As the presumptive Democratic nominee for President, Senator Obama is the de facto leader of the Democratic Party. Senator Obama was selected as editor-in-chief of the Harvard Law Review; he later taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago for twelve years. So why has Senator Obama now caved in the fight to defend the Constitution and the Fourth Amendement from the
Where's Obama the Constitutional Law lecturer?
As even Harry Reid and no-table Nancy Pelosi know, the Democratic Party controls the legislative calendar and agenda in the House and Senate. The Dem leaders have the same power the Rethugs once had to dtermine what legislative vehicles are allowed to drive onto the calendar. Today that power allowed no-table Nancy and the other Dem leaders to chose to bring FISA to come to floor and limit time for "debate" to an hour. Even though I'm reading sixty Senators may be so in the telcomms' pockets that they would support a cloture motion to close off a filibuster on FISA amnesty, Senator Reid can still keep the damn thing from the Senate floor.
Where's Obama?
As soon as no-table Nancy succeeded in getting the House to replace the Constitution with corporate sovereignty pass the FISA amnesty, the Great Smiling Hope from Chicago stepped up to the plate...and pissed on both the Constitution and any pretense that criminal law applies not only to us proles but also to the megacorps who own the Village pols.
[The FISA amnesty] does, however, grant retroactive immunity, and I will work in the Senate to remove this provision so that we can seek full accountability for past offenses. But this compromise guarantees a thorough review by the Inspectors General of our national security agencies to determine what took place in the past, and ensures that there will be accountability going forward.....
It is not all that I would want. But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise.
Sure. Because we can all trust the secret findings of the IG's who work for the State criminals security services who spent years listening to us on in violation of Federal law.
The day before Obama tugged his forelock in deference to his corporate masters, Kagro X pointed out Senators have great power to slow down the Dem leaders' despicable scramble to sell the Constitution to the telcomm megacorps:
[If] one Senator attempted to "hold" the bill, the bill's supporters would make a motion to proceed, which can overcome the "hold" (which is itself just another form of objecting to unanimous consent). The motion to proceed, however, is itself subject to a filibuster. And if a Senator did in fact begin a filibuster of the motion to proceed, although a cloture motion could shut him or her down, the Senate by rule must wait two days before voting on cloture, and even if cloture is invoked, it still allows for 30 additional hours of debate before calling things to an end. That's more than three days that it would take just to get to a vote on the motion to proceed.
And if that weren't enough, the underlying bill may be subject to a filibuster as well, though it's possible that the particular procedures used to move these bill could conceivably preclude it. But if not, you'd be looking at another three days.
Kagro X also pointed out:
[A] word from Barack Obama at this point would have the potential to change everything. A word from him saying that this "deal" stands in direct contradiction to the agenda he's bringing to the presidential race would weigh heavily on Majority Leader Harry Reid, who's really only getting heavy pressure from Intelligence committee chairman Jay Rockefeller on this, and thus is likely to be inclined (despite his own opposition to immunity) to grease that particular squeaky wheel. There could be a counterbalance from Judiciary chairman Pat Leahy, but so far, we haven't heard that squeak. He's issued a statement saying he opposes the "deal," but he's not pushing the way Rockefeller is pushing. And though Reid is the Majority Leader, that's as much a service position as it is a leadership position. His membership just isn't telling him no. The voices that are speaking with conviction are the voices saying yes.
Barack Obama, though, is the heavyweight in the arena right now, and his voice, properly applied, could be worth a dozen chairmen. But he's not using it, and in fact, there's no guarantee he ever will.
Where's Obama?
Where is the splendid orator who taught Constitutional Law and then used that soaring rhetoric to persuade the Democratic Party to make him their Presidential candidate?
Did he develop CSUFS disease? I hope not. He doesn't seem to have been in the Senate long enough for the CSUFS slow virus to liquify his spine. We've recently seen him walking and biking about. So -- at the risk of seeming Fristian -- I can probably rule out Can't Stand Up For Shit disease. Senator Obama appears to have a backbone. That's good news for everyone but the invertebrates, who are sadly lacking in charismatic megafauna. The earthworms and giant squid will have to keep looking for their totem.
Where's Obama?
