Although I agreed with the diagnosis, I could not concur with the treatment. The toxic side effects of Single Party Rule presented a greater risk than the potential benefit of curing the Bush/Cheney unitary executive disease. In particular, the prospect of the new President inheriting the expanded Bush/Cheney presidential power while his party held even larger majorities than enjoyed by George W Bush and the Republicans was particularly frightening. Those fears were confirmed last week, when Obama steamrolled a very bad stimulus bill over a neutered Republican party, handing future generations more debt and putting the economic future of the country at risk.

That said, I expected to enjoy a couple of civil liberty consolation prizes with the Obama victory. First and foremost, balance would be maintained in judicial appointments and on the Supreme Court, and second – Obama would indeed roll back some of the worst offenses of the Bush administration. While I still have high hopes for the first consolation prize, early indications are not promising for the second. Not promising at all.

I know it has only been a month, but Obama works fast. It is not too early to checkpoint how President Obama is progressing on “undoing the damage” of the Bush/Cheney Imperial Presidency. The most egregious offenses of the Bush/Cheney administration fall under the umbrella of expanding executive branch power at the expense of the legislative and judicial branches, with a commensurate erosion of constitutional protections. There are some positives. The executive order to close Guantanamo in a year or so is great news. The executive order on torture sounded great, as long as you ignore the loopholes. But on balance – So far… all is not so good.

The Obama administration supports Bush era invocation of state secrecy to protect rendition and torture.

The Obama administration supports Bush era state secrecy claims to deny torture victims their day in court.

The Obama administration supports Bush era state secrecy claims to protect executive orders for illegal wiretapping and domestic surveillance.

Out of fairness, I should point out that this last should not be a surprise. It is completely consistent with the July, 2008 version of Barack Obama who voted against the rule of law and in support of immunity for the Telecom companies that cooperated with illegal government wiretap requests. OTOH it is a complete flip-flop from the January 2008 version of Barack Obama who promised to support a filibuster to prevent granting immunity to Telecom companies.

The Obama administration opposes torture, but not all the time.

The Obama administration continues Bush era faith based initiatives undermining the principle of Separation of Church and State.

White House Political Office, Politicizing the White House Counsel, Executive Privilege – The more things change…

Other early items where the Obama administration appears to moving closer to the style and substance of the previous administration include: Obama continues the much reviled White House Political Office – former home of Karl Rove; Obama appointed a political hack to the office of the White House Counsel, further opening the administration to comparisons with the Bush/Rove White House and charges of politicizing the office; – and – as long as we are on the topic of Karl Rove; The Obama administration will apparently not challenge the constitutionally questionable Bush administration claims of “executive privilege” shielding Karl Rove from testimony before the legislature in the matter of U.S. Attorney General firings

There are more than a few liberals who have not hesitated to to call BS, most notably Glen Greenwald, as he takes to task those whose loyalty is not to principle but to a personality:

Greenwald’s analysis is instructive. It explains why so many on the left greet Obama’s support and active defense of the Bush/Cheney model of the unitary executive with a yawn. It is not the principle of checks, balances and constitutional protections that inform their view of the world. For some on the left, it is about blind loyalty to a leader and a party. From their perspective, the Bush/Cheney model of executive power is not a problem if Obama is in the White House. Apparently, with the ring of power in Barack Obama’s benevolent hands, the Bush/Cheney executive power will only be used for good. So – just put your trust in Barack – not in the rule of law – not in the Constitution – but in the man. These Obama supporters resemble nothing so much as the right-wing apologists for Bush administration excesses.

Greenwald says it best:

Under the current incarnation of One Party Rule, the Republicans are impotent in the face of Obama and his large Democratic majority. The only hope for any moderation of the power of this presidency, must come from principled Democratic legislators in Congress (Feingold, Feinstein, and Leahy are stepping up). The only hope for economic sanity, must come from Democratic fiscal conservatives like the few Democratic representatives in the House of Representatives that voted against stimulus porker.

It’s only been a month.

Obama still has plenty of time to correct course.

That is my (faint) Hopeâ„¢.

^{Excerpted from “Divided We Stand United We Fall“}

This is Lagan from ANP,

We sat down with James Risen, the New York Times national security corespondent who broke the domestic wiretapping stories, to talk about the dilemmas Obama faces with the unparalleled executive power he will inherit.

Dick Cheney recently said that Obama would appreciate all of the power they are handing over, but Obama has railed against some of the Bush administration’s policies such as the warrantless wiretapping that Risen helped uncover.

