Careful There, Barack Obama!

Tip of the Hat to Gail who sent me an automobile sized bumper sticker, the same one that now electronically graces the sidebar of this blog. If we ban Republican Marriage, people like me--daughter of two stalwart Republicans--will not be able to counterweight them later. What to do, what to do?? Should we continue to allow them to marry and reproduce, knowing that they are apt to produce solid Democratic Party off-spring? Or should we ban such marriages so they will taste the pain of ostracism? Something to mull.

Gail also brings my attention to an opinion piece in the July 7th (2008) Seattle Post-Intelligencer written by syndicated columnist Amy Goodman: To Whom Does Obama Respond? Ms. Goodman documents several actions of Senator Obama that seemingly go against his own stated values. And she is right about Obama's motives. He is likely stretching himself beyond his personal values in an attempt to appeal to the broadest spectrum of potential votes.

Ms. Goodman cites an apparent position change on the pending (as of 7/5/08) FISA amendments. However days later, Sen. Obama voted with his colleagues, Sen. Dodd and Sen. Feingold, to oppose giving communication companies immunity for past releases of customer records to the federal government Homeland Security agencies. When that amendment failed, however, Sen. Obama voted for the overall package of FISA changes that included the immunity provision. As I say both of these votes took place after Ms. Goodman's article.

It is noteworthy that the senior senator from Arizona was only one of two Senators who were not present to vote on either FISA amendment. Senator Ted Kennedy was in treatment for glioblastoma cancer. Senator McCain was....?

I'd have preferred that Sen. Obama continue to oppose a FISA that permitted immunity; many of us would have preferred that he continue to vote with Sen. Dodd and Sen. Feingold. That he chose to do otherwise was probably a practical choice, but not a morally sound one.

As for Ms. Goodman's opinions on other Obama statements, some of which I like and some of which I don't, Obama is answering questions in the context of the moment--never a good situation for a candidate's credibility. I would like to know what details surrounded these other issues. For example, overall I dissapprove of the way NAFTA has worked in practice. I'm guessing he feels the same way overall. But if he were being asked a specific question about a narrow issue within that topic such as establishing NAFTA with Colombia, his anwer might indeed appear to conflict with previous statements. Free trade isn't fair trade, but regulating and increasing trade with a Colombia, seriously working to clean up its historical drug cartel economy, may give them badly needed alternative economic support in transition.

Ms. Goodman also cites Obama's opinions of Supreme Court decisions on overturning DC's ban on handguns (favors the ruling) and on prohibiting the death penalty for child rapists (disagrees with the ruling). Taking Ms. Goodman's accuracy as a given, these statements give me the willies. These are 180 degrees from my opinions on these decisions. Watch it, Barack!

She concludes that Senator Obama may well be losing some voters in an attempt to appease others. One of the most attractive qualities of Candidate Obama was his apparent commitment to values like my own. He is not going to lose me over this, because the alternative is unthinkable. But it's a shame that he's slip-sliding on his own values. I like him for his values, and failing his integrity in this way may lose him as much as believes he will gain.