He clearly wasn't afraid of intruding into House affairs. A few days before the House embraced corporate sovereignty approved FISA immunity, Senator Obama showed his backbone when he stood up against progressives to protect an incumbent. How's that for profiles in well-dressed courage with a dazzling smile? Why, it makes me all misty for the halcion days of 2006, when the brave Senator sprang to the Village's defense to protect his mentor Senator Lieberman against Ned Lamont's primary challenge. And we all know how much Senator Obama gained from his loyalty. Exactly what he's given ordinary Democrats: the shaft.
Of course, stiffing the very people you pretend to serve so that you can carry out orders for your true master -- corporate power -- takes the sort of backbone the Village respects and rewards. Which is why we know Obama's no invertebrate. Why just this week he bravely leapt to defend John Barrow [D-Georgia] -- the most reactionary Democratic incumbent in the House -- against progressive challenger Regina Thomas.
What a statesman. What a strategist. And how clever of Senator Obama to withhold his endorsement until Barrow delivered his Georgia base by endorsing Obama...a few weeks after Obama won the Georgia primary.
Where's Obama?
Why, he's bravely standing up for John Barrow, the telcomms' hired hand.
Obama -- that stirring orator with the great suits and dazzling smile -- stands up for what he believes in. He's stood up to embrace the corporate lawyer who got Chiquita a "slap on the wrist" for funding and running guns to right-wing death squads who -- convieniently for Chiquita -- just happened to be killing off the labor organizers supporting Chiquita's workers. Obama stood by his pal even after his buddy let American Lawyer listen in as Chiquita's execs called for help with their little serial murder problem.
Hey -- Obama's loyal: to Power. Where was Obama when the neoliberal Hamilton Project spawned? Why he did what any loyal courtier with severe ambition would do: he bent his knee and showed up as neo-liberal royalty Robert Rubin intoduced the Village to their newest corporate incubus. The Senator must have been smitten -- why just last week he chose the Project's director, Jason Furman, as his economic policy director. And to keep the corporate luurv coming his way, our brave nominee adopted a Chicago School of Econ cultists as his chief economic adviser.
Can you feel Obama's love? Well, if you're DLC/Citicorp/NAFTA/WTO's Robert Rubin you can. If you're a megacorp, you can. If you're a Bush Supreme Court pick, you can. If you're "tort reform" you can. If you're the Patriot Act, you can. If you're the most reactionary Democratic Congressman, you can. If you're a telcomm in deep shit for millions of willing violations of FISA, you can.
If you're the Constitution, where's the love from Obama the Con Law lecturer? If you're a citizen who wants the criminal justice system you must obey to also apply to corporations, where's the love from Obama the community organizer?
Where's the love from Obama on the FISA fight?
crickets
Senator Obama kept his love for those who brung him along -- the Village people.
Hey - Senator Obama could still decide to do something beyond serving his political ambition. He could still decide to serve us and the Constitution, instead of serving the telcomms. Even Winston Churchill had a few false starts...like Gallipolli and wanting to use poison gas in Iraq. Yet Churchill went on to be a Statesman. Fortunately for Senator Obama, his starting position in the great race to Statesman is far stronger than Churchill's. Obama hasn't hatched a plan to invade a Muslim country or use weapons of mass destruction against Iraq: he's merely voted to keep funding all that.
Where's Obama?
He kept his DU powder dry, avoiding the spotlight until the FISA fight moves to the Senate.
He seems to be on the wrong track, but this is a Senator who knows how to pivot. Just ask the Rust Belt voters who believed him when he appeared to challenge NAFTA.
Senator Obama has plenty of time to pivot on FISA. He still has time to act for us and the Constitution, and put his very real power to work by tanking the FISA amnesty.
In tanking the telcomms' cherished amnesty, Senator Obama will make some powerful enemies. At the same time, he can show the nation he's no wimp: he'll fight for what he holds dear.
His ambition.
Perhaps I'm wrong about this. Perhaps after all his strong work for the Chicago Cult, the DNC incumbency racket and the megacorps Obama just doesn't have the will to fight. Perhaps no-table Nancy passed on the fulminant CSUFS variant, and Obama the Con Law lecturer and communty organizer no longer has the backbone to stand up for us and the Constitution against the megacorps.
That's OK. The invertebrates still need a charismatic megafauna for their symbol. Giant squids just can't pull off impeccable suits and a dazzling smile.
After all, why would Obama settle for President -- much less Defender of the Constitution -- when he can be King Of The Invertebrates?
[Invertebrate Magazine credit: Szczur]
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