[quote name='dafoomie']He's right, it is a radical transformation of their platform. Patriot Act, Guantanamo Bay, national security letters, whistleblowers, transparency, claiming politically contentious things as state secrets, these were all the reasons why I hated Bush and why I've been completely disillusioned with Obama and the Democratic Party.
Is this whole affair over the administration leaking information beneficial to them, including details of Bin Laden's death, not analogous to Valerie Plame? How about claiming executive privilege to quash the Fast and Furious investigation? Obama himself called out Bush for hiding behind executive privilege with regard to the US Attorney/Karl Rove/Harriet Miers scandal. And they would've
hammered Bush on the extrajudicial killing of American citizens overseas, if he had actually done it and not Obama. Imagine the protests that would've ensued if George W. Bush had claimed to have the power to execute American citizens at his sole discretion with no due process.
I forget who I'm paraphrasing but Obama has turned a right wing assault on constitutional rights into a bipartisan one.[/QUOTE]
You're going to have to elaborate on the analogues b/w Obama and Bush w/r/t Valerie Plame. I'm not seeing it in the slightest.
I maintained years ago that Obama was very Reagan-esque as a president, that Democratic voters merely thought they were getting an ultra liberal when he was a centrist leaning to the right.
Here's the thing, though - suppose you're right. That's consistent with the general thesis of Pierson and Hacker in their book (Winner Takes All Politics) I mentioned before. We have two parties: right and righter. The political theater we have today distracts us from this fact.
So suppose you're right. What is an ultraliberal like myself to do? Who can I vote for? Romney? Someone who we has said nothing about doing away with any of these bad things? Someone who brags about their neoconservative credentials, who will boost military spending by 50% (to satisfy the military-industrial complex), who brags about preemptive war in Iran, and who brags about making economic (and therefore military) enemies of Russia and China?
Obama is the safer bet by a long shot, but as you point out, not a comfortable one.
Why is it the Libertarians get to act all clean of soul and spirit and ideology when they vote for totalitarian religious oppressors merely because they oppose business regulations and promise lower tax rates?
Liberals like myself vote for someone who is to the right of them politically without being thrown the "hypocrite" card. It's boring and it's inaccurate. Libertarians vote based on who is electable and what is available. I do the same.
It's also a matter of principle. You know who fits my ideology really closely? Bernie Sanders. Maybe Kucinich, too. Neither of them will ever be a major candidate for president because of their beliefs being so far right. I have to compromise to make an informed vote. I don't get to vote for someone who fits my belief systems or ideas entirely. And, most importantly, I don't ever pretend to. I worry deeply for someone who thinks that they're getting *everything* they want *exactly* how they want it with their presidential candidate of choice. Because that's bloody delusional.
(though you did get universal health care from Romney, so perhaps you're a bit closer to attaining Nirvana than the rest of us are, eh?
Lastly, wasn't this about taxes and spending? I thought it was taxes and spending. Someone said, previously, in this thread:
The policy debate of the election comes down to whether you believe higher taxes and higher government spending or lower taxes and spending cuts are better for the economy. Very few other issues are of any significance.
So this is all trivial, unimportant stuff, right? I mean, it's not like
you were the one who said that just a day and a half ago.
:lol: