Posts tagged Obama
Obama Administration Takes Wrong Position on Blasphemy
Oct 7th
The Obama administration has been working closely with Egypt to introduce a resolution to the UN Human Rights Council. The resolution is, apparently, an attempt to kowtow to Muslim countries. But it does so in a deplorable manner.
The U.N. Human Rights Council approved a U.S.-backed resolution Friday deploring attacks on religions while insisting that freedom of expression remains a basic right.
The inaugural resolution sponsored by the U.S. since it joined the council in June broke a long-running deadlock between Western and Islamic countries in the wake of the publication of cartoons depicting the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.
The resolution has no effect in law but provides Muslim countries with moral ammunition the next time they feel central tenets of Islam are being ridiculed by Western politicians or media through “negative racial and religious stereotyping.”
In other words, freedom of expression is your right, as long as you don’t criticize religion. While this is not a binding law, it sets a dangerous precedent and opens the door for future administrations to support such a law. You cannot claim to be an advocate of free speech while supporting free speech restrictions. This can’t be seen as simply a means to an end. If you want to impress Muslim countries, you need to be looking for ways to do so without sacrificing the very principles enshrined in Western constitutions, the same principles Muslim governments often ruthlessly suppress. I agree wholeheartedly with Johnathon Turley.
For the leading democratic nation in the world to support such a principle of limiting free speech is an outrageous and dangerous development. It further shows the Administration’s willingness to trade principles for political gains. Congress needs to hold hearings and civil libertarians need to be heard on this new American initiative. There are various ways to appeal to Muslim nations without joining them in sacrificing free speech on the altar of religion.
So far, the Obama administration has taken one wrong turn after another regarding Human Rights. I keep expecting him to turn around and do the right thing, but it has become increasingly clear that it isn’t going to happen. Obama is proving to be full of rhetoric and short on guts. We need someone like Alan Grayson in the White House. Principles should never be sacrificed in the name of appeasement.
More Kowtowing By Democrats
Sep 6th
Given that the Democrats currently control both houses of Congress as well as the White House, and that the Republicans are currently showing no desire to contribute anything meaningful to the health care debate but are instead dead set on preventing Obama from effectively governing, you’d think that the Democrats would ignore them and get on with the business of repairing the damage wrought by 8 years of Republican rule under the Decider’s administration. You’d think they wouldn’t care a bit when Republicans call them names or demand resignations. And if that’s what you think, then, like me, you must be frequently picking your jaw up off the floor as the Democrats give one inch of ground after another to a party that supposedly has no power, no authority, and no more credibility.
The latest Republican victory comes in the form of the resignation of Obama advisor Van Jones. The problem? Jones said some mean things about Republicans and signed a petition in 2001 calling for an investigation into whether high ranking government officials allowed the 9/11 attacks to happen. This is really one of those WTF? moments. I mean, come on. Republican officials have been saying the whackiest things for years. They’ve outright lied to the American people about health care reform. They’ve made all sorts of personal attacks against prominent Democrats. Michelle Bachmann is programmed to do nothing but say dumb things about Democrats generally and Obama specifically. And who has forgotten the accusations that Obama “pals around with terrorists”? Or all of those attacks against Democrats in general for not supporting the illegal invasion of Iraq? The list is too long to recount in one blog post.
The Obama administration is turning into a freak show. Where the Bush administration rammed one misguided policy down our throats after another, abusing his power and trampling our rights, the Obama administration is failing so far to deliver the things we really need to ensure our future as a healthy nation, despite having a mandate from the voters and majority legislative power. And they still cave to Republicans over silly little tripe like this non-scandal over what Van Jones said or did a few years ago. Pathetic, really.
If Obama is going to deliver the change he promised and prove to be the savior of America, he sure is making a poor show of it so far.
Nutjobs at Play
Jul 21st
In my last post, I talked about the level of stupidity in America among conservatives. Here’s some evidence of it on video. This comes from a town hall meeting held by Republican Congressman Mike Castle of Delaware, where a bunch of whacked out birthers got loud.
We’re all in trouble if people like these, as the lady in red wants, get their country back. I hope these idiots are just a very loud minority.
