his decision, since his effectiveness will actually be more than rhetoric IN THE SENATE? While your knee-jerk reactions may say otherwise, my answer to all of the above is a resounding "no".
So since everyone here wants to make a threat to not do anything more for his campaign before he even can have the chance to do something about this, since everyone wants to take it from being productive and simply pushing for him to show dissatisfaction for it to being needlessly outraged that he didn't say something today, since apparently his campaign and your efforts are not worth it anymore because of your minor dissatisfactions not with his voting for the bill which we KNOW he's against but because he didn't immediately say a word for it, I refuse to donate any more money to him and I withdraw all future considerations to donate more money or even to volunteer (yes I was considering joining the ranks for Chicago and Urbana, IL). I don't refuse to do this based on my dissatisfaction with him (which on this issue I am basically seeing this as very rabidly overdrawn onto the wrong persons, he doesn't support it and I expect him to demonstrate it when it reaches the Senate). No, I refuse to support a candidate who relies on reactionaries who cannot even understand that one day in the life of Washington is not everything. I refuse to work for a candidate whom his own supporters are so fickle and incapable of doing something proactive towards their causes that they're THREATENING him. Not simply expressing that they hope he does the right thing, but actually black-mailing him to do EVERYTHING THEY WANT, be it FISA or anything else. I'm sorry but I will not use my time and money for something that stands for the same crap that made the far-right the ugly incantation that it has become today.
This is where I bring in the disclaimer: I will happily vote for him in November, and I would consider donating to him again if I ever find the money to do so (I've too many money problems to make it feasible until September the earliest) and still am considering volunteering (though not sure someone like me can do much, especially since I live in a safe-state for him and cannot go out of state), so my threats in the last paragraph are honestly empty. If you think I was over the top with them and probably crossed the line, now you know my stance on a good number of people here. You honestly need to temper it down. It's admirable that you are calling out your politicians to not support the crap legislation and that you have high expectations out of your candidates, but seriously if you haven't taken it too far yet, you're coming mighty close and I can only see it getting worse. Worst yet, this sort of thing really repels people like me who are newcomers and honestly see this reactionary thing as being the left-version of right-wing nutjobs, NOT in the stances but in how you handle them, and let me be clear, I really enjoy this site, but if this sort of thing is really going to be a near-everyday occurrence I'll cut back on my participation here and limit it to diary topics I know will be civil and lacking of such rabidness.
Let me reiterate: my issue is not with the stance, but the handling and the way you handle the reaction. That said, you have 99 other Senators who need to hear from you, so how about you stop contacting Obama so much (I hear his voice mail and phone lines have reached beyond holding capacity) and start contacting everyone else who you need to support this view, and let us actually have patience while they find the best way to attack and destroy this instead of empty rhetoric that is--frankly--only being put out there to APPEASE, not the Republicans, not Bush, but YOU. If he calls out before it reaches the Senate I'll be happy, if not I'll be disappointed slightly but so long as it gets nowhere in the Senate I'll be just as satisfied (as that's what really matters in the end), and I suggest you all take such a lead.