Centrally located

Barack Obama’s vote in favor of the FISA overhaul bill was a disappointment even to those of us who did not see the Illinois senator as the great progressive hope. Earlier this year Obama had stated his opposition to any legislation that included immunity for the telecommunication companies that had helped the Bush administration break the law and he promised a filibuster of any such provisions. But in the end his vote added to the ability of the president and his associates to once again evade responsibility for their actions.

Obama is a centrist Democrat who took some very principled stands – especially his strong opposition to the Iraq war – that brought in many voters disgusted with the illegal conduct of the Bush administration and searching for change. Now, with the Democratic Party nomination squared way, Obama has begun to stress his less-than-progressive positions. In addition to his vote on the FISA expansion, his attempts at ingratiating himself with the coveted middle-of-the-road voter have included favoring additional taxpayer funding of faith-based initiatives, the death sentence for child rapists, and a “refinement” of his position on exactly how and when to bring our soldiers home from Iraq. Apparently the pushback on his Iraq pronouncement was so fierce that he had to reiterate his commitment to ending the war. This is just what the candidate needs, a reminder from his most committed supporters. His flip on the FISA bill created an uproar on his web site and a 19,000-strong user group that urged him, to no avail, to oppose the gutting of FISA.

While the senator eagerly courts his would-be centrist supporters, he would do well to remember the millions of people he inspired with slogans such as “change we can believe in”. Those voters, including many young people who have never voted before, may become disillusioned and stay away from the polls as the change they believed in becomes the change that is expedient.

Wiretapper Protection Act

Sounding like a petulant schoolboy on the verge of a tantrum, President Bush excoriated the House of Representatives during his February 28th news conference, insisting that they pass a bill granting retroactive immunity to his friends in the telecommunications industry for their part in the government’s warrantless wiretapping of Americans. His podium-pounding performance praised the Senate’s craven genuflection earlier this month, when eighteen Democrats joined with Republicans to pass the legislation he sought, immunity for his corporate friends intact, and he insisted the House follow suit immediately or bear the blame for future terrorist attacks on America.

The president has plenty of reasons to make sure his telecom friends stay out of court – after all, if it is shown that these companies cooperated with the government because the government told them it was OK, then the executive branch can add yet another crime to its ever-growing list – lying us into a war, condoning torture, kidnapping, criminal neglect of citizens in the aftermath of a crisis. Also, if he wants to call on his buddies to help with some shady activity like roughing up prisoners or flying people to torture centers in other countries, he may find them reluctant to go along if they might be prosecuted or sued.

Sadly, while they balk at retroactive immunity, a majority of House members seems all too willing to gut the statutory protection against eavesdropping on Americans and to allow future collaboration between the government and private industry. This goal will be accomplished by amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 which created the FISA court in the aftermath of the Watergate break-in and other government dirty tricks, and turning it into the Protect America Act, returning us to the days when government could snoop with impunity on its citizens. Thus in a truly Orwellian twist, Bush and Congress will eventually turn a law designed to protect the privacy of Americans into one that does exactly the opposite. Shades of Clear Skies, Healthy Forests and Consumer Protection.

All of this serves to illustrate the dominant ideology of the Bush administration – that corporate America can run the government better than civil servants can. The gang in charge now has consistently used government as a cash and personnel funnel for friends in the corporate world – taxpayer money comes in, and right back out to the favored corporate cronies. Elected and appointed officials, from Cabinet members to legislators to White House and congressional staffers jump from civil service to corporate/lobbying positions (and back again) – some securing spots even before leaving government service. CEOs and lobbyists, offered a seat at the table, write legislation. The line between the two worlds has all but disappeared leading many to wonder who is actually running things. Government by civil servants is belittled, while government by corporate concerns is touted as efficient and effective, despite all evidence to the contrary. In the midst of a heated presidential election season, it will be necessary to remind the candidates that the era of the corporate U.S. government must end.