The Dregs of Society
Jul 19th
The Obama birth certificate nonsense refuses to go away. This article at the ledger-enquirer discusses a lawsuit by an Army reservist that has now been joined by a retired two-star general and a reservist lt. colonel. You can read the article for the details, but it revolves around the myth that Obama is not a United States citizen and is therefore an illegitimate president.
Of more interest to me are the comments at the bottom. If ever you need to be reminded of the level of stupid, blind ignorance that pervades American society, you only need visit a web site frequented by conservatives. Reading through their comments nearly takes away any doubts about how the United States managed to get into the mess it’s in now.
How did we elect the same criminal administration to office not once, but twice? How have we allowed the realization of a system in which government officials kowtow to corporate interests at our expense? How is it that we continue to allow thousands of Americans to die every year because they can’t afford health care? I often say that the answer to these questions, and others, is that the American public is largely uninformed and, worse, uninterested. We’ve become sedentary. But comments like this make me wonder if it’s not really because Americans in general really are as dumb as they look on the internet. Some examples:
The question isn’t whether B. Hussein Obama was born in the US. We know he wasn’t. The question is how was he allowed to take office without having to show the requisite documents and how can we show that this process was circumvented.
Notice the use of B. Hussein Obama. Here we have someone simply parrotting the right-wing pundits from the last election campaign. I could be polite and say this person is simply misinformed. But, no, this person is just plain dumb. Anyone who knows that Obama is not a citizen is demonstrating a marked lack of intelligence.
Then there’s this gem.
I would do EXACTLY the same thing as these guys have done, absolutely! In light of what this stinking liberal congress is doing in tying the hands of those who “interrogate” these damn terrorists, and actually are trying to bring litigation against former Vice President Cheney and the CIA for trying to destroy our enemies, yessireebob – it’s only a matter of “CYA”!!! What’s to stop some enemy combatant from filing a lawsuit against them when the “you-know-what” hits the fan and it comes out that this empty suit filling the president’s chair is a phony and should be deported in shackles? Is Nancy Pelosi or any of the other freedom haters going to help them at that time? HELL NO!! The enemy is laughing at us like hyenas, and even holding big recruitment conferences (like the one in Chicago… oops – isn’t that Barry Hussain’s stomping ground?)! So, yeah… keep the lawsuits coming. I think every soldier in America ought to file one too! Then, maybe America will wake up!
First of all, this is a person who doesn’t understand the common usage of quotation marks to indicate irony. Second, this is just one long pile of drivel inspired, once again, by the talking points of the right-wing punditry. Another goon dumb enough to be duped.
The whole comment thread there is filled with one display of stupidity after another. I rarely visit right-wing web sites because that level of stupidity hurts my brain. But you can find it out there online, again and again, at one conservative site after another. One of the most well-known bastions of the dirt stupid is World Net Daily, affectionately known among liberals by the more appropriate moniker, World Nut Daily. If you ever wonder why Americans have gained a reputation abroad for being backwards and ignorant…
An Uninformed Public
Jul 8th
An uninformed public is its own worst enemy. The American public is grossly uninformed and our leaders know it. That’s what allowed eight years of Bush administration mismanagement. It also enabled the current financial crisis, the demonization of health care reform, the prevention of effective environmental legislation, and even the distortion of copyright law.
Remember back when the majority dismissed as conspiracy theorists and nutjobs those who screamed from the rooftops about how it was corporations running our country? You’d have to be blind and deaf, or just plain dumb, not to see now how the real nutjobs were those who dismissed them. It’s right there in front of us every day now, building in a steady crescendo since the Enron scandal. The mainstream media, itself an organ oozing corporate interests, repeatedly reminds us of the greedy financiers and the corporate-friendly politicians who looked the other way while they fleeced the country and brought about the current economic crisis. We also have front row seats to the ongoing battle between the private health insurance lobby and the handful of lawmakers who really do want to give all Americans health care.
With all of this information available at our fingertips, it is inconceivable that the American public would allow the government to get away with working against the interests of the people. Yet, that’s exