What is Digg?348 Comments
- tcbishop12, on 05/12/2008, -16/+257The description is misleading -- this article identifies and praises Obama's legislative work and the means by which he brought opposing interests together for the common good, rather than demeaning it.
The problem in the heading that Sen. Obama wanted to address was that too many confessions, rather than being voluntary, were coerced -- by beating the daylights out of the accused. Obama proposed requiring that interrogations and confessions be videotaped.
This seemed likely to stop the beatings, but the bill itself aroused immediate opposition. There were Republicans who were automatically tough on crime and Democrats who feared being thought soft on crime. There were death penalty abolitionists, some of whom worried that Obama's bill, by preventing the execution of innocents, would deprive them of their best argument. Vigorous opposition came from the police, too many of whom had become accustomed to using muscle to "solve" crimes. And the incoming governor, Rod Blagojevich, announced that he was against it.
Obama had his work cut out for him. But by showing his opponents that he shared many of their concerns, even going so far as to help pass other legislation they wanted, he was able to quiet the fears of many. Obama proved persuasive enough that the bill passed both houses of the legislature, the Senate by an incredible 35 to 0. Then he talked Blagojevich into signing the bill, making Illinois the first state to require such videotaping.
Obama has a "unique" ability "to deal with extremely complex issues, to reach across the aisle and to deal with diverse people." In other words, Obama's campaign claim that he can persuade us to rise above what divides us is not just rhetoric. That's the mark of a true leader. - pedo, on 05/12/2008, -9/+199this whole article is a distraction. the real issue is flag pins! and madrassas! and that his name rhymes with osama! and his middle name is even worse! and he won't say the pledge! and he's an out of touch elitist! he bowled a 37! and he lived next door to tony rezko! and he's a member of the weather underground! his pastor said god damn america once! and don't forget he's a secret muslim! and i heard hamas likes him! ahhh!!! don't read that article! its a distraction!
- arbouler, on 05/12/2008, -8/+48i get really pissed when i read transcripts of voters who say obama is totally inexperienced. clearly they were just the lazy voters who don't give a damn about researching their candidates. candidate research is the voters' responsibility; clearly the media never wanted to explain it to the public because they like to distract voters with reports of petty politics. it's easier to get better ratings if you instill gossip stories than substance on the news reports.
when news outlet put britney spears headline above the war, you know americans like to be fed with sensational issues rather than the critical issues. when you stand in line to pay at grocery stores and more shoppers prefer to flip the pages of us weekly than newsweek or time, you know something is ***** up with this country. when you see tourists and crazy fans with their camcorders recording the scenes of celebrities shopping or dining in west hollywood, there really is something that just does not make any sense. - NyteStarNyne, on 05/12/2008, -3/+36Personally, i'm deeply offended at him bowling a 37. He's not qualified to be president at all after this outrage.
- bgrah449, on 05/12/2008, -8/+42Wow. "The mark of a true leader is someone who had success in leadership." That comment just made the short list of candidates for Most Vapid Tautology Ever.
Getting bills passed through conflicted legislatures - that's exactly what we need a President to do. - wild, on 05/12/2008, -2/+35He bowled a 37 in only FIVE frames. Even in the fluff arguments, people leave out the details.
(He would have averaged a 72 in a full game, which while not great I can't say I have never done.) - Calann, on 05/12/2008, -9/+44I would like to live in the kind of world that Barack Obama envisions. A world where individuals who are in positions of authority are monitored to ensure that they do not abuse this authority.
What kind of world would you like to live in? - wild, on 05/12/2008, -7/+35[The mark of a true leader is someone who had success in leadership.]
I don't know about your knowledge of our state's politics, but getting anything done in Illinois politics takes a tremendous amount of leadership.
Gov. Blagojevich is a spineless ***** who risks legislation for his own hairbrained political point scoring. (See: Inserting a Seniors Ride Free provision into emergency funding to save the mass transit system in Chicago, nearly destroying the deal and tripling fairs while cutting service in half.)
Our state House and Senate are a bunch of morally vapid cronies who care more about getting revenge on each other than passing any real legislation.
And the mayor of our biggest and only world class city, Chicago, is as corrupt as his gangland friendly father, constantly putting friends and family in high ranking positions while they lack qualifications. (That isn't to say he hasn't used it to serve the city well, but nothing happens in Illinois without him buying off on it.)
Trust me when I say that what Obama accomplished here is very impressive from a leadership position, and its a shame it doesn;t get more play on the national stage. - inactive, on 05/12/2008, -0/+24For the record he had 47 in the 8th frame and was working on a spare. He also let two little kids bowl a frame for him. This truth must be spread as the bowling issue is not going to go away!
