Russ Feingold: Obama Super PAC Reversal Will Lead To 'A Legalized Abramoff System'

[FedUp_Queer]

78. Hmmmm....

It seems to me that if a person really believes in a particular point, they don't compromise on it. These were not things that someone imposed on him. They were positions his administration affirmatively took.

For instance, in the Jewell case, the Bush justice department had asserted the states secrets defense on why the court should dismiss the case. After the election, the court even asked the justice department if, given the change in administration, it wanted to take a different position. The justice department not only did not do that, it took a more extreme position, which shocked the plaintiffs so much.

On the cuts for the CDBG, these were items he proposed in his budget. Nobody forced him. This was something he proposed. The same goes for indefinite detention, detention for acquitted persons and asserting the right to kill citizens without trial.

I just can't agree with you on those items. Perhaps, I could understand the political reality of not vetoing an entire defense bill that has the egregious indefinite detention provision in it.

The health care bill probably best fits your meme. He kept out things he ran on (public option, importation of Canadian drugs) because he thought they would prevent passage. (I don't think he fought hard enough for those things, but that's another story.)

But, it just seems to me that there are certain principles that are so fundamental that when when a person goes against them, it negates everything else. For me, those are the things I'm talking about. Perhaps, it's my legal background, that things like denial of due process are things that are make or break. I just can't pull that lever for him.