A few days after this interview was filmed, one of Risen’s key sources, Thomas Tamm, was featured on the cover of Newsweek as “The Fed Who Blew the Whistle.” Risen spoke with us about the rise in executive power during Bush’s tenure and how the media failed to be vigilant in the wake of 9/11.

From his perch at the New York Times, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist James Risen has been at the forefront of uncovering some of the Bush administration’s worst abuses of power. As a result, he has been hauled before a grand jury and pressured by the government to name his anonymous sources.

Still, I can’t help but wonder what happened to the Democrats and Liberals who used to call for public financing of elections, claiming that the Republican fund raising machine was equivalent to “buying an election”. I guess it is perfectly ok to “buy an election” as long as it is a Democrat doing the buying.

Frankly, I don’t have a problem with how much money the Obama campaign raises. I consider the money that individuals, special interests and fat cats voluntarily contribute to Obama to be an expression of free speech. I oppose the public financing of campaigns. I have never checked off the box on my tax form to contribute my tax dollars to a political campaign fund. I opposed the McCain/Feingold Campaign “Reform” as a restriction on free speech. As far as I am concerned, if you want to take out a sub-prime second mortgage on your house and send Obama the proceeds, hey – both Obama and McCain will bail you out – go for it!

However, I do think there should be 100% perfect transparency on the source of every nickel contributed to every candidate. The Obama campaign apparently does not agree, as evidenced by their deliberate and calculated use of an on-line contribution mechanism which, unlike McCain’s (or every single retailer who accepts on-line credit card purchases) , makes it easy to hide the identity of small contributors.

That said, the efficacy of the Axelrod/Obama contribution machine, the enormity of their war chest, and the unprecedented spending it permits has produced some truly astonishing effects and consequences that are, in and of themselves, worthy of note.

Most interesting – the Obama campaign is responsible for the end of public financing of presidential campaigns. The irony here is just too rich. Barack Obama, the candidate of a party that has long championed public financing, reneges on a commitment to public financing when it becomes clear he can raise far more money privately. By making a cynical, smart, self-serving decision to abandon the public financing system, he wins the presidency. John McCain, the candidate of a party that has long fought against public financing or, for that matter, any limitations on campaign contributions, accepts public financing as a matter of personal conviction, is severely disadvantaged in the campaign, and loses the election. Lesson learned: If you accept public financing – you lose. Public financing of a major party presidential campaign will never happen again. The Obama campaign killed it for all time. Good.

At some point, we have to step back and try to grasp the sheer enormity of what Axelrod and Obama have wrought. We can just look at it and admire it as a spectacle, as a force of nature, much like staring at Niagara Falls, Mount Everest or the Grand Canyon. Tom Brokaw, Charlie Cook and Chuck Todd tried to take it all in during Meet The Press on Sunday:

Think about that. The Axelrod/Obama campaign has spent as much selling the Barack Obama brand as McDonald’s spends selling hamburgers. The numbers boggle the imagination. According to MSNBC, in the first 15 days of October, Obama spent over $105M or about half of what McCain spent on his entire Presidential campaign to date. Obama is spending $293,000/hour to win the Presidency.

The disparity in spending is just jaw dropping. Pundits and bloggers speculate about McCain pulling back advertising budgets in Michigan and other states. What do they expect? He has no choice. He cannot possibly keep up with Obama, so he has to pick his battles. Because of his principled but misguided decision to accept public funding, he brought a knife to a gun fight. Obama is outspending McCain on TV advertising in battleground states by at least three to one. And that is when McCain is trying to compete. In states where McCain is conserving resources, the disparity is much greater. They are outspending McCain on the internet 117 to one. Obama is spending more on negative advertising than any campaign in history, and McCain does not have the resources to reply. It is a war of attrition and the McCain campaign is out of ammuntion. As the Wall Street Journal Editorial reports:

It is no wonder that McCain must reduce spending in some states to compete in others. The wonder is that the polls are as close as they are with Obama outspending McCain at these extraordinary ratios. There are reports that in some markets Obama has purchased all available advertising, so McCain could not increase their spots even if they had the money.

And in the midst of all of this, what is both the traditional and new media focused on? The McCain campaign spending on Sarah Palin’s wardrobe and makeup. Even if you take the reported $150,000 wardrobe number at face value, you are talking about 30 minutes of Obama campaign spending or one half of what I like to call an “Obamahour$”. In light of the Obama spending the coverage is, as Palin said “Ridiculous… Those clothes, they are not my property. Just like the lighting and the staging and everything else that the RNC purchased, I’m not taking them with me.”