- rebotfc, on 05/12/2008, -5/+27Dude, you are obviously articulate, so please don't be offended when i say you need a better paying job.
- actorboy, on 05/12/2008, -5/+29FTA (and description): "Since most of Obama's legislation was enacted in Illinois, most of the evidence is found there -- and it has been largely ignored by the media in a kind of Washington snobbery that assumes state legislatures are not to be taken seriously."
Legislation that protects citizens being ignored because of Washington snobbery. Remember that the next time someone throws around accusations of elitism. - FutureGuy, on 05/12/2008, -3/+21And why shouldn't it be on youtube, transparency is the key to good government.
- dagamer34, on 05/12/2008, -0/+18Another funny thing was that the media didn't bother reporting that kids bowled his first 2 frames until he HIMSELF pointed that out. That's a little shady to me.
- SocialPoison, on 05/12/2008, -4/+22Nice troll.
- wild, on 05/12/2008, -4/+22People still think Obama is a Muslim. That tells you the sort of lackadaisical attitude that people bring to their politics.
(I don't know what angers me more. The fact that people vote without being informed, or that they wouldn't vote for Obama if he was a Muslim.) - desqjockey, on 05/12/2008, -0/+17EOAssoWipo- that is a clear tautology. True leader = Successful leader. 'True leader' is a set of weasel words that do not mean anything by themselves, but you set it up as a tautology in your statement. Can someone be an unsuccessful "true leader"? No, because of the way you defined it.
The president can do a lot to quell what divides us- compromising on the bills he is willing to sign with the opposition, naming cabinet level positions with smart independent people not "loyal Bushies"; and he can sure as ***** stir it up and march us to war by calling dissenters traitors if that is on the agenda. - coyote1284, on 05/12/2008, -1/+15Great, now I gotta get a new sarcasm meter, you just caused mine to overload.
- BrainInAJar, on 05/12/2008, -8/+23Canada's health care budget divided by the number of tax-payers = about $300 per year.
So, $300/year for public healthcare ( hidden by income taxes ), vs $1500/year for private ( out of pocket ).
stop spreading anti-public-healthcare FUD - jedisushi, on 05/12/2008, -5/+19I am all for Obama, but this article was on the front page yesterday...
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Obama_Judge_Him_ ... - hayzeus, on 05/12/2008, -3/+13He also collects stray dogs, beheads them, and has sex with the neckholes. I know this because I heard it on the internet and EMAIL FORWARDS NEVER LIE!
- NJank, on 05/12/2008, -0/+10yup. not enough professional lying and BS to fill the resume. He definitely pales in comparison to his democratic competitor.
- DryMaltExtract, on 05/12/2008, -1/+11I agree, lets cut all taxes, ***** the government! We will build our own roads, supply our own water, school our own children, we are the people! We can do it all on our own!
You'll care about medicaid when you're an old slob with little to no income and failing health. - blinkatron, on 05/12/2008, -3/+12wtf, so you think innocent people should be beaten into confessions? this is a great bill that will prevent policy brutality. i don't understand how these interrogations shouldn't be public under the constitution.
- Narcism, on 05/12/2008, -0/+9If "This is America. I am an American.", then shut up and live with it like everyone else.
And yes, I would like fries with that. - MoofTheStoof, on 05/12/2008, -0/+8There's not enough of them. For the last 30 years less than a third of the country has been setting the agenda for all of us. Now it's ending because they've just about run the country into the ground, and the rest of us are finally fed up. Once the wedge issues fizzle in the face of real issues like economy, statecraft and war, their numbers dwindle and the adults end up with a solid, working majority. There's going to be massive turnout this Nov. that will not only put Obama into the White House, but will make a very solidly Democratic House and Senate, too.
- BrainInAJar, on 05/12/2008, -4/+13Business people fight to get the government to listen to their interests, that's why businesses pay less taxes. You should fight for your own best interest rather than theirs.
Less taxes doesn't benefit you as much as higher taxes + social programs would, since the fraction of your wage required to keep your health benefits up is significantly higher than the fraction of wages a business person needs to pay his, yours, and your best 10 friends's health care up to par.
Think of it this way, if health insurance is $1000. You make $10,000-ish a year. that's 10% of your income. Now take half that ( 5% ) from someone who makes $100,000 per year. that can pay for 5 people's health insurance.
And the only way they were able to make that money is by the community and stability that the state they do business in provides, so they do, in fact, owe it to the community to give some back. Try doing legit business (not profiteering) in a war zone and say that you don't need a government to provide some sanity & order to effectively conduct it. A healthy workforce is a productive workforce, and business is happy to fire you when you get sick, so something higher than the business owner needs to keep that in check. - bjornski, on 05/12/2008, -0/+7Citation?
