Bloggers Slam Barack Obama on FISA Vote

Barack Obama taking the heat on telco immunity support. Hillary Clinton earns chops for opposing amnesty for AT&T, Verizon and other carriers. John McCain remains AWOL in aftermath of Senate vote.

Gail from Oldwick, N.J., was an ardent supporter of Barack Obama before his July 9 vote supporting legal immunity for telephone carriers that participated in President Bush's domestic spying program. After the vote, she said she is "ashamed" she taught her parrot to squawk, "Obama Yes We Can!"

Ditto for Robert from Hampden, Maine, who wrote: "What comes next? From us, no more contributions, canvassing, phone banking or campaigning on your behalf ... until we see what comes next from you. So far, the real change appears to be in you, not Washington."

And those are comments from Obama's official presidential campaign site, BarackObama.com. Opposition to Obama's vote is so strong there, site bloggers who organized "Senator Obama—Please Vote NO on Telecom Immunity—Get FISA Right" are almost 20,000 strong. It's the largest blogger community on Obama's site.

Outside the world of Obama's site, criticism of his vote was also harsh. Elliottback.com ran a campaign photo of Obama with the caption: "Illegal Wiretaps We Can Believe In." Kevin Hayden on American Street wrote, "I won't vote for McCain. But I won't vote for Obama either. I will vote for a third party candidate and if enough other progressives do, causing an Obama loss? Oh well, too bad, so sad that Obama lacks the spine or wisdom to defend the Constitution."

The vote, though, does not appear to be a deal breaker between Obama and his true believers.

As Ian from Laurel, Md., wrote on the Obama site, "By all means, let's get Obama in the White House, as disappointed as we are in his decision to turn on us on FISA.  But let's also send the only message that Congress will get through their thick skulls about how disappointed we are—throw the bums out."

Mark Klieman at Samefacts.com called Obama's vote "politically wise" and "substantively harmless." He is, however, glad "lots of people are really, really outraged about unconstitutional spying, and about amnesty for lawbreaking. But this is not a life-or-death issue. All of the damage done by the passage of the bill will be undone by the election of Barack Obama as President."

How? Klieman noted Obama "has no reason either to block internal investigation within the Executive Branch or to use the claim of 'executive privilege' to shut down Congressional investigation. So the goal of revealing the extent of the Bush/telco lawlessness is not defeated by the civil-immunity provision."

Less noted in the blogosphere uproar over Obama's vote is Hillary Clinton's vote against immunity and John McCain's ducking the whole thing by not showing up for the vote.

"Hillary Clinton is not worried about being called weak, because she isn't,” wrote Taylor Marsh on TaylorMarsh.com. “Obama seemed to have to prove his strength by caving to wingnut talking points because he was afraid of being tagged 'weak on national security.' The difference between them today was starkly drawn."

As for McCain, his campaign site made not a single note about skipping the vote. His senate site hasn’t been updated in days and bloggers, well, simply yawned.

Discuss Bloggers Slam Barrack Obama on FISA Vote   HI, I'm Roy Mark and the author of this story. In the long run, will Obama's vote... Obama has betrayed my ardent wish for an investigation of the telecom companies'... Both the article's author AND the first commenter ignored the fact that Mr. Obama... Ken B, so where you gonna go? John McCain showed how much he cared by not even... Vulpine, I don't think I ignored your point. I quoted Mark Klieman at Samefacts.com,... Anyone who believes that McSame will be better for priviacy and the rights of... Henry M, given Obama's recent waffling on issues other than telco immunity, a lot of... I don't need any more reason to vote for McCain than the fact that Obama doesn't... I am an Obama campaign worker, and I can't really understand why he would do such a... Henry M. states "Voting to deny immunity for the telcos would have cost him more... Obama did the right thing. Wait until another terrorist attack. The reality is we... Obama is nothing but a joke, nothing but a sad joke I was hot as fire for Obama, watching the primaries daily and pulling hard for this... Update to my earlier comment: I did NOT watch the entire thing on CNN -- it was... This single vote is a perfect example of where Obama stands on the real substantive... Are you serious? "I disagree with immunity for the telcos, so I'll just sponsor a... Nathan, Please consider one fact. With any event or tragedy there will be conspiracy... And who would you replace them with, Sempergeo? Bart L., so you are voting against McCain, not for Obama? I truly can't understand all the hoopola about FISA by the internet community. ... Catonine, a bit harsh, don’t you think? Anon, tired? Bad advice? The campaign has barely cranked up. What does that say... Catonine, I think Henry M. meant Obama feared he would appear soft on terrorism and... Nathan, I'm worried about both terrorism and our loss of freedom. Does one... Nathan, I'm worried about both terrorism and our loss of freedom. Does one... IONNONSTACEM: Did Obama, Warner or Webb reply to any of your entreaties? If so, what... There is a tremendous amount of misinformation about this entire business being... I understand that this has many people disappointed, but I (a very strong liberal... Sure I'm disappointed and in some ways, angry in his right wing approach to immunity... Well said. This bill is the result of months of deliberation and compromise, and... 7/12/08 I just came back to see if anyone commented on my comment and I see someone... Uh, NObama didn't vote over 139 times and you want to critize McCain for not being... He keeps impressing me, although choice this year are weak, I think he really lacks... You're the misinformed one here. You have no idea went on, and neither do I. But... The implication is that people who are concerned about intrusions to their privacy... I wanted to remark that overall this was an excellent article, Roy. To see "our... For me it comes down to a matter of trust and maybe your right, it should not be... Too bad Obama is turning all the time - first in Ohio, now giving his vote to breach... are you really surprise he have flip flop on everything since he started... The Constitution, that everybody waves like a bloody flag, does not offer more than... Apparently, your compelling argument wasn't. Maybe you could share your faxed... There is nothing well-established about privacy. HIPAA protects your medical... hi there you it got on the nose obama have been doing that if you look beyond what... why should barack hussein obama be president so he can raise taxes which he have... are you really it is the demo who in congress that have made life hard on the people... i am glad that people are seeing him as he really is not the image the media show... the sad thing is that the media pick him andshow only things thaty made him look... I am reading all the complaints about Obama not standing up for the little guy but... Russ Feingold? Sorry you have so much faith in him. It is well established that a court order is needed for a government agency to tap... Sorry, Ted, but your commentary concerning the Bill of Rights and the right to... >>> Post your comment now!

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