Olbermann gets more critical of Obama's FISA stance

Posted by PIMPIN TURTLE at 7/1/2008 2:51 PM and is filed under ALL THE BEST STUFF,Politics,Video

RAW STORY
This video is from MSNBC's Countdown, broadcast June 30, 2008.



Senator Barack Obama's announcement that he would be supporting the Congressional "compromise" on expanding wireless wiretapping and giving the telecom companies retroactive immunity has created fierce arguments in the liberal wing of the Democratic party over whether Obama's "move to the center" is a necessary strategy for the general election or a pointless sellout on a core issue.

Last week, blogger Glenn Greenwald fiercely attacked MSNBC's Keith Olbermann over his praise of Obama for "refusing to cower even to the left," setting off an online argunment that raged between them for several days, drawing in other bloggers and even former Watergate figure John Dean.

In a Special Comment delivered on Monday's Countdown, Olbermann attempted to find a middle ground in the dispute, suggesting that "the Democratic leadership in the Senate, Republican knuckle-dragging in the same chamber, and the mediocre skills of whoever wrote the final version of the FISA bill have combined to give Sen. Barack Obama a second chance to make a first impression. And he damned well better take it."

"It would be sweet to have a pure, politics-free president, but the last of those retired from office in 1797," Olbermann noted sourly. "Inside that obscenity that was Charlie Black's comment about how a terrorist attack in this country would be 'good' -- good for his boy McCain's chances for election ... there is a sad and cynical reality. The Republicans can scare some of the people all of the time and they can scare all the people some of the time. This is all they are right now."

"Senator, the Republicans are going to paint you as soft on terror no matter how you vote on FISA," Olbermann continued, addressing Obama directly. "This political tight-rope act that you've tried on FISA the last two weeks, which from the outside seems to have been intended to increase the chances of your election, probably hasn't helped that chance in the slightest."

Olbermann then pointed out that there is a loophole in the FISA legislation, since it immunizes the telecoms only from civil liability, leaving them and administration officials subject to criminal prosecution. He advised that Obama should vote for the FISA bill, but after its passage he should "say, loudly, that your understanding of this bill is such, that if you are elected, your Attorney General will begin a full-scale criminal investigation of the telecom companies."

"Explain that you are standing aside on civil immunity," concluded Olbermann, "not just for political expediency, but for a greater and more tangible good: the holding to account of the most corrupt, the most dangerous, and the most anti-democracy presidential administration in our long history. ... The Republicans are going to call you the names any which way, Senator. They're going to cry regardless, Senator. And as the old line goes: Give them something to cry about."

In a post on Tuesday morning, Glenn Greenwald saw much to approve of in Olbermann's Special Comment, noting that "in general, Olbermann's commentary about Obama's FISA position was much more critical, in both senses of the word. Still, there are numerous, glaring flaws with the fantasy that Obama will criminally prosecute telecoms."

Greenwald also emphasized that "the FISA bill is dangerous and destructive for reasons having nothing to do with the telecom immunity provisions (i.e., the warrantless eavesdropping powers it vests in the president)." He then went on to list half a dozen different ways in which Obama has repudiated his base since securing the Democratic nomination in early June.

"There is no question, at least to me, that having Obama beat McCain is vitally important," Greenwald concluded. "But so, too, is the way that victory is achieved and what Obama advocates and espouses along the way. ... Electing Barack Obama is a very important political priority but it isn't the only one there is, and his election is less likely, not more likely, the more homage he pays to these these tired, status-quo-perpetuating Beltway pieties."

A full transcript of Olbermann's remarks is available here.

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  • 7/1/2008 3:41 PM Ivan A. Arcaya,Sr. wrote:
    I think that this website is full of whining, idealistic, unrealistic,attention seeking phony white liberals. I remember you phony white liberals from my days with the Independence Movement In Puerto Rico. The Majority of the average Puerto Ricans don't want Independence. Consequently; we moved into centrist politics where the majority of Americans including Puerto Ricans reside. Grow Up and stop posturing!
    Reply to this
    1. 7/2/2008 10:33 AM Anonymous Coward wrote:
      So why bother posting Ivan? Are you a spook?
      Reply to this
  • 7/1/2008 8:23 PM kenny wrote:
    i want a president who will listen in on our enemies. whether they are abroad or in the u.s. knowing what they are up to is vital to our security. me or anyone i know were wire tapped. if they did wire tap me what are they going to learn. that i'm going to my daughters house for dinner. big deal. besides, cell phones are used a lot. conversations on them and wirless land phones travel through the public airways so it is legal to listen in on them. we are fighting a new type of war people. our enemy wears no uniform and some of them live in our neighborhoods. what do you expect them to do to protect us. i'm all for them wire tapping. and also, 9-11 wasnt an inside job nor was it bushes fault. thats just plain stupidity to think that. let's get real.
    Reply to this
  • 7/2/2008 8:17 PM Mr. E wrote:
    Ivan, there are no differences between "liberals" or "conservatives" in American politics any more. There are "constitutionalists" and "corporate fascists". We believe in following the constitution, like our fore-fathers before us.

    Furthermore, your comments are very un-intelligent.

    Kenny, have you never heard the quote by Benjamin Franklin:? "Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one". As soon as we allow the govt' to listen to every word that we say, write, or think our society is not less safe, but less free. Maybe your life is boring and you do not think that you have anything to hide, but other people enjoy their privacy and the constitution guarantees that they are privy to their privacy.

    'The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings.'
    - President John F. Kennedy
    April 27, 1961

    Additionally, if you want to know the truth about 9/11, just google "WTC 7" or "Loose Change". Watch the videos, do your research and stop being a sheep you sheep.

    If you think that govt's have never resorted to false flag terrorism to fulfill their own evil means, think again...

    "The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims of a big lie than a small one." - Hitler's Mein Kampf - In relation to the Reichstag Fire

    Peace
    Reply to this
  • 7/2/2008 10:23 PM kenny wrote:
    i'm not a sheep or a coolaide drinker. i use common sense. i have seen the videos that you say show it was an inside job. they dont even indicate that much less prove it. what purpose would it serve to do such a thing. if you believe it so strongly than you must have proof. show me the proof and i will believe it. the only people they want to wire tap are the people who are suspected terrorists. all they are saying is they dont want to have to wait for months to get a warrant. with a warrant they can legally listen in and they will. they wont stop the wire tapping. with the time that it takes to get a warrant it may be too late. who knows it might be you or yours that get killed. my point wasnt that my life is boring, its not. my point was if you are a law abiding citizen than you wont be tapped. benjamin franklin lived in a different world. i'm sure he wouldnt say that today. this wont be a free country if our enemies defeat.
    Reply to this
    1. 7/3/2008 1:35 AM Mr. E wrote:
      Study history. It repeats itself. Ben Franklin knew what the future held and that is why he helped write a constitution that would work for hundreds of years in the future. It is our job to ensure that we don't trample over what our founders knew would happen...

      Law-abiding citizens are tapped more then terrorists are times 1000.... there are literally millions of AMERICAN CITIZENS ON THE "TERRORIST WATCHLIST" THAT THE NSA AND CIA HAVE MADE...

      they are law-abiding citizens that have done nothing wrong...

      Your "common sense" is inadequate and sheepish at best...

      Go out and buy A Nation of Sheep by Andrew P. Napolitano... read it and then come back to talk about what you have learned
      Reply to this

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