While I am impressed with President Obama I am hardly known as a major cheerleader for the President and routinely caution against hero worshiping this man.
There are a number of topics I would like to address in one diary all dealing with the President and the Democrats.
Let's begin below.
1, Concern #1 is the recent uproar about the assassination program that is targeting a US born man on terrorism charges with no apparent due process save gun barrel justice. Story here Like some here I am opposed to extrajudicial killings due to the chance of getting the wrong guy. We are damn good at getting the wrong guy! I can understand Pubbies and other similar totalitarian goofs claiming the President is not going far enough for I am sure the Pubbies and cons would love to turn deadly force upon their critics here at home, the Saturday Hatemail monkeyshines tell us that much. But the issues raised by Glenn Greenwald are more than valid, they are worrisome. good videos.
2, Concern #2 is the Afghanistan Trap that our President has fallen into. My views about Afghanistan are well known; I consider it a fool's errand like Iraq is and has been. As a reader of Commander Jeff Huber, his recent posts about General Ray Odierno and the Iraq Follies plus his most recent blast at General McChrystal deserve to be pondered. Our President has to power at the stroke of a pen to stop this insane money drainage...at the stroke of a pen it can be OVER. But, is the politics of pre-2012 at work in keeping the troops there? As long as Obama plays war whooper there is no political attack possible from the less delusional right. "Blood" politics is Nixonian, and not so good for America as history lets us know. I wonder. Is 2012 positioning at work here? Listen also to Dahr Jamail talking with Scott Horton
3, Concern #3 is a feeling shared by Steve Soto about Obama and the Dawn Johnson mess.
George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld covered up that hundreds of innocent men were sent to the Guantánamo Bay prison camp because they feared that releasing them would harm the push for war in Iraq and the broader War on Terror, according to a new document obtained by The Times.
Surprised? Not me. Will Obama do anything about it? Nope. There's a reason why Dawn Johnsen isn't already seated as head of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department today, after a tough but principled fight to run over the GOP and get her confirmed: Obama likes the executive power toolshed that Dick Cheney built for him.
Once coming into office, and seeing the challenges that face a chief executive in running two wars and making sure no one ran from his right on national security, he moved away from principles and the clarity that a Dawn Johnsen would provide. What Obama fails to recognize is that any GOP successor will have no hesitation in tripping over their own hypocrisy from the Bush years to investigate and subpoena Obama's actions.
This is bothering me. For as we go into the 2010 election cycle, unless Obama starts showing his principles and stands, Democrats are going to unduly suffer reversals at the polls. Obama's refusal to set points that are non-negotiable looks to an easily distracted public eye, as unprincipled, especially to detractors, and having to explain that one away is something no Democratic field worker should have to do. Trust me, I spent the 1996 re-election campaign explaining away all manner of media mumbo-jumbo.
4, But worse than #3 is #4, the economy. And this is where things must change with quick speed, for this is scary to me because I can see it used to batter us in November as we battered George HW Bush in 1992. I will leave it up to the reader/viewer to ponder Susie Madrak's posting at Crooks and Liars but I would not dismiss this too quickly. the international economy is shaky and so are we.
I want to see less than 100 Republicans sitting in the next Congress, and unless somebody starts delivering to THE PEOPLE and not just to the banksters, and the plutocrats, and the oil gougers, yes, the People, we Democrats are going to have a lot of frustration on our hands.
Thank you for reading this. Now, adopt and spay/neuter a cat and treat it well! You will have the best quiet companion you ever had, unless you get a Siamese, they can be talkative.
Good night everyone.
Finally- A- Little- Mood- Music. Stuff I like. considering the weight of the material just discussed such music might seem out of place. But, I try to remain upbeat.