With a nice 15 point lead, plenty of money in the bank and support of his own party, this guy thought he had the race sown up also.
Not many people, and I mean normal people, are aware of this FISA bullshit that the telecoms and Cheney are trying to push through congress before the bell rings and they are out of office a little over 6 months from now. The basics are that the corporations are trying to get the 1974 FISA law rewritten to allow for warrentless wiretapping and also get some immunity for having allowed this in the past.
Nancy Pelosi has been lobbied hard, I am sure, by Cheney and AT&T. We can tell because she secretly floated this bill in congress, got it ready, rewritten, and passed in the house on Friday without really anyone noticing. We need new leadership in the house. Hoyer and Pelosi have to go.
Now this bill sits in the Senate, Harry Reid has said he will "try to remove the immunity". Which of course, is complete bullshit. He is the 3rd most powerful person on the hill after Cheney. Harry needs to stop trying to blow smoke up our asses about his lack of ability to kill this bill. He doesn't want to kill it. He wants to pass it. Harry lost his ability to fight with his last stroke. We need new leadership in the senate.
Obama on advice from Toothless Harry Reid, I am sure, has said he supports the bill but not the immunity and he too will "try to remove the immunity" from the bill, but gosh, shucks, what is the guy who is very probably the next president able to really do anyway.
Standing up against Bush and Cheney is not going to hurt his chances in the fall. Caving and listening to what the "polling at 19%" congress has to say will hurt him. Losing the netroots and the grassroots will kill him. I wouldn't be getting cocky if I was him.
Last I heard, Dukakis was visiting professor in the Department of Public Policy at the School of Public Affairs at UCLA.
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