Obama flips Dems fail on FISA while another American stands up for principle

What an odd juxtaposition.

On the same day that Sen. Barack Obama Democrats failed to stand up for freedom and justice, when he they voted to give telecommunications companies retroactive immunity for illegal surveillance of U.S. citizens, we get word that another American did what was right -- and lost his job for his efforts.

L.F. Eason III [(left)] gave up the only job he'd ever had rather than lower a flag to honor former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms.

Eason, a 29-year veteran of the state Department of Agriculture, instructed his staff at a small Raleigh lab not to fly the U.S. or North Carolina flags at half-staff Monday, as called for in a directive to all state agencies by Gov. Mike Easley.

When a superior ordered the lab to follow the directive, Eason decided to retire rather than pay tribute to Helms. After several hours' delay, one of Eason's employees hung the flags at half-staff.

See, Sen. Obama Democrats -- it's not that hard to take a stand, even if it's an unpopular one. There may be short-term repercussions, it's true ... but I, for one, would rather lose my job than compromise my integrity. I'm glad that Mr. Eason feels the same way.

It's called a spine, Sen. Obama Democrats. Oh, how I wish you had one in this instance.

UPDATE (2:57 pm 7/9/08): Correction: apparently Sen. Obama voted to remove immunity from the bill. Still, the Dems overall caved -- including Florida's own Bill Nelson -- so I've changed the title and body of this post accordingly. I was under the impression that Obama supported immunity. I regret the error.