One of the excuses that Obama apologists give for Barack Obama’s shocking support for George W. Bush’s FISA Amendments Act is that it’s a necessary move to pick up votes in states where Republican candidates have won in the past. The idea is that voters in these states will only support Barack Obama if Obama starts acting like a Republican.
There’s another assumption inherent in these arguments as well - the argument that Democrats living in red states are so used to Republican politics that they won’t mind if Barack Obama supports extreme laws like the FISA Amendments Act.
Is it true? Do Democrats in red states just not mind when Democratic politicians vote to revoke their constitutional rights?
Let’s not speculate. Let’s examine the facts. Let’s look at the reddest of the red states: Alabama. Do Democrats in Alabama not care that Barack Obama has supported big government warrantless wiretapping of their telephones through the FISA Amendments Act?
The facts don’t support such a contention. The facts indicate that Democrats are as furious with Barack Obama for supporting the FISA Amendments Act as Democrats elsewhere around the country.
Consider the following statements that were recently left by different Alabama Democrats at the Left in Alabama political site:
One sent the following letter to the Obama for President campaign:
“The unconscionable, immoral and unconstitutional FISA bill just passed by the House must be defeated by the Senate. There is, and can be, no excuse for you, as our Democratic Party candidate for President, to support this abomination. It is well to say that politics is complicated and thiose of us who are out in the heartland don’t understand the ramifications, but we understand the values of this great nation, we understand the implications of this horrendous bill, and we understand that we have been supporting you because of the promise of “hope” and “change”. Don’t sell us out before you even win the office.
There is no way I can support John McCain for president, so I will not even pretend that could happen, but your failure to actively and wholeheartedly oppose this Republican assault on our rights as citizens will surely make me take a hard look at Ralph Nader. Do I think he can win? Of course not, but MY conscience will be clear. Will yours, Senator?”
Another reader left a short comment entitled, “This is crap”, reading,
“Why should we work our hearts out for these people when they are so eager to sell America down the river? Yes, Senator Obama, I’m talking to You!
I expect this nonsense from Jeff Sessions. From you, I expect more.”
When people in Alabama talk about being sold down the river, they know what they’re talking about.
Voters in Alabama wanted change, and they believed in the message of Barack Obama, until they saw that Obama plans on giving America the same old dirty politics of fear that Alabamans have been stuck with for generations. Another Alabama Democrat reacted to Barack Obama’s support of the FISA Amendments Act by writing in resignation,
“So much for the change rhetoric. It looks to me like business as usual.”
Please, let’s hear no more about how Barack Obama needed to support the FISA Amendments Act in order to get the support of red state America. Red state Americans oppose the FISA Amendments Act too, and they see through Barack Obama’s crass maneuvering to pander to the right.
