Reply #31: Did I say I support FISA?

[Political Tiger]

Why all the hostility here? Is this a board to discuss Democratic issues or a board dedicated to insulting others? Maybe my response would be more thorough if everyone didn't start out by hurling insults. I mean, why the hell should I bother trying to explain how I feel when people have already decided I'm too stupid to "make that connection" because it's "too abstract" for dumb little me?

My only point with my original post was that the world did not end just because the FISA bill passed. I wasn't praising FISA or defending it!

This FISA crap is a catch-22 for Obama. If he voted exactly the way some demand then the GOP would have yet another avenue of attack for him...they would spin it into him being weak on terrorism, that he was weak on the "war on terror." That he's more concerned about protecting the rights of terrorists than keeping Americans safe. It's a bunch of baloney but people fall for it.

It's unfortunate but most Americans are easily fooled, that's why the Republicans are so eager to play the fear card. The Bush administration has done a masterful job of scaring the hell out the average American who is not up to date on every minutia of the FISA bill and frankly don't care if the telecoms get immunity if they believe it is going to be keep them safe. It's unfortunate but it's the reality.

Your average American voters are not political junkies like many of us are. They don't read newspapers or blogs or watch news channels with as much interest and intensity as most of us do. Why do you think Bush and Cheney have been able to get away with everything they have in the past seven and a half years?

Just look how McCain and Hillary were able to distort Obama's "bitter" comments! Look at how they have been and will be distorting the 30 seconds of selected comments from Reverend Wright to portray him and Obama as "racist" and "America haters." Hell, there's still a significant amount of people in this country who still think Obama is a Muslim, or for that matter, there's still millions of Americans who still think Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11!

I doubt if most Americans can name five of the signers of the Constitution. I doubt if most Americans can correctly site the correct wording of the First Amendment.

A recent study showed that even today, 7 out of 10 Americans could not locate Iraq on a map!

This FISA bill would have passed no matter which way Obama voted. Laying it all on his shoulders is unfair. Right now he is running for the office of president, it's not the primaries anymore. If he wants to win, he must make certain tactical decisions. He must appeal to those in the center and those to the right of center.

I don't know why some are making this one single issue the litmus test for Obama. I prefer to look at the whole picture, not just zero in on one issue.

I don't like this FISA bill either but the truth of the matter is that it was going to pass no matter what Obama did and he was going to receive criticism no matter what he did.