Obama Flap

I've noticed a couple of stories lately about the foofooraw over Obama's latest policy statements, first the marriage thing when he announced that he opposes California's anti-marriage amendment and will expand the "faith-based" initiative program (which has been nothing more than pork for holy rollers under Bush), supports tearing up the Fourth Amendment (but only temporarily, you understand), and now will "reassess" his proposed Iraq withdrawal.

This whole thing is a non-story, really, despite the glee with which the McSame camp has jumped upon it. Obama is saying, essentially, what he's always been saying. But even the hardcore Obama supporters are dismayed by this latest opportunity that Obama has given the GOP to cry "flip-flop!"

It seems to me to be pretty much as the campaign has said: he's restating positions that he's held from day one, while the press (and I include a large portion of the blogosphere in that designation), which has an increasing tendency to create the news rather than report it, is screaming "flip-flop" -- as though they hadn't collectively taken fairly nuanced policy statements and boiled them down into simplistic -- and largely inaccurate -- sound-bites to begin with.

Honestly, people: get a grip.

Not that I mean to exonerate Obama in any of this. I've not found his policy statements all that palatable on a number of issues. What was clear was that his stance would change as he found necessary. This is news exactly how? (I mean, aside from that fact that he told us he would do that.)

Update:

Digby has a related post to this that draws a bigger picture in a detailed rendering. It occurs to me that there if every possibility that Obama is aware of all of this and that it contributes some key elements to his strategy.

I remain lukewarm in my support for Obama because, while disappointing, the increasing evidence of his lack of integrity is only too expected. If anyone could have bucked the system at this point, it was him. I guess he doesn't feel like it's worth it. The pig in a poke paradigm is alive and well, as far as election promises go.