I question this appointment based on Rahm's record. Kagro X :
here.
There are a couple different ways to evaluate this, of course. Rahm gets mixed reviews around here, to put it mildly, on his record as a member of the House leadership. We know he's a rough-and-tumble type, but he's also shown us a cautious side, as when he resisted for many months in giving his assent to the move to bring contempt of Congress votes against Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten to the House floor.
Not much here, but want to use this to promote Jerome a Paris diary yesterday.
Not to rain on our parade, but our reality based community needs to keep a clear focus.
Daily Kos Obama, the past and the present
But other things cannot simply repaired so easily. The rule of law was broken repeatedly, both in the USA and outside it, with no apparent consequences. The trust in America as a benevolent actor on the world stage, already tenuous at times, is now irredeemably destroyed, and will not come back simply because Obama is the new president. America is now irreversibly the country that had torture as official policy. It is the country that has invaded other countries on false pretenses, against the rules agreed in the UN and against the wish of major allies. It is the country that only accepted as friends those countries that agree with it, and demonised those that did not. It is the country of Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, FISA, ignored subpoenas, etc...
Stopping all of this, as is most likely to happen, is a good thing, will not undo what has been done.
Changing the present requires new policies, and there is a decent chance we'll get them. Dealing with the past requires justice and atonement, and I have no idea if we'll get that. But it will also be part of whether Obama is a good president or not, ultimately, even if it seems less urgent than dealing with the economy, healthcare or Iraq.
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