My email to Obama

[GihrenZabi]

I do not wish to create flame bait on this FISA issue - so I have sought to take as constructive an action as is possible, and I would like to share it with you.

I have written and submitted this letter to the Obama campaign, through the Homeland Security policy section of the website and the "submit your idea" form. This is the best I can do other than the phone call I have already placed to the campaign office.

I guess I wanted to know that someone else actually read it...and also to invite anyone else who feels this way to copy and paste the text, if they approve, and to submit it again in the same fashion I did either as-is or with any changes as they see fit.

This, I believe, is the most productive and responsible way to share your feelings on the FISA issue if you do not approve of Senator Obama's stance.

I hope you approve of the contents, and thank you for your time in reading it. It is nice not to feel like an isolated voice in the wilderness when it comes to politics...

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My idea is that Senator Obama fulfill a promise he made late last year to filibuster the FISA bill.

Here's my problem with Senator Obama backing this "compromise" bill - as a Constitutional Law professor, Senator Obama should know more than anyone that when it comes to our Constitutional rights, there is no such thing as "compromise." Not on fundamental rights such as those which the Fourth Amendment protects.

We already have the tools under law to procure the intelligence we need to find and prosecute terrorists. FISA was a way for George W. Bush and his administration to step around those procedures and tools (i.e. warrants) because they ceased to be convenient.

Senator Obama simply proclaiming his desire to strip the immunity clause from the bill is not enough - and certainly doesn't constitute standing up for the American people.

Senator Obama has the opportunity to take a stand on this issue. As a candidate who professes to have faith in the American people, he does not seem to have the faith in Americans not to instantly label him as "soft on terrorism" if he filibusters this bill.


My idea is that Obama truly continue the movement towards change that he began during the Democratic Primary campaign by not accepting money from PACs or lobbyists and running a clean campaign not based on smearing his opponent.

"Change" would be Senator Obama seizing the opportunity to do something no Democrat with his level of influence on our political discourse has had the courage to do: to stand up to the civil rights abuses that Americans have had to suffer for seven years.

I am not an idealist. Nor am I blind to the realities of modern politics; but I want to believe in Senator Obama. I donated to his primary campaign. I want to believe that there is a politician with the courage and the moral fiber to stand up for American values and steer my country off the path George W. Bush has locked us onto.

Part of that struggle is to repudiate the abuses of power the Bush administration has committed - and here is an excellent opportunity to take a stand, to be principled, to enact meaningful change even if only in the political courage of our leaders, and Senator Obama is allowing it to slip by.

Please, Senator Obama, even if there are machinations within the Senate in place to avoid bringing the bill to the floor before the next recess, stand up and declare your opposition to this bill on the grounds of ending the abuses of the Bush administration (and to point out McCain's acceptance of those abuses by supporting the bill).

Just as George W. Bush pushed for the FISA bill because the established system of courts and warrants was not convenient for him, please don't let this opportunity pass you by because it is not politically convenient for you.

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[gateley]

1. I've flip flopped (to use a very popular term these days)

on how I feel about Obama's stance.

I think I've settled in your court. And with the uproar that's ensued since he made his statement, we're not alone.

Bottom line is, it kind of put a dent in his armor for me. With people like Boxer, Dodd, Feingold, Wexler, Biden -- whom I hold in high esteem -- making moves to push back against this, I would have felt so much better if he'd done the same.

I will still support and vote for him, and contribute when I can, but if I continue feeling as I do now, it will be less enthusiastically.