The Obama administration fell in line with the Bush administration Thursday when it urged a federal judge to set aside a ruling in a closely watched spy case weighing whether a U.S. president may bypass Congress and establish a program of eavesdropping on Americans without warrants.
I'm starting to get it now. That wailing and gnashing of teeth by the left was just posturing--or flopping for you soccer fans. Pretty soon Obama will confirm that Valerie Plame wasn't really an undercover agent and that Joe Wilson was a lier. Dude, this is awesome.
Oh and speaking of the Obama Administration, I heard Former Governor Napolitano's confirmation hearings on NPR, and it sounded to me like she was calling for a federal employer sanctions law.
Or could it be that neither Obama nor Napolitano are on "the left" but are rather center-right politicians? I know statements like this throw all the conservative's political compasses out of wack.
Posted by: todd | January 23, 2009 at 11:01 PM
If the best thing you are attacking Obama on is that he falls in line with a Bush policy every once in a while then the republican party is in more trouble than I thought...
Where are the articles on the abortion crap that Obama is pulling right now? Or the $1 trillion that Obama wants to spend on welfare programs??
Posted by: Johnny | January 24, 2009 at 12:41 AM
If they really turn out to be center-right politicians, then the only thing that'll be thrown out of whack is gonna be MoveOn.org and their ilk.
Apparently there's barely a peep out of DailyKos regarding the missile strikes that killed 18 militants in Pakistan yesterday.
When it was Bush giving the order, it was "Bush is a war criminal!"...now complete silence. I wonder if they're either complete hypocrites, or they're just in shock?
Posted by: Steve F. | January 24, 2009 at 03:55 AM
Good times. When he's not busy bombing Pakistan into last Tuesday, he'll be beating Hugo Chavez like a sweet meringue. At least the left can still take refuge in his urbane, fact-deprived rhetorical style. But I'll be watching and waiting for Cindy Sheehan to set up her new camp in the tony Kenwood district of Chicago.
Posted by: Dewey | January 24, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Or, you know, he's prosecuting the war the way he said he would (i.e. Closing Guantanamo, attacking Al-Queda in Pakistan, etc.) and not being the fever-dream caricature that conservatives thought he was.
As for the specific action, Obama signaled this during the campaign with the FISA vote, so we knew this stuff would happen. I'm not thrilled about it, but I know I'm not going to agree with him on everything.
But man, if this is the only fish he's got to throw you conservatives to start clapping your fins together, it should get the stuff that really matters to the left passed without any significant problems.
Posted by: The Klute | January 24, 2009 at 10:45 AM
One of these days we will learn that laws were enacted only for Republicans and conservatives, democraps are immune from laws.
Posted by: jainphx | January 24, 2009 at 11:01 AM
If he comes to his senses about Guantanamo my fins will be sore from the thunderous ovations. It appears we won't know the outcome of Guantanamo until a year or so from now, which does seem to be an excessively long time to delay closing it if it's truly the unconscionable holocaust he said it was...
Anyway, it's true that in a year the whole country will probably be living in bankrupt servitude to the Reid-Pelosi federal leviathan, but at least if Obama sees the light about national security maybe we and those we love won't have been blown up on an altar of leftist nihilism. We can hope, can't we?
Posted by: Dewey | January 24, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Dude, what's a lier!
Posted by: Big Bopper | January 24, 2009 at 12:03 PM
And here's an in-depth analysis of this particular article/issue if you care to read beyond the headline:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/24/4422/57021/124/688403
Posted by: The Klute | January 24, 2009 at 12:05 PM
Thanks for the link, but I, for one, don't want to go sinking into those particular depths. I also think I heard that if Greg's blog detects any exits to other sites that contain a string of K's, O's, and S's in that particular order, black helicopters will arrive at the home of the person who clicked.
I'd advise one and all to stay away. Guantanamo is, after all, still open for business.
Posted by: Dewey | January 24, 2009 at 12:34 PM
Yes, stay away all - and remember, the point Aesop was making with the parable of the Fox and the Grapes is that grapes are really sour.
Is willful ignorance still going to be a conservative virtue in 2009? Boy I hope so.
Posted by: The Klute | January 24, 2009 at 12:57 PM
A true sign of the end of the universe as we know it: Greg and Jon Stewart agree:
http://www.creativeminorityreport.com/2009/01/is-this-what-you-call-change.html
Posted by: Greg Fan, not so much Jon | January 24, 2009 at 01:18 PM
Daily Kos -- about as objective and insightful as that piece of crap Klute links to. Oh wait, that's his blog with Chaplin's retarded pederast albino nephew as the avatar.
