Back in January, when he was still contending for the nomination, Barack Obama said this:
No one should get a free pass to violate the basic civil liberties of the American people - not the President of the United States, and not the telecommunications companies that fell in line with his warrantless surveillance program. We have to make clear the lines that cannot be crossed.
...It's time for Washington to hear your voices, and to act. I share your commitment to this cause, and will stand with you in the fights to come. And when I am President, the American people will once again be able to trust that their government will stand for justice, and will defend the liberties that we hold so dear as vigorously as we defend our security.
How times have changed...
I really can't put into words how bitterly disappointed I am with Obama. I really believed that he intended to stand up to the lawbreaking of the Bush administration, that he understood the issues at stake. But now, in the very first fight after he secured the nomination, he's breaking his promise and capitulating to Bush along with the rest of the Senate. He's still expressed some tepid, token opposition to telecom amnesty, but he's not going to filibuster the bill and he's not going to vote against it if amnesty isn't stripped out of it.
So this leads me to one question: Why on earth is he still on the Orange to Blue page on ActBlue?
I seriously doubt any other Democratic candidate who announced their plans to capitulate on telecom amnesty would be listed there. As much as I liked Obama, and still do like him despite this disaster, I don't think we should be giving any Democrat a free pass on this. We need to send a message that standing up for the Constitution is non-negotiable, no matter who you are. If Obama caves on this, I'll still vote for him, reluctantly, since he's by far the lesser of two evils. But I most assuredly will not support his campaign any further with my time or effort.
Until and unless he's shown a commitment to defending the Constitution, let's not group him with the candidates who have. Let's take him off that page and see that the money raised there goes only to real Democrats that we can count on. I really wish it hadn't come to this, but he's the one who's betrayed us, not vice versa.