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During the presidential primary campaign earlier this year I watched my favorite candidates drop out of the race one by one. On Super Tuesday I decided to support Barack Obama. I was very enthusiastic about his campaign and worked every day for him during the run-up to the Texas primary. However, last week I changed my mind about the guy who said he stood for "Change we can believe in."
On July 9 Barack Obama joined with other senators to vote against the Constitution and give unprecedented (and unconstitutional) power to the least popular, least trustworthy president in the history of the United States. By supporting passage of the amendment to the 1978 FISA act, the Senate-as the House of Representatives did last month-thumbed its nose at the 4th Amendment by significantly weakening our right to protection against warrantless searches.
That same vote undermined our rights under the 14th Amendment which guarantees equal protection of the law and due process of law. By immunizing telecom companies from liability in connection with their violation of privacy laws, congress effectively denied Americans their right to have their day in court.
Obama not only voted against our civil liberties, he broke a promise he made during the primaries. He said more than once he would oppose this FISA legislation.
I have no interest in knowing why he changed his mind. It could have been because he thought he would pick up some support from among undecided voters. Or maybe telecom company executives promised big campaign contributions in exchange for removing their liability. He might rationalize his position by saying: Trust me; I know more than you. I just can't tell you what I know, but if I told you, you would thank me for violating your civil liberties.
In June a Texas congressman I know voted in favor of this year's FISA bill. Last year when he voted for an even more egregious version of this legislation, he told me, "It's just politics." I suspect Barack Obama's reason for supporting this latest version of FISA was the same-"just politics."
But it's not "just politics." It's about the Constitution.
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