In politics, everything you say must be assumed that it is recorded and stored for future use. Barack Obama, being a little green, might not have heard about this memo, since it came back to bite him in the ass this week. Back when he was running for Senate he called out Ted Kennedy for not showing some backbone and "getting some spine and standing up to the Republicans." He was talking about prescription drugs and health care for seniors, but political spine can apply to anything. One example would be fighting against retroactive immunity for the telecommunication companies that were willing accomplices for the Bush Administration's prerogative to spy on American citizens.
This is what he said way back when:
"We've got to call up not just Republicans," said the Illinois Democrat, "but we got to call up Ted Kennedy and say, Ted, you're getting a little old now, and you've been a fighter for us before I don't know what's happening now, Ted get some spine and stand up to the Republicans."
The appearance was at an AFL-CIO forum. And Obama was obviously passionate, as many Democrats were, that the then-pending drug bill wasted billions of tax dollars in payoffs to pharmaceutical companies, denied seniors a true choice on prescription drugs, and generally did little in reducing drug costs.
Kennedy, for his part, forged a bipartisan compromise because he believed the legislation would provide millions of seniors with drug benefits for the first time in history.
It should be noted that while on the campaign trail Obama has frequently argued that the Democratic Party should not compromise on its main principles.
I would think holding people accountable for their actions is one of our party's principles. That is especially true when we are trying to uphold the validity of the Constitution and the rule of law. You would think that would be something Barack cares about. So where was he on Monday when push came to shove in the Senate?
Certainly nowhere near the Senate floor, and definitely not next to Chris Dodd and his effort to thwart retroactive immunity....something that Ted Kennedy was shouting out against at the top of his lungs on the same Senate floor.
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