By GottaLaff
Here 'tis:
Though Mr. Obama did not change his position in response to supporters’ objections, the mere fact of his response, as well as the choice to put it on his own site, is a remarkable illustration of the power of online organizing.“This was not an easy call for me,” Mr. Obama said in a statement posted to the diary of Joe Rospars, a top Internet adviser to the campaign. “I know that the FISA bill that passed the House is far from perfect.”
But he made his case for the bill:
But I also believe that the compromise bill is far better than the Protect America Act that I voted against last year. The exclusivity provision makes it clear to any President or telecommunications company that no law supersedes the authority of the FISA court. In a dangerous world, government must have the authority to collect the intelligence we need to protect the American people. But in a free society, that authority cannot be unlimited. As I’ve said many times, an independent monitor must watch the watchers to prevent abuses and to protect the civil liberties of the American people. This compromise law assures that the FISA court has that responsibility.
Yeah, but about that Constitution...
A major point of the article was to question whether organized efforts can actually affect federal bureaucracy. The response to Obama's response:
Ari Melber a correspondent for The Nation who has been following both the FISA bill and Web organization throughout the campaign. “While the campaign was surprisingly late to address people organizing through his own tools, via his own Web site, it’s a respectful honest and direct response.”Mr. Melber, who is a member of the “Senator Obama Please Vote NO on Telecom Immunity – Get FISA Right” group on my.barackobama.com, also noted that Mr. Obama’s explanation is “more specific” than some of Mr. Obama’s previous statements to the press on the matter, asserting that hyper-informed, focused activists might be better at pulling the nitty-gritty from the candidates than reporters.
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