Friday, April 17, 2009

The Obama Disappointment

I know.

I know, I know, I know.

Its only been about 3 months since he took office. Give the guy a chance right? Wait for the first 100 days right? Well, unfortunately there are signs that Obama is not all that different than Bush and is prepared to continue with the many parts of the last regimes program.

  1. The Torture Memos - while admitting there was torture (finally, a good thing) he has given the torturers the Nuremburg defense. They were just following orders. So, he coninues to deny justice for the victims and protect the guilty. He seems to want to reserve the right to torture if he feels its needed too. Just like Bush.
  2. Bush and Cheney - while clearly both of these men committed war crimes (as the above Torture Memos indicate), Obama is not prosecuting. He is not investigating. There is nothing.
  3. Maher Arar - still on the no fly list, despite being proven innocent. No reasons given.
  4. Wiretapping - despite claiming it was dangerous, he voted as a Senator to keep the program going and now wishes to continue to use it.
  5. Packing the Justice Deptartment - and packing it with RIAA lawyers. RIAA LAWYERS. What on earth is THAT?
  6. Stimulus Spending - started by Bush and Obama is merely continuing it. Where is the change in that? Well except for those who attend teaparties now that a Democrat is doing it.
  7. Closing Gitmo - while this is another good thing, its been put off for a year, rather than immediate. This means, of course, that he could change his mind next December. It also says nothing of the other black prisons around the world that continue to operate.
  8. Habeas Corpus - it is still unclear, even after Gitmo being closed, whether habeas corpus still means anything in the US.
  9. Withdraw from Iraq - except its in 3 years and meanwhile most of those guys will go to Afghanistan. So how exactly is this a withdraw from Iraq? Why haven't the permanent bases been closed?
All of these were obvious abuses and wrongs from 8 years of the Bush presidency. To my civil libertarian mind, there is no reason to go slow on any of these. My hope, despite being an anrachist who despised all government, that at least Obama would be principled enough to right these wrongs, even while I fully expected him to screw up economically. If I were still and NDP member, almost everything in that list would still disappoint me.

Well clearly I am wrong.

The only conclusion I can come to is that once he obtained the power that Bush and Cheney wrought - the power to ignore the US Constitution at will, the power to hold people without trial and the power to torture if desired. This is change?

Meet the New Boss, same as the old boss.

Update:



Its getting worse and worse.

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13 Comments:

At 7:18 PM, Blogger ttsky said...

Wow! After 9-11, all those terrorist bomb treats – searching bags, backpacks on subways seemed reasonable, but now going into our computers without reasonable cause NO WAY!

Pre-election - remember the promise that as a President Obama will "Immediately begin to remove our combat troops". “Immediately” he said numerous times, now post-election “immediately” became 16, 19, and 24 months, and now the date is Dec. 31, 2011 – Hey that’s G W Bush withdrawal date. And now more troops to Afghanistan.

I don’t understand how this guy can say one thing and do completely opposite, and still have such a strong support of so many intelligent people. “The White House is for the people” c’mon are you kidding me?

 
At 1:17 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

amen to that.

 
At 11:19 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Amen indeed.

Alas.

 
At 3:51 AM, Blogger Richard L Walker said...

Nailed it on the head. Here I am a flaming liberal who thought the guy would at least "try" to do what he promised instead of caving to whatever the Republicans have been doing. Makes me believe there is more than conspiracy with that "Yale secret society" stuff. Obama may not be in the skull and bones ... but he is certainly following the dictates of other Yale folks and doing NOTHING he promised.

 
At 2:52 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

You sound surprised that Obama has betrayed his base. Why? You knew he would. He's a Democratic hack.

When will you silly "liberal Democrats" finally get it? Your party shall NOT embrace a progressive agenda. Not now. Not ever

The Democratic Party had a once in a lifetime opportunity for real political alignment. Instead, the Huns are once again poised to take both Houses of Congress back

How many times must this party betray you folks before you realize how beating your head against a wall actually bloodies it?

 
At 10:35 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Obama is a let down he really is, such a pity, I was hoping it would all turn out better than what it has so far.

For a month or two it seemed he was going to be a good President but then came the Guantanamo Bay subject, he said he would close it immediately but it didn't happen

Then his Presidency seems to have got bogged down in the quagmire of healthcare.

Then he got the Nobel Peace Prize which was a shock.

I feel sorry now for the people who cried on election night, who thought he was really going to chance things, they must feel so let down. He hasn't changed anything really.

 
At 3:32 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

and as 2010 begins, the disappointment continues because we need real change, we voted for what he promised, disappointing to see that we were used, my struggle is to try and not let that disappointment turn into apathy, kucinich? sanders? franken? show us some hope

 
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