Where does Barack Obama really stand?

I believe the term "flip-flop" was meant to describe a political position that does a turnabout without any change in the pertinent facts and was first applied to the political positions of Senator John Kerry in 2004.
 
Early in the primaries Senator Barack Obama voiced opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). While he was publicly touting this position members of his staff were privately telling Canadians that he was just posturing and nothing would come of his public positions. Thanks to the Canadian honesty this was brought to everyone's attention.
 
At least two questionnaires stating his opposition to guns have come to light. Obama states a staffer inaccurately completed the forms, regardless of the fact that one of the papers even has notes in his writing on it. He publicly supported the Chicago anti-gun laws, and has been quoted that the Washington, D.C. gun ban was a good thing. The Supreme Court of the United States overturned the D.C. law and Obama now says that was the right ruling. Apparently someone advised lawyer Obama of the existence of the Second Amendment.
 
Obama said he would filibuster any version of the new Foreign Intelligence Security Act (FISA) that contained retroactive protection for the telecom companies. He voted for the bill (including the retroactive telecom protection) instead of filibustering. Of course it was the right thing to do, but what happened to his prior position? Nothing of importance changed.
 
Obama states that he was against the Iraq war from the beginning. Anything he said prior to being elected to the Senate is mute, as he had no say in the matter anyway. He ascribed to the position that the war was lost even as the surge showed significant progress. Now that it is finally becoming common knowledge that we are being successful (no thanks to the media), he has decided that withdrawal would be determined after consulting with the military commanders. Wonder what ever happened to his "on the 21st of January I will meet with the Joint Chiefs and give them a new mission"?
 
Obama has stated that Iran was not a serious threat. Now, all of a sudden, Iran is a "grave threat." Obama has stated he would meet with enemies such as Iran without pre-conditions. Now he will meet after certain preparations are made. I guess preparations are different from pre-conditions. Here again, no significant changes have been made.
 
You can call these position changes flip-flops, enlightenment or just plain evolving positions of the "change" candidate. I, for one, just want to know where he stands.
 
As of now, he is just another typical Chicago politician saying whatever he needs to get elected and no one, including his staff, has any idea just where he stands on important issues. Any of his supporters that I've listened to or talked with can only spout talking points.


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LARRY MINIUM
Yuma