Obama Burned His NutRoots

Nietzsche is Dead ^ | 10 July 08 | foutsc

[foutsc]

The nutroots are angry. They thought they had a real liberal in Barack Obama, but lately he's been swinging right. His vote to pass the new FISA, along with immunity for the big telecoms was the latest betrayal. So much for hope and change and a new kind of politics...

For a bracing dose of nutroot anger, visit Firedoglake.

Here's a sample:

With his FISA vote he has proven that he is just another political hack in the pocket of the big corporations. I could see this coming. Progressive? BS.

The audacity of nope. I’m so glad I didn’t give money.

Meanwhile, lefty flagship HuffPo is struggling to propagandize the troops and keep them on the reservation. How's this for a condescending explanation?

The real quandary for Obama is that he has to win the "low-information voters" in November in order to win the election, but he needs the "high-information voters" now in order to field his grassroots operations leading up to November. Low-information voters look at FISA and only see the ability or inability of the government to investigate potential terrorists. Yet a large number of high-information voters in both the left and right wing of politics understand that this is much more than an issue about national security -- it's an issue of balancing national security and individual rights.  In other words, low-information voters are susceptible to fear mongering on this issue.

This is a double back flip with a twist: In defending Obama's vote, this progressive writer has also backhandedly lent support to the Bush administration's nuanced position, while slapping down both the left (anti) and the right (pro) extremes as ill-informed reactionaries. Look for more of the same from major news outlets.

This may actually have the effect of legitimizing FISA:  Obama voted for it, so it must be OK! Progressives like this fine writer should be ashamed of themselves: They understood the issue all along, but instead of educating their fellow travelers, they pandered to the wackadoo left in order to stoke the fevered anti-Bush hatred for political gain.

But all you Republicans out there, don't start getting cocky. The nutroots will rampage through the progressive blogosphere, torches in hand, hurling verbal Molotov cocktails, but they'll vote for Mr. Obama in November. Even through their anger, they see a wink and a nod from the O Man: Pander to middle America so they vote for you, then lurch left once you get into the White House.

[avacado]

Looking at the bill that just passed the House and the Senate it seems that it is for both the NSA wiretapping (FISA) and for the telecoms to work with the government. I would say it covers both issues in one bill.

H.R. 6304: FISA Amendments Act of 2008

FULL TEXT

Introduced	        Jun 19, 2008
Scheduled for Debate	Jun 20, 2008
Amendments (5 proposed)
Passed House            Jun 20, 2008
Passed Senate	        Jul  9, 2008

[JoeFromSidney]

In one of his persistent but little-noticed lies, Jean Francois asserts that he learned to “speak Vietnamese” during those 132 days, which is a little odd since everyone I know (including myself) has taken several months just to get through the 7 tonal patterns (and I still make lots of mistakes).

I spent 22 months in Thailand 1962 - 1963, and made a real effort to learn Thai. I never did get to the point of being able to read a newspaper or hold an extended conversation. I could read street signs, and manage in the markets, but that was about it. I doubt JF learned much Vietnamese either.

[angkor]

>>>>>I could read street signs, and manage in the markets, but that was about it. I doubt JF learned much Vietnamese either.

I call that “functional competence” and I’m just a bit beyond that with Vietnamese speaking and listening (depends upon the regional accent of the speaker, which varies greatly throughout Vietnam).

As for Kerry, it is extremely doubtful that he ever got beyond a handful of words.