'Please excuse Johnny from...'
The Oath of Office for members of the US House of Representatives begins thusly:
I...do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic....
Based on yesterday's 293-129 vote to grant immunity to telecoms that cooperated with the administration's FISA bypass scheme, the oath has now been effectively amended to read:
...unless those who ignore, violate, or otherwise scoff at the constitution have a note from the President or their mothers saying it's ok.
Congratulations, House members — yesterday's so-called "compromise" has just given new legal weight to the Nuremberg Defense.
Comments
Obama is beginning to disappoint. Yes, to amnesty for the telecoms, no to public financing. The system is corrupt and Obama isn't showing any signs of trying to fix it.
Posted by: Lev | June 22, 2008 04:58 PM
I agree, Lev. Today's Boston Globe has a good summary of Obama's (and McCain's) flip flops here.
But I want very much for this guy to be "the real deal" that my wife says he is. I've never been so enthusiastic about a mainstream presidential candidate, and I've been voting for 36 years.
He could be just the right guy to make the changes we sorely need. I'm going to try like hell to stick with him.
Posted by: abi | June 22, 2008 08:28 PM
I'm disappointed about Obama and FISA too, but not so much about his decision to opt out of campaign finance reform. Firedoglake explains it better than I could, but basically, McCain has been breaking the law for months with regards to campaign finance and the FEC called him on it. I think the national Democratic Party filed a lawsuit against him too.
The only way Obama could fight against McCain's dirty tricks is to do the same thing. There'll be time to change the system once he gets elected.
Posted by: Kathy | June 26, 2008 05:54 PM