Is Obama promising to enforce the Constitution?

[JDPriestly]

Does Obama promise to end the illegal!!! wiretapping?

Has Obama promised to close Guantanamo?

Has Obama promised to end the torture?

I am asking because I have not heard him on this.

Toward the end of the video on this link, Edwards promises to do all these things. You will hear the crowd go wild on these points. The same thing happened when Edwards made those promises in L.A. I figured L.A. was just a very progressive, sophisticated audience. But no, Oklahoma is middle America.

Is Obama matching Edwards on this? These are things that the president can do without authorization from Congress. So, any candidate who has not promised to do these things should be pressed to do so.

I am going to ask the same question about Hillary on a separate post.

Thanks for your responses. I am not flaming. I want to know.

[99th_Monkey]

1. Nope. The 2 $100million candidates are mum and mute on these subjects, sadly. nt

[mckeown1128]

29. Maybe if you tried to listen to Obama's campaign speech...

you would have heard him saying that he will stop all of those things.

[99th_Monkey]

31. I've listened to quite a bit of Obama, but somehow missed that

has Obama specifically and clearly said he will "close Gitmo, end illegal wiretaps, etc." or is it more vague
generalities?

can you link me to specifics? I'm genuinely interested, not snarking here, as I may need to chose between him and
Hillary if M$M continues to "have it's way" with the Democratic electorate.

[Bluebear]

2. No, but you will have plenty of Hope and Change. nt

[Egnever]

3. your a real pice of work

[CoffeeCat]

17. Darn it!

I always liked you!

I'm disappointed to see that you're not an Obama supporter.

Who are you supporting, if I may ask?

:)

[Bluebear]

27. Edwards . . .

or the eventual Democratic nominee, whoever it will be :)

[jonnyblitz]

28. why in (((HELL)) would a gay person support Obama??

Please.

[Egnever]

33. maybe cause he has been passing legislation that helps Gays his entire career?

[sandnsea]

4. Every stump speech

If you didn't hear it, it's because you've never listened to a speech, start to finish.

[Jamastiene]

5. No, and the Hill-bama bunch don't seem to care much.

Sadly.

Edwards might not be my very first choice, but at least he's running a clean campaign with integrity and intelligence.

[Egnever]

11. Sadly you are completely misinformed

[FrenchieCat]

12. You need to take a chill pill....

Incredible how folks not willing to do research would claim to know anything.

Maybe in being so enamoured with your own candidate, you forgot to look into what others advocate?

[Jamastiene]

19. Funny, I posted the same exact thing in both threads

and so did the OP. Guess which thread is full of hatred and divisiveness; the Obama thread. That speaks volumes.

[Egnever]

22. Yes it speaks volumes about your hatred and devisivenss

the Hillary thread has what one reply besides yours?

[Egnever]

6. Obama has promised to end illegal wiretapping

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9845595-7.html

For one thing, under an Obama presidency, Americans will be able to leave behind the era of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and "wiretaps without warrants," he said. (He was referring to the lingering legal fallout over reports that the National Security Agency scooped up Americans' phone and Internet activities without court orders, ostensibly to monitor terrorist plots, in the years after the September 11 attacks.)

It's hardly a new stance for Obama, who has made similar statements in previous campaign speeches, but mention of the issue in a stump speech, alongside more frequently discussed topics like Iraq and education, may give some clue to his priorities.

In our own Technology Voters' Guide, when asked whether he supports shielding telecommunications and Internet companies from lawsuits accusing them of illegal spying, Obama gave us a one-word response: "No."

[FrenchieCat]

7. Here....Obama, the constitutional scholar, and Former Prez of the Harvard Law Review.....

Will he uphold the constitution? That's been his life passion, so why shouldn't he? :shrug:


Obama Says Gitmo Facility Should Close

The Democratic presidential hopeful pledged to work side-by-side with the rest of the world on issues like nuclear proliferation, poverty, economic development in Latin America and the violence in Darfur.

