Obama didn't screw me on FISA because he now thinks the FISA capitulation was a great idea. He screwed me because he and the democratic party leadership decided they didn't want the GOP to paint Obama as "weak" on terror during his campaign.
This pisses me off for a number of reasons.
Here's why I'm pissed. First, other than the inside the beltway hacks, no one supports the FISA sell-out. I haven't seen any protests saying "free the phone companies." My congresswoman, Jane Harman. put on her website that the great-great majority of letters and calls she got were against FISA (she voted for it anyway). As the American people don't support it, why does the Democratic Party leadership (and I include Obama as he’s the LEADER of the party). The FISA bill didn’t have to be acted on, and no one would have cared. So going out of your way to screw over your biggest supporters? Frankly, its stupid.
I'm also pissed because Obama screwed himself financially when he agreed to support this crappy bill. Really, the week after he announces he's going to opt out of public financing he screws his strongest supporters. How stupid is that? While I can’t ask for my prior donation back, I’ll be damned if I give him any more. I don’t reward bad behavior. Nor will a lot of other people. Again, stupid.
In addition, Obama’s flip-flop on this issue makes him look weak, not strong. Bush has continued to get his war funding because the Democratic party is a flock of chickens. If there is a timeline in a bill, Bush, (Mr. 28%) will veto it. So what! The great majority of Americans wants this war over with. So, what do the Dems do? They cave-in, and send him funding bills without time lines. Same thing with FISA. Unless Bush gets everything he wants, he threatens to veto the bill. So, let him. If Obama and the Dems actually stood up to Bush, instead of blowing him at every turn, Americans would see that Obama has a spine. Some times you have to fight. So, FIGHT, don’t roll over. No only has Obama screwed his base, but he’s made himself out to be a flip-flopping political opportunist to independents. Stupid.
He also makes himself out to be a liar. He said he’d support a filibuster of any bill that contains immunity. So what did he do instead? He got together with Pelosi, Reid and Hoyer and sold us out. No matter how much his supporters complained, he was always going to support this bill. The reason why? Because he promised he would support this bill prior to it being voted on in Congress. Hell, he’s THE REASON this bill came up in the first place. The FISA bill should have been called the "Help Obama not look weak on terror bill." But it doesn't help, it hurts. Obama's sell out will backfire on him, wait and see.
No wonder Congress's approval is at 9%. They, including the "new, middle of the road" Obama, are nothing but spineless chickenshits. Can anyone really see our Democratic congress stopping a Bush war in Iran? I can't.