Dear Sen. Obama, Around here, we call "misrepresenting the truth" a LIE. We also refer to utterances of deliberate half-truths as LIES. Your own nonsensical rationalizations for supporting this unconstitutional and Law-nullifying FISA Amendment were bad enough. Now we have your Washington Lawyer and adviser, Greg Craig trying to snow us with this:
"This was a deliberative process, and not something that was shooting from the hip," Mr. Craig said. "Obviously, there was an element of what’s possible here. But he concluded that with FISA expiring, that it was better to get a compromise than letting the law expire.
Senator, with all due respect, that kind of dissembling may work on the lethargic Washington Press corps, but your most active supporters know better. You know the FISA law does not expire, and you MUST know WE know the FISA law does not expire -- EVER!
PLEASE STOP TREATING US LIKE CHILDREN or television-addled passive junk-news consumers of whatever the Beltway Bandits want to feed us! We worked and scraped and gave our hard earned money to get you nominated so we could elect you to end that kind of dishonest and destructive political gamesmanship.
If you are going to insist on ignoring our principled dedication to our inherent and constitutionally defined rights and our insistence on equal protection under the laws for those who violate and those who are harmed by violations of the law - no matter how rich or powerful - then you need to explain yourself honestly. We will know when you are being honest, because you will make sense.
On this issue, so far you haven't come close. With every tired and cliched attempt at "spin control" you simply dig a bigger rut, and further sully your well-earned reputation, while throwing water on the fires of our enthusiasm for your campaign.
Does this really alter the political calculus in ways significant enough to more than counter the harm it is doing to both the nation and your core of support? Please explain how - we're all adults here!
Maybe you've miscalculated, and need to reconsider. Doing so now is far better than knowingly making this terrible mistake before it is too late.
Senator Obama, during the primary season, you publicly acknowledged that you lost momentum every time you started trying to "play it safe" by "going conventional". I fear you do not trust your own experience, or you have entrusted your strategies to advisers who will not even consider the obvious truth in that observation.
We didn't nominate you because we thought you'd be the best "politics as usual" candidate. 70,000 people did not gather along the riverbank in Portland because they wanted to hear you "spin" the issues. Nobody outside the beltway and the major media believes the garbage they throw out there, and we haven't for a long time. (Why do you think the major media news ratings have been plummeting for over a decade across the board?)
Before you became a front runner, you didn't offer the same old song and dance. You spoke to our real concerns and expressed commitment to real change. THAT is why we nominated you, and why we are committed to getting you elected. You need to remember that, and remind your advisers of it. And you need to demote or dismiss any of them who are not on board with that essential plank in your campaign.
Senator Obama, please end this charade, and return to your commitment to Us- the people we have been waiting for - the people you promised to represent.
Thank you.
David H. Stern, M.D.
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