"While we're at it," he said, "we're going to close Guantanamo. And we're going to restore habeas corpus. ... We're going to lead by example _ by not just word but by deed. That's our vision for the future."

Habeas corpus is a tenet of the Constitution that protects people from unlawful imprisonment
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/24/AR2007062401046.html

---------------
Human Rights Should Be Bigger than Politics
Senator Barack Obama delivered this speech on the floor of the US Senate, in reaction to Senate passage of S. 3930, Military Commissions Act of 2006, which approved US torture of detainees and strips Constitutional rights away from detainees.
Senator Obama decries the placement of politics over human rights, and condemns S. 3930. He states, "This is not how a serious Administration would approach the problem of terrorism."
http://usliberals.about.com/od/extraordinaryspeeches/a/ObamaTorture.htm

excerpts from Obama's statement...

In the five years that the President's system of military tribunals has existed, not one terrorist has been tried. Not one has been convicted. And in the end, the Supreme Court of the United found the whole thing unconstitutional, which is why we're here today.

We could have fixed all of this in a way that allows us to detain and interrogate and try suspected terrorists while still protecting the accidentally accused from spending their lives locked away in Guantanamo Bay. Easily. This was not an either-or question.

Instead of allowing this President - or any President - to decide what does and does not constitute torture, we could have left the definition up to our own laws and to the Geneva Conventions, as we would have if we passed the bill that the Armed Services committee originally offered.

Instead of detainees arriving at Guantanamo and facing a Combatant Status Review Tribunal that allows them no real chance to prove their innocence with evidence or a lawyer, we could have developed a real military system of justice that would sort out the suspected terrorists from the accidentally accused.

And instead of not just suspending, but eliminating, the right of habeas corpus - the seven century-old right of individuals to challenge the terms of their own detention, we could have given the accused one chance - one single chance - to ask the government why they are being held and what they are being charged with.
http://usliberals.about.com/od/extraordinaryspeeches/a/ObamaTorture.htm

[Egnever]

16. That floor speech is so good!

I hadnt actually seen it till I started looking for responses to this post. Well worth the read of the whole thing though. This guy really is the real deal its unfortunate that so many like the clueless ones responding to the OP above dont even take the time to look.

Much love for ya frenchie :yourock:

[FrenchieCat]

18. Did you happen to hear his in-depth interview with the SF Chronicle?

If not, here it is:


Maybe Obama's distractor can listen to it too. Maybe they'll find 12 seconds of something that they can become indignant about and cause a real rukus....again!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/01/18/MNSNUH7GC.DTL&o=0&type=politics

[Jamastiene]

20. distractor?

What exactly does that mean?

[FrenchieCat]

21. distractor

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)

dis·trac·tor Pronunciation Key -
–noun

1. a person or thing that distracts the attention.

2. an incorrect choice among multiple-choice answers on a test.

Also, dis·tract·er.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/distracter?r=14

[Egnever]

8. Will close guantanamo

We need to bring to a close this sad chapter in American history, and begin a chapter that passes the might of our military to the freedom of our diplomacy and the power of our alliances. And while we are at it, we can close down Guantanamo and we can restore habeas corpus and we can lead with our ideas and our values.”
-Barack Obama, Richmond, VA, May 8th

[zulchzulu]

9. Yes/Yes/Yes

[Egnever]

10. Will end torture

http://usliberals.about.com/od/extraordinaryspeeches/a/ObamaTorture.htm

Instead of allowing this President - or any President - to decide what does and does not constitute torture, we could have left the definition up to our own laws and to the Geneva Conventions, as we would have if we passed the bill that the Armed Services committee originally offered.

[JDPriestly]

13. Thanks for the answers.

This is reassuring.

[Egnever]

14. Is the only constitutional scholar in the race!

http://populistareport.blogspot.com/2008/01/professor-obama-will-restore.html

First up, Laurence Tribe. Tribe is is a professor of constitutional law at Harvard Law School and probably the foremost liberal constitutional law expert. He is one of the co-founders of the progressive American Constitution Society that was founded to counter the Federalist Society. He represented Gore in Bush v. Gore and if he was younger he would probably could have been a Supreme Court Justice. If any major liberal legal event is happening Tribe is probably involved in it.

