letter to Obama

I just read an article on the whole FISA bill and a lawsuit with AT&T, and it prompted me to write to Senator Obama, I figured I'd post it here.

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Senator, I just wanted to voice my opinion on the FISA bill.

It being an election year, Bush and the Republicans are using this opportunity to push you and other democrats into a corner, and it's working. There is a kow-towing here that is almost unprecedented. The Democrats, who can be accused of moving more centered, who ended up backing the war... aren't Democrats supposed to be the civil minded politicians? Forget the past. We have to. It's a new election. The end of a terrible era.

The Republicans have spun the FISA bill so that being against it means being for the terrorists, or some such nonsense. Being against it means that you're not concerned with keeping America safe, blah blah. It's very upsetting to me, not to mention any rational person in the US (basically half of us) that politicians feel they can use scare tactics and pressure to pass a bill that is not only setting up America to become a police state, but also denying us civil liberties that are locked into the Constitution.

You know, we've come to a peak where the average citizen has had enough. Not a breaking point, but a peak, where this years election is going to bring out a huge population of voters who are sick of the Bush regime. The problem is, having a stance of 'better than Bush/McCain' is not sufficient to bolster confidence in our next president, nor next years daunting task of fixing the economy. Frankly, it'll be you. Unless you or your wife ends up saying something monumentally stupid, you pretty much have this election sewn up. But right now you stand for compromise.

Do we compromise civil liberties now? Do we compromise the privacy of US citizens to get votes? Is that the kind of America we are now? Wouldn't it be better to come out against the FISA bill, regardless of your 'ties' to AT&T, and show a strong front for Democracy? Isn't this kind of compromise just perpetuating an America run by corporations and fueled by the greed of President Bush?

When it comes to the lives of the 300 million people who live here, doesn't it seem fair to say that with each compromise, the face of America is changing for the worse? The world has lost so much respect for us. We've just had 8 years of compromise and scare tactics. 8 years of the worst President on record. 8 years of being forced to take it from someone who doesn't care one iota about American citizens.

The Constitution is important. The ideas, the beliefs, the words that were said to us all by politicians we voted into office, they are important. I won't give examples, but this year has been a nightmare for voters who put some Democrats into office.

We're all hoping that in five months, the person who gets voted into office is going to follow the Constitution. He's going to listen to the people. He's going to continue to have new, wonderful, positive ideas. And he's going to cherish the beliefs that make this a great nation.

You know McCain isn't going to provide that. You know we've been without that kind of honor for a while now. You know how important it all is.

Compromise has its place. It does. But not when you compromise on something illegal.

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