One of the interesting things about the presidential campaigns in 2008 is just how effectively Barack Obama and his team framed issues to serve their needs. Throughout the election season-but especially during the primaries-Candidate Obama made a great deal of noise regarding just how badly the Bush Administration had abused civil liberties in order to fight the war on terror. Then-Senator Obama contrasted the supposedly horrible Dubya record on constitutional rights with his own lofty promises. By and large, Obama successfully painted himself as a true-blue friend of human rights during 2008.
The problem with political campaigns is that they inexorably end. Once they do, the harsh realities of governance can shatter the self-made myths about the people running the country. The dissonance between a candidate's image and his actual governing style are often incredibly jarring. How does the mythic St. Barry of the Sacred Civil Liberties square with one of President Obama's real-world positions?
Obama thinks that citizens should be DNA tested upon arrest. Not conviction, not indictment...but right after the arrest. Those DNA records would then become part of a national DNA registry that could be accessed by state and federal law enforcement agencies. Pretty amazing considering the President's reputation as a civil liberties champion.
Now, one can make a rational case for a national DNA registry. Opponents of this program can come up with perfectly valid counter-arguments. The issue I have is the shifting standards of progressive outrage. What happened to the lefty thumbsuckers who constantly banged their spoons against their high-chairs wailing about President Bush's abuse of the US Constitution? Where are Chris Matthews, Jack Cafferty, Michael Moore and every other prominent media liberal on the apostasy of Obama vis-a-vis civil liberties? If the Patriot Act is a death blow to citizen's privacy rights, what does that make a national DNA registry? If George Bush was a freedom-infringing fascist, how is Barack Obama any different?
It seems pretty obvious that, like nearly every issue raised by Candidate Obama in 2008, defending civil liberties was just another campaign promise cynically used by the Democrats to get elected. Once again, it should be clear that the Donkey Party is not serious about constitutional rights except as a means to rile up the marks within their own ranks. Moreover, anybody who gets suckered in by Obambi's nonsense is a gullible fool.
PS: Thanks to the Instapundit himself for finding the original link. Gracias.