When Barack Obama went to Harvard Law he took classes from Tribe. What did Tribe have to say about him?

"best student I ever had"

That's pretty high praise from a man like Tribe. Not only has he praised Obama, he has actively campaigned for Obama.

[CoffeeCat]

15. Yes, Obama is a Constitutional Scholar...

I'll address the concerns that you mentioned, first:

I've heard Obama mention that he is totally against illegal wiretaps. He says
they will end under his watch. Obama is a major privacy advocate. He's also against
giving immunity to the telecommunications companies that helped Bush spy on Americans.
Another related issue that Obama constantly talks about is the need for more transparency,
and less secrecy in government. He lays out a plan to make government more transparent.
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9845595-7.html


Obama has repeatedly said that he wants Guantanamo closed.
http://216.109.125.130/search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=Obama+guantanamo&fr=b1ie7&u=politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/06/25/obama-close-guantanamo/&w=obama+guantanamo&d=FuLyhrXiQJMe&icp=1&.intl=us

Obama said this about torture (as reported by The Hill), "White House hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Thursday condemned the CIA’s use of brutal interrogation techniques and said the Bush administration’s reported authorization of such methods “is an outrageous betrayal of our core values, and a grave danger to our security.”

Furthermore, your core issues obviously revolve around our rights as Americans--Constitutional and civil. Our eroding
rights is my #1 concern and that concern is the reason why I support Obama.

Remember how Bush and Gonzales decided that we didn't need Habeas Corpus anymore? This is a major issue with
Obama and he plans to roll back all rhetoric and policies that take "the great writ" away from the American
people. He repeatedly talks about this in speeches.

Obama is a Constitutional Scholar. He taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago for nearly a decade.
Isn't that amazing? Kucinich carries around a pocket Constitution; Obama has encyclopedic knowledge of The
Constitution in his head. He spent years teaching law students about the sanctity of our Constitution. He respects
what our Founding Fathers created and will run his Presidency upholding it.

Obama also speaks out against Bush's "Unitary Executive" philosophy. Obama doesn't plan on playing that game.
He has respect for the delineations between Executive, Legislative and Judicial.

If you care about the Constitution, your civil rights, transparent government and having a President who will
not capitalize on the Bush power grabs---Obama is a very appealing candidate.

[cali]

23. kick

because the proof is in this thread that Obama has made it clear he will do all these things. Click the links. Read his words.

[Perry Logan]

24. Progressive groups give Hillary a higher score than Obama on Human Rights & Civil Liberties.

The following are polls from progressive groups, rating Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, on how often they vote for progressive issues. For each group, http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/011142.php

Clinton Vs. Barack Obama (progressivepunch)
Overall Progressive Score: 92% 90%
Aid to Less Advantaged People at Home and Abroad: 98% 97%
Corporate Subsidies 100% N/A
Education, Humanities and the Arts 88% 100%
Environment 92% 100%
Fair Taxation 97% 100%
Family Planning 88% 80%
Government Checks on Corporate Power 95% 97%
Healthcare 98% 94%
Housing 100% 100%
Human Rights & Civil Liberties 82% 77%
Justice for All: Civil and Criminal 94% 91%
Labor Rights 91% 91%
Making Government Work for Everyone, Not Just the Rich or Powerful 94% 90%
War and Peace 80% 86%

[dailykoff]

26. Right, the Bill and Hill Foundation for Progressive Clintonism.

Endorsing torture and voting up illegal invasions is not "progressive."

[dailykoff]

25. Yes, and maybe you should try listening to what he says

instead of obsessing about his religious beliefs.

[Connie_Corleone]

30. Obama has been talking about this ever since he got in the race.

Maybe you should actually LISTEN to his speeches. And Obama used to teach Constitutional law and was a civil rights attorney. He talks about this too.

[MadBadger]

32. Yes to all three. They are regular mentions in his campaign speeches.