On the topic of staging – we learned last week that the Obamacropolis staging in Invesco Field during the convention cost the Democrats an additional $5.3 million (17 Obamahour$) above the cost already incurred in outfitting the Pepsi Center stage. Ed Morrissey wonders about the comparison:

The most egregious deception of the campaign, is the notion that Obama is somehow rising above previous Republican fund raising efforts because most of this money is coming from small donors. Consider that notion completely debunked, courtesy of the Washington Post:

It is certainly true that the Axelrod/Obama campaign machine has broken all records for the absolute number of small donors. The more important point, is that to an even greater degree they broke all records for absolute numbers of rich, super-rich, special interest, corporate and fat cat donors. Big donors are the real meat and potatoes of the Axelrod/Obama campaign war chest.

In my previous post, commenter BenG suggested that I was swimming in “a bottomless pool of cynicism” regarding both parties. I guess that is fair. I just do not think it is a good idea to give Obama and the Democrats (or any politician and party) the virtual monarchical power that is in the offing next week. But that is just me. Others apparently think the Democrats and Obama will not be corrupted by more special interest money and more concentrated power than has been granted any U.S. leader in a generation. I consider that a triumph of hope over reason.

Connections between special interests, corporate interests, lobbyists, their contributions, and the access and influence the contributions garner must be inferred from circumstance. It has to be circumstantial, because if it was explicit it would be considered bribery and a felony. The only thing that can possibly keep these impulses in check is complete transparency on contributions and an opposition party with a share of power. The Republican party is about to be rendered impotent, and transparency is not a high priority in the Axelrod/Obama campaign. So – we will see too much power combined with too much secrecy in an Obama administration. This should work out well.

I guess I prefer swimming in a pool of cynicism to sitting in a hot-tub of hypocrisy. I see a lot of hypocrisy in the Obama campaign.

Since one party rule under Obama is a foregone conclusion, perhaps we should better understand the presidency we are buying and take a peek under the Axelrod/Obama secrecy kimono. Lets start with a good hard look at the deep and broad connections between just one major corporation and the Obama campaign.

I’ll list some of the connections. You can infer your own conclusions from the circumstances.

Broderick Johnson is a lobbyist for AT&T. He is the president of Bryan Cave a lobbying firm that receives large amounts of money from AT&T to represent their interests in Washington. Broderick Johnson contributes large amounts of money to Obama and other Democratic party candidates and causes. Broderick Johnson is also an adviser to the Obama campaign.

Lyndon Boozer is a lobbyist for AT&T. He receives large amounts of money from AT&T to represent their interests in Washington. Lyndon Boozer contributes and arranges contributions of large amounts of money to Obama and Democratic candidates. Lyndon Boozer is a good golfer and loves to play golf with Democratic politicians.

AT&T was a major sponsor and contributor to the Democratic Party convention in Denver. In return, AT&T got their logo printed on a very nice leather tote bag. I’m sure that promotion on the tote bag was all that AT&T wanted in return for sponsoring the convention.

AT&T threw a lavish party for Democratic politicians at the Democratic convention in Denver. In the interest of supporting the Axelrod/Obama policy of zero transparency, the press was not invited. Not even very liberal Democratic bloggers and reporters. Some reporters were even roughed up to keep them out. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Finally there is the very interesting case of Obama chief strategist David Axelrod, aka “Barack’s Brain.” David Axelrod is a partner in two firms collocated in the same office space in Chicago. Per the New York Times:

One wonders how Axelrod takes a leave from a co-located consulting firm with only three partners and where he is the “A” in ASK Public Strategies. Did they divide the office with blue tape on the floor and keep Axelrod on one side? Does he wear blinders and earplugs when in the office? But I digress. The NYT article continues:

Also among ASK’s clients? You guessed it. From Business Week:

And why shouldn’t AT&T hire Axelrod’s firm? After all, the “S” in ASK is David Axelrod’s partner Eric Sedler:

So AT&T gives a lot of money to ASK. Some of that money is in David Axelrod’s pocket, as one of three partners in ASK. But David Axelrod is on “leave” from ASK. Nothing to see here. Move along.

I am sure that all these AT&T connections are coincidental. I am sure that all of this circumstantial generosity has nothing to do with the fact that AT&T was under the cloud of a civil and criminal lawsuits as a result of their cooperating with an illegal Bush administration request to spy on Americans. I am sure that this has nothing to do with the fact that Barack Obama said he was opposed to granting AT&T immunity, but voted to grant AT&T immunity with the FISA capitulation. Pure circumstantial coincidence no doubt.

