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comment by thenewgreen
thenewgreen  ·  4351 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Congress Extends FISA Wiretapping Act To 2017; Awaits Obama's Signature

Do you think that if this were up for signature and George W. Bush were the president the left would be as quiet about it as they are right now? When I voted for Obama in 2008, I was certain that warrantless wiretapping were to become a thing of the past. It's too bad I was wrong. According to the ACLU, Obama has quadrupled the amount of warrantless wiretapping





ecib  ·  4351 days ago  ·  link  ·  

| When I voted for Obama in 2008, I was certain that warrantless wiretapping were to become a thing of the past.|

If you listened to him on the stump before election, Obama's criticism with WW always used the language to the effect of "As it stands now, the current program is illegal and I'm against it. There would have to be changes to the law to bring it into compliance."

He was telling congress that he wanted a couple of tweaks to bring it into compliance and he was telling us that he was going to sign it.

thenewgreen  ·  4351 days ago  ·  link  ·  

You're right, I made the mistake of assuming that he would have a greater reverence for privacy and due process.

ecib  ·  4351 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I had that hope but I didn't really believe it based on his words.

mk  ·  4351 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Do you think that if this were up for signature and George W. Bush were the president the left would be as quiet about it as they are right now?

In a word: no.

I don't feel that Obama understands the dangers of a government with unchecked power. I think many liberals just imagine that he has some very scary information that motivates him to act like this. I doubt it. But, I also doubt Romney would have stopped FISA.

thenewgreen  ·  4351 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Not many leaders are apt to voluntarily dilute the powers they are given even if their rhetoric during campaigning says they might. Guess I was silly to think otherwise. Is this how people become cynical?