- Fordi, on 05/12/2008, -1/+8ooooo, I see wingnut has no argument.
- DreKor, on 05/12/2008, -3/+11also see, *****.com
- djSyndrome, on 05/12/2008, -1/+8But every American *does* have $300. Bush just gave it to them himself.
- bravo369, on 05/12/2008, -0/+7it's amazing to me that videotaping questioning and interrogations isn't a requirement aleady. how can law enforcement be so eager to present a signed confession into evidence yet be so against the process used to obtain that confession. This could also help them too in some cases. I'm sure there's plenty of people accusing police of coercing a confession in the hopes of having it thrown out during the trial. A videotape would fix that.
- SocialPoison, on 05/12/2008, -2/+9And YOU don't seem to have a basic understanding of corporate greed. Honestly you beat your own argument. You set up a straw man saying you're a minimum wage worker. Then you say your quality of life would be better if your income wasn't taxed to death. But the reality is you'd STILL make a crappy wage after all the "socialist" ideas are removed, you'd find yourself with no health care or assistance. You'd be one medical accident away from being completely wrecked.
Also if you are actually a minimum wage fry jockey, get off the internet, *****, you can't afford things beyond basic needs. - wild, on 05/12/2008, -0/+8Well, it is determination, and leadership. He got things done and was the one figuring out how to do it.
And lets look at what this really says about Obama. He was able to get the unification he needed to pass the laws that were needed. As President, he won't be a lawmaker. He will be the executive leader, and it will be his job to help steer the course and work to get things done. He is influential when among the ranks. Imagine the potential for what he can do when he has the head job. - BXRWXR, on 05/12/2008, -0/+8No one is that big a hero.
- Infidelcastr0, on 05/12/2008, -4/+11Holy *****, Whenever I see or hear a statement like this I hope for the good of mankind, that it's just trolling, and nobody can be this stupid, then I poke my head out and look around me, and realize just how many people are. Go polish your jackboots and get off my tubes.
- NJank, on 05/12/2008, -1/+8i prefer rainbow candy and free unicorns... my worldview declares war on your totally incompatible worldview.
- BadseedJR, on 05/12/2008, -1/+7But Fox News told me he was. Who am I to question that?
- MixMastaKooz, on 05/12/2008, -2/+8Yea, and this Rightist experiment for the last 8 years went swimmingly!!
- JibrilAdam, on 05/12/2008, -3/+10Obama passes the acid test. He has integrity, intelligence and mature to lead this nation. He is the only candidate that I see with energy and passion to lead America. You can rely on him in making those tough call decisions.
- BrainInAJar, on 05/12/2008, -1/+7Every american doesn't have $1000 either, so they go uninsured, go to the hospital when they're desperately ill (rather than starting to get ill), which costs the system more than if america just had social healthcare in the first place
- tharju, on 05/12/2008, -1/+10What divides you? Answer for real. (Religious vs. Scientist, Evolution vs. Intelligent Design, Pro Life vs. Pro Choice, Pro War vs. Anti War, I could go on.)
Then ask yourself, what can the President do about it? (President Job is to find a common ground from both sides in order to pass the laws that make sense for this country future. Yes you may argue he/she may be an appeaser. True leader don’t give in, rather they persuade)
Then realize that ***** means absolutely nothing. (You are an idiot; sorry I couldn’t find the reasonable answer.)
The mark of a true leader is someone who had success in leadership. (huh?) - lead2thehead, on 05/12/2008, -0/+5I'm surprised the "inexperienced" argument still flies. Before she took her senate seat, the only political experience she had was being married to the president.
- bjornski, on 05/12/2008, -0/+5And we can see that the former just isn't working....
- t0x2c, on 05/12/2008, -0/+5Wow, way to copy your whole post from the article.
- kingmanic, on 05/12/2008, -1/+6Leadership is convincing people to do what you want without too many side effects or screw ups. There are many tactics and which ever one obama uses seem to work in the areas he's operated in.
- blinkatron, on 05/12/2008, -1/+6I'm not trying to be an arse or anything... but how do you afford internet? Or do you just steal it from work?
- jerrolds, on 05/12/2008, -0/+6That Arts degree he got really paying off huh?
- asskicker32, on 05/12/2008, -0/+5Really? Because he stood up to people to try to get the beatings and coerced confessions to stop? He felt he did the right thing and I agree. IF you think this is the wrong thing, at least respect the man for standing up to people for what he believes is the right thing...
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