Draw your own conclusion. My conclusion – Obama will say anything when it is just talk and does not matter. He will act another way when it counts. That is the pattern we saw with Obama and Public Financing. That is the pattern we saw with Obama and Telecom Immunity. He talks reform, but acts out of self-interest. He talks bi-partisanship, but voted with a perfectly partisan 97% toe-the-party-line Democratic party voting record. That is the Obama/Axelrod way. That is the Chicago way.

And that is truly Change that AT&T can believe in.

Obama may not be buying the election.

But AT&T may very well have bought a president.

And you can fool some of the people all of the time.

^{x-posted from Divided We Stand United We Fall}

You might not have noticed, as this was only the third most important story yesterday. Based on television news coverage, the most important political story yesterday was Rev. Jesse Jackson caught making crude remarks about Obama on an open mike. The second most important story was John McCain joking about cigarette exports killing Iranians. The third most important story was our elected representatives voting to restrict 4th Amendment protections that have been afforded Americans since the founding of the country and the crafting of the Bill of Rights.

Who cares? After all, what did the founding fathers know about the need to protect individual civil liberties against the overreach of power by a unitary executive? Clearly our Congress and President, and the two senators who want to be our next President know better than the founders what civil protections we really need. So protections that have been in place for over two hundred years are now less than they were. Activities by our government to eavesdrop on conversations of Americans that were illegal yesterday, are legal today (or as soon as GWB signs it into law).

I am not going to belabor this. We have beat this to death at Donklephant in previous posts here, here and here. Just one point – When smart people on the right, left, and academia agree that this is a very bad bill that erodes our freedom and constitutional protections, it does not mean this is a good compromise. It means this is a very bad bill that erodes our freedom and constitutional protections.

No I’m not feeling great. I feel about the way the Senator Russ Feingold looks in this interview on MSNBC’s Coutdown yesterday, where he says:

“This is a sad moment, it really is a black mark, not only on Democrats, but on the Congress, and the history of the United States. This is one of the greatest assaults on the Constitution in the history of our country.”- Russ Feingold

C’mon Russ! Lighten up! It’s only the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Sheesh….

[OK. I give up. There is supposed to be an MSNBC Video Embedded here, but I can't get it to embed. You'll have to go HERE to see the video.]

Some thoughts on this interview. Feingold expresses a hope that a future Congress will take this up and restore our Fourth Amendment protections. What do you think the likelihood that any President or Congress will voluntarily reopen this political can of worms?

I actually believe it will happen, but not without a powerful catalyst. It will happen only after the inevitable abuse of these new powers are revealed to the American people.

Why inevitable? Because every single expansion of government power over citizens is ultimately abused by those entrusted with that power. I don’t know when that will happen, but I know it will happen.

Outrage over executive branch abuse of eavesdropping and domestic surveillance was the reason for the original FISA legislation in 1978. When FISA was modified by the Patriot Act, the loosened restrictions were immediately abused by the FBI, and that abuse continued for years. With these even looser restrictions, there will be more abuse. It is only a question of time, a question of how the abuse will be revealed and a question of how badly and how many Americans must be hurt before enough outraged Americans force Congress to act. Perhaps the abuse will happen under President Obama. Perhaps the abuse will happen under President McCain. Perhaps it will happen under a President four eight or twelve years from now. But it will happen.

It is also interesting that Feingold declined to answer Maddow’s question about the real liklihood of an Obama presidency pursuing criminal liability against the Telcos and administration officials that broke the law. This, as you may recall, was Obama’s CYA fig leaf rationalization for explicitly breaking his promise to filibuster any FISA provision that included Telecom immunity. Feingold did not decline to answer because he does not know the answer. He knows. He knows that Obama is being disingenuous and there is no possibility of a criminal prosecution for law-breaking activity that Congress just made legal.

No, I don’t feel great. I particularly don’t feel like the idea of contributing or supporting either of the Tweedledum Tweedledee presidential candidates who have so little respect for our Constitution and the civil liberties of Americans.

^{UPDATED: Found some more links for the next round of opposition to this “assault on the Constitution”, and have edited the last paragraph to reflect the same.}

Contributions? Instead of the candidates, I’ll make contributions to organizations like the Strange Bedfellows Alliance, a progressive / libertarian alliance that will target legislators that voted to reduce my freedoms. Since the Executive and Legislative branch have no respect for the Constitution, I can only hope the Judicial branch will. The ACLU and Electronic Freedom Foundation are going to test the constitutionality of this law in the courts. I’ve never contributed to the ACLU before, but I will now and I will get behind this program and suggest you do also.

There. I feel a little better, now.