Civil liberties disappear in the 2012 Democratic platform.

[Vattel]

106. You don't think the differences are significant?

2008: "We support constitutional protections and judicial oversight on any surveillance program involving Americans. We will review the current Administration's warrantless wiretapping program. We reject illegal wiretapping of American citizens, wherever they live. We reject the use of national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime. We reject the tracking of citizens who do nothing more than protest a misguided war…We will revisit the Patriot Act and overturn unconstitutional executive decisions issued during the past eight years."

2012: The platform is silent on this issue. This isn't surprising since, at the urging of the Obama administration, congressional Democrats passed up the opportunity to reform the PATRIOT Act when they had a majority in both houses of Congress.

I am totally open to hearing a reasoned argument that some of what is absent from the platform does not reflect badly on the party's commitment to civil liberties. Platforms aside, it is much clearer now than in 2008 that we can't expect too much from the Democratic Party when it comes to protecting civil liberties and human rights. Not that there hasn't been very significant positive movement under Obama, but so much more was attainable.