I can’t say that I’ve been paying much attention to the whole FISA brouhaha; maybe that’s a bad thing, I don’t really know.  I have a problem with holding telcos accountable for something they’re forced to do; of course, I’ve never had my phone lines secretly tapped by the US government — at least as far as I know. 

A few days ago, while filtering through my feeds I came across a post by Jeff Jarvis about how Obama supporters were using the campaign’s own network to protest his decision to support the FISA compromise.  Jarvis is not exactly an Obama supporter — at least that’s my oppression — but I’m not sure what his point is supposed to be.  Is it terrible or shocking that Obama supporters would use his campaign website to protest this actual flip-flop?  My opinion in no.  In a free society we should all feel free to speak our mind and call out those we think are making a bad decision — even those we support.

Now, Senator Obama has been forced to respond, and again I think that’s good. No candidate should be above being questioned.  Can anyone actually see President Bush or Senator McCain responding to their critics in such an intelligent and evenhanded way?  I doubt it.  Their first inclination would be to attack. I doubt this will do much to appease those who disagree with Senator Obama, but at least he had the courtesy to speak directly to them.  Few politicians do that these days.