Some perspective, please

Yes, President Obama isn't perfect. Yes, he should just close Gitmo already. Yes, it would be great if he'd act on his campaign promise of more transparency in government. But c'mon, people, he's not another George W. Bush. A quick comparison of their administrations will show this. Criticize the guy, sure, but let's not pretend it's still 2005, hear?

Comments

Steve Bates said…
Assassination of American citizens without trial, by executive order... DADT still in place... Gitmo still open, with a possibility of moving the whole thing within continental U.S. boundaries... millions of people uninsured AFTER the health care "reform" bill became law... largely ineffective response to the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history... need I go on? and do we have a problem here?

I give Obama credit for one difference from GWB, and it's a big one: Obama is more dependable on women's rights. As an old Planned Parenthood contractor, I appreciate that. But I'm waiting to see a few of those campaign promises, if not implemented, at least acted upon... hell, at least not outright reversed.

Constitutional lawyer, MFA...
10:50 AM
Kath黃rinA俊宇 said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
11:34 AM
The Truffle said…
Where did you read about the assassination of citizens? I've been following Glenn Greenwald and don't remember him writing about this.
9:07 PM
The Truffle said…
PS: Check out PoitiFact, which keeps track of Obama's promises.
9:08 PM
Steve Bates said…
Since Greenwald seems to be a source we both trust, please read his post "Presidential assassinations of U.S. citizens." By no means is this episode in January the only instance; I'll leave the finding of the rest to you and Teh Google. Obama obviously feels, as did Bush before him, that the President, acting alone, can make the determination of who is guilty of terrorism and who should die for it, without any sort of due process or trial. I disagree with him in the strongest terms: our system of justice, whether it succeeds or fails in convicting a terrorist, is of far greater significance than the conviction of any particular individual. In the case of an American citizen, there is no constitutional excuse whatsoever for omitting any aspect of due process... none.
11:53 PM
Steve Bates said…
Re: PolitiFact... I just read through a large number of the tracked promises Obama has made (I didn't make it through all the "In the Works" promises; there are simply too many for one individual in one evening) and came to the conclusion that PolitiFact is missing a very salient point: not one promise I read, zip-zero-zilch, had anything to do with restoration of a presidential commitment to civil liberties, civil rights, the propriety of trials, the separation of powers, etc. etc. Such promises are simply not there.

I have to assume that's because Obama wants to keep the powers Bush assumed through sheer executive overreach, the perverse forms of "trial" (e.g., military commissions) devised in the Bush era that practically guarantee conviction of everyone accused of terrorism, and (as noted above) the "right" of the President to order an American citizen abroad assassinated without any form of trial or other due process. I'm sorry, this is just plain wrong, and Obama's pursuit of it is egregious. It outweighs every good thing Obama has done. And this by an alleged constitutional scholar... what an utter embarrassment it is, or ought to be, for him to proceed in this way.
12:17 AM
Jolly Roger said…
No, he certainly isn't a Chimpy, but he doesn't seem to have the respect for due process that I had hoped for.

Honestly.... we either restore the rule of law in this country, or this country will be done. And it'll be sooner, rather than later.
10:36 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tell us something we don't already know

The MTA is clueless. Man, if you need a place to vent or learn the full story behind mass transit horror stories, check out Gothamist. The MTA admitted that the service was not acceptable on many accounts, from the flooding to the fact that the MTA's website was overwhelmed. Then there's also the fact that the MTA was urging people not to take the subways and opt for a bus instead, only for buses to be (A) few and far between and (B) crowded as anything. They forgot to mention "(C) fucking slow." Don't the people at the MTA feel really stupid when they say shit like this? MTA CEO Lee Sander said, "We really are sorry about the inconvenience that New Yorkers had to deal with. In terms of how it happened, we had three inches of rain in an hour. The system is designed to handle 1.5 inches." This isn't quite as appalling as last year's 9-day Queens blackout--you know, the one where Con Ed lied about the number of places without power--but it still in
Read more

We're the ones we've been waiting for, and all that

Via Blue Wave News , Van Jones' speech at the Campus Progress National Conference, which rang true to this cautiously optimistic liberal. More from Mr. Jones, via HuffPo: We are trying to build a pro-democracy movement in a country that, at least for eight years, was run by [inaudible] authoritarians. And it is not going to be easy. But I tell you, the most important thing I can say is... We feed the fearmongers. We feed the politics of division, by giving it so much attention and letting it fill up the space in our mind. We have to feed the hope. This country is an extraordinary -- I get choked up -- this is an incredible, beautiful country... That little idiot box off in the corner trying to depress you and make you feel like this is a horrible country and everybody believes evil things about the president... it is just not true. Cut it off, just cut it off and walk down the street and talk to real people in this country. They are sophisticated. They are wise. They don't kno
Read more