Will Obama support the Feingold-Dodd filibuster on FISA?

A 2005 diary of his on The Orange Pseudoliberal Monster may provide some clues. It’s about his decision not to filibuster the nomination of John Roberts as Chief Justice. (Sidebar: Feingold was among Democrats who voted FOR Roberts’ nomination, a reminder that while some Democratic Congressmen are purer than others, none is as pure as Caesar’s wife allegedly was.)

That said, here’s a few selected comments by Obama:

I am not arguing that the Democrats should trim their sails and be more “centrist.” In fact, I think the whole “centrist” versus “liberal” labels that continue to characterize the debate within the Democratic Party misses the mark. Too often, the “centrist” label seems to mean compromise for compromise sake, whereas on issues like health care, energy, education and tackling poverty, I don’t think Democrats have been bold enough. But I do think that being bold involves more than just putting more money into existing programs and will instead require us to admit that some existing programs and policies don't work very well. And further, it will require us to innovate and experiment with whatever ideas hold promise (including market- or faith-based ideas that originate from Republicans).

First, a sidebar: I’ll be tackling this “faith-based” issue in another blog post tomorrow.

Beyond that, several points.

First, even with Karl Rove, it’s arguable that modern politics is still less nasty than that of the 19th century.

Second, Obama doesn’t explain HOW he will sell “Kumbaya.” Nor does he distinguish selling it to the voting public from selling it to Senate Republicans who keep threatening filibusters.

The bottom line is that our job is harder than the conservatives’ job. After all, it’s easy to articulate a belligerent foreign policy based solely on unilateral military action, a policy that sounds tough and acts dumb; it’s harder to craft a foreign policy that's tough and smart. It’s easy to dismantle government safety nets; it's harder to transform those safety nets so that they work for people and can be paid for. It’s easy to embrace a theological absolutism; it's harder to find the right balance between the legitimate role of faith in our lives and the demands of our civic religion. But that’s our job.

But the hardest part, again unmentioned, is redefining the “job” of liberalism away from how Republicans have defined it, and that gets to the heart of “Kumbaya.”
Finally, you have this bit boatload of irony:

Our goal should be to stick to our guns on those core values that make this country great.

So, back to the main question — would that include the basket warrants part of the new FISA bill?

Probably not.

Don’t believe my analysis? Then read Obama’s lips:

“I think what is clear is that the way the program operated broke the law that was existing at the time,” Obama said Monday at a news conference in Jacksonville, Fla. “On the other hand, what I’ve also seen and learned is the degree to which the underlying program itself is, in fact, necessary to help prevent terrorist attacks.”

Sounds like he is definitely down with the infringement of civil liberties.

Oh, and he hasn’t tried to explain himself on this issue since that comment.