Posted by: . | January 24, 2009 at 10:05 PM
DailyKos isn't left its liberal. If you want left, here is a better view
http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn01232009.html
Posted by: todd | January 25, 2009 at 02:25 AM
Again, ., I'm just thrilled you're reading! It's people like you who keep me going. Thanks for the feedback!
Heh.
Posted by: The Klute | January 25, 2009 at 10:13 AM
I'm really starting to like this Obama guy too. Love him, actually.
He gets up at the crack of dawn on inauguration day, comes home from his last inaugural ball at 3:30 in the morning, and he hasn't gone to bed yet before he signs an executive order to shut down Guantanamo, secret prisons, and end torture. I love it.
The very next day he appoints three of the Bush administration's harshest critics to run the Office of Legal Counsel, where the Bush's people wrote the memos and legal opinions authorizing torture. I love it.
If you're thinking Obama is going to "fall in line" with the Bush administration, you're still living in the Bush-Cheney bubble of delusion and alternative reality. Stop kidding yourselves.
As for lies and liars, take a closer look. The grand jury investigation, the court in United States vs Libby, and the Congressional investigation all concluded that Valerie Plame had classified status as a covert agent working on nuclear proliferation in Iran at the time Robert Novak published his column leaking her identity.
Joe Wilson was a “lier”? There were plenty of lies and lying and liars in this story. Start with George W. Bush. “Saddam Hussein sought significant quantities of uranium in Africa.” The CIA had informed him months earlier that this allegation was based on forged documents and was false. Bush stood before both houses of the Congress and before the American people and lied to them. Pants on fire.
Then there was “anyone involved will be fired.” Cheney started the ball rolling with the notion of using Valerie Plame’s identity as a weapon against Mr. Wilson. Rove leaked her name to Robert Novak and to Matt Cooper of Time magazine. Libby leaked it to Judith Miller of the New York Times. Libby lied to the grand jury about it. Anyone involved will be fired? Pants on fire.
How about Scott McClellan assuring the American people that he had spoken to Rove and Libby and they had assured him they were not involved. Pants on fire.
It’s just desperate grasping at straws to imagine that the Obama administration, by filing one legal brief, is going to line up with the Bush administration. President Obama acted swiftly and decisively to end this shameful chapter of American history. No more torture, no more secret prisons, no more rendition, no more waterboarding, no more wars based on lies, no more lies and lying and liars in the Oval Office. God bless America. Restored at last to its rightful legacy of democracy, justice, and liberty.
Posted by: I'm the Decider | January 25, 2009 at 06:06 PM
Decider = Commander in Chief, this blog's resident for President In Over His Head.
"Really starting" to like the President? CiC has been fellating him since 2007.
Posted by: bing | January 25, 2009 at 06:23 PM
The double standard of Klute and rest of the far left is amazing . Its bad when a Republican does it, but OK when a Democrat does it.
Obama is acting like Bush's third term, and the left-wing finds this OK and offers up excuse after excuse.
That's pure partisanship over any principle.
Posted by: Chad | January 26, 2009 at 08:52 AM
Chad,
I never said it was OK, I opposed it when Bush did it, and I oppose it if Obama signs on to it. Right now, the DOJ under Obama working in regards to a legal principle.
But like I said, I disagreed with Obama in July for his FISA vote - so it's not like he didn't telegraph it to his base.
Frankly, though, if you're stupid enough to bleat out that "Obama is Bush's third term" dreck (and sorry - "stupid" is the only word that sufficiently describes that) , then you weren't paying attention these last eight years (see: Guantanamo, see: Mexico City regulations, see: emission standards, see: FOIA).
Posted by: The Klute | January 26, 2009 at 10:23 AM
Yup, just like Bush's third term:
"Speaking from the White House, the President Monday announced that he was directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider an application by California and 13 other states to set stricter limits on greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, opening the way for tighter fuel efficiency standards nationwide."
"Obama also directed the Department of Transportation to issue guidelines that will ensure the U.S. auto fleet reaches an average fuel economy of 35 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2020 at the latest."
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1874106,00.html?iid=tsmodule
But you know, keep on regurgitating that nonsense and see how far the GOP gets.
Posted by: The Klute | January 26, 2009 at 06:20 PM