Lawrence Lessig has some sane things to say about why, while Obama’s support of the FISA bill with telco immunity might have been bad politics, and was an instance of “self-swiftboating,” the left’s reaction to it has been hysterical.
Before Barack Obama was a candidate, I came to trust Larry Lessig as a thoughtful and principled observer of politics. (I just tried to find the post in his blog where it really hit me that this guy was probably smarter than me on these things, but I can’t find it.)
I also think that Lessig’s current crusade — to eliminate the corrupting effects of big money on politics — is one of the most important issues in American politics today.
Now that Barack Obama is a candidate, the most powerful factor in allowing me to support and trust him is that Larry knows him personally, taught with him, and thinks that he will do the right thing for America, especially on the issue of corruption.
For me that is worth a lot.
So I’m inclined to listen to him on these issues and not get all in a tizzy because Obama did not make the choice I wanted him to on this issue, and did not fulfill a foolish promise.