The Gist

Obama's Backing of "Compromise" on Bush's Spying Program

The Democrats' cave-in on the wiretapping bill came down late on Friday, with the House voting to back a bill they've pushed off for months, not having the guts to deal with it and perhaps hoping (against all hope) that people would just tire of it or forget about the issue. The Democrats' spin on the vote, as it had been the day before when they cut a supposed deal, was that this was a "compromise." But it is nothing of the kind. Many Republicans were happy, and the White House got everything it wanted.

Then came the statement from Barack Obama that he would support the bill even though he would try to get the telecom company immunity provision taken out. This has not surprisingly outraged a lot of people: "Trying" to remove the immunity provision isn't enough, but more so the bill is very bad even without the telecom immunity provision, a complete capitulation. The Democrats are running scare and/or giving Obama cover on an issue it doesn't seem he wants to go to the mat on in the general election.

A lot of angry emails from Obama supporters are flying around this weekend, and some Obama-backing groups have expressed their concern. But others who previously would haven been critical of the bill are suddenly holding their fire because Obama has now come out in support of it. In his usual penetrating way, Glenn Greenwald breaks it all down: How Obama is reversing on a fundamental constitutional issue, how the bill is horrendous with or without the immunity provision and, as well, all of the politics surrounding Obama's position. Go read it all. A lot to talk about on the show next week, and I hope to have Glenn, who often comes on the show, join us to talk about it.

UPDATE: Look, this is not about condemning Obama as a candidate or even thinking about not voting in this election or voting for McCain. This is about rightly criticizing our guy, who will surely hear out the criticisms of his base, and making him a better candidate. He's our guy and he made a mistake on this, as Glenn points out. No, we should not remain silent: We should make our voices heard and try to make an impact. Please read Glenn's whole post for more on this, but let's drop this "I told you so" stuff and the condemnations and the ruminations on not voting or voting for the opposition.