Bill Clinton’s assaults on our civil rights and liberties:

- 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) mandated that telephone companies rewire their networks to enable federal and state law enforcement to wiretap without being onsite. A direct line could be drawn from CALEA to the recent NSA warrantless wiretap scandal.

- 1996 Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act expanded the authority of secret courts and allowed the FBI to investigate First Amendment–protected activities.

- 1999 Intelligence Authorization Act includes a provision for “roving” wiretaps long sought by the President and FBI director Louis Freeh, and was slipped into the final bill without hearings or public debate.

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“Tough on crime”
The above Death Penalty Act severely restricts the right of death row inmates to file federal habeas corpus petitions. Also under his administration, in 1996 Congress eliminated funding for the 20 Death Penalty Resource Centers which provided legal services for poor defendants.
Clinton’s policies have led to a tripling of the rate of executions — at the same time as a record number of innocent people have been released from death row.
In January 1992 he flew back to Arkansas in the midst of his first presidential campaign to approve the execution of Ricky Ray Rector. Rector, who had blown away part of his brain in a failed suicide attempt, was so mentally impaired that he asked that his desert be put aside so he could eat it after his execution.
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Clinton’s attempts to increase the power of the presidency at the expense of the other two branches of government:

-Clinton claimed that executive privilege made a sitting president immune from lawsuit, a position the Supreme Court rejected in Clinton v. Jones (1997).
-Got Congress to pass the Line-Item Veto Act of 1996, which allows the President to selectively veto specific parts of a bill without vetoing the entire bill. Struck down by the Supreme Court in Clinton v. City of New York (1998).
-allowed the Independent Counsel Act to expire, which could have been used to investigate the Bush administration for FISA violations.
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Without even mentioning the disaster of his “Welfare Deform”
Cast more women and children into poverty. Put recipients into ‘jobs’ that had no security, no benefits, and hardly any pay, thus lowering wages and rights for workers in general. Eliminated job training and education component of welfare, which had allowed many women to move into productive employment. Reduced eligibility for food stamps. “Racialized” welfare: proportion of women of color receiving welfare as compared to white women rose dramatically.
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Need we say “NAFTA”?

I do know that Haaretz’s Rosner is quite fond of Obama.

I don’t think that’s right. I checked Rosner’s ratings of presidential candidates for their “friendliness to Israel” & Obama is rated last of all the candidates. I generally find myself perfectly in harmony w. Rosner as long as I invert all his preferences.

if anyone thinks Obama is going to be any different about Israel than any other candidate…they are about to be very disillusioned.

We’ll just have to disagree on that unless or until Obama does ‘a Hillary’ on Israel-Palestine matters.

The Haaretz interview you’re quoting was done by Rosner, it’s most right-wing correspondent. I wouldn’t fully trust the interview to reflect Obama’s full range of views on this subject. In addition, an Israel Policy Forum delegation lobbied Congress last wk. & met w. him among others. Delegation members were fully confident that he was entirely with them on all major issues.

Obama Is the Best BS Artist Since Bill Clinton

And what’s so bad about being compared to Bill Clinton?? He was a damn fine president in my opinion except for a few serious moral failings.

EI co-founder Ali Abunimah was interviewed
on Flashpoints Radio on Tuesday, 20 February 2007. He
discussed the previous day’s talks in Jerusalem with
Condoleezza Rice as she presses for Bush’s vision for a
future Palestinian state. He told host Nora
Barrows-Friedman, “The United States and Israel expect
Abbas to act as their quisling, really, just a
collaborator representing them. And Abbas’ transgressions
in their books are that he has placed the desire among
Palestinians for unity and democracy above the demands of
the occupier and the United States.”

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6574.shtml

ellen

I asked about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) convention in March and was told that he will speak there too, but wants to have another speech sooner. Obama doesn’t want to wait such a long time – not when he is running a campaign in which he will need the support of many people who care deeply about Israel. (Oh, let’s just say it: Jewish voters are major donors to the Democratic Party and its nominees.) He also wants to make sure that people will hear him, and him alone. After all, Obama will not be the only candidate speaking and getting attention at the AIPAC conference. ”

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/827424.html

More on Obama (Rolling Stone)
“The Illinois Senator is the ultimate modern media creature — he’s a good-looking, youthful, smooth-talking, buttery-warm personality with an aw-shucks demeanor who exudes a seemingly impenetrable air of Harvard-crafted moral neutrality. ..
His entire political persona is an ingeniously crafted human cipher, a man without race, ideology, geographic allegiances, or, indeed, sharp edges of any kind. You can’t run against him on the issues because you can’t even find him on the ideological spectrum. ”

Above from: Obama Is the Best BS Artist Since Bill Clinton
By Matt Taibbi, RollingStone.com
Posted on February 14, 2007, Printed on February 20, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/48051/

ellen

Senator Obama does not seem to understand this.

Boy, are you misinformed. Where do you get that Obama doesn’t support an independent Palestinian state? Even Bush and Olmert claim they support this. So why would Obama have a problem with this?

Yes Ralph, “Let’s Make things” worse. Who cares how many Iraqi’s die.

I think the only value Ralph has any more is his meglomaina and ego. At one time he was a great man – now he is no better than those he ctriticizes.

IF we do have war in Iran, I feel that Ralph shares the blames. I do wonder how he sleeps at night.

And about Nader – He values the same things I value. Apparently a lot of people don’t share those values and they voted for Gore or Bush over Nader. I don’t think you can blame Nader for that.

Yes, a lot can happen between now and Election Day. Hopefully war on Iran won’t be one of those things!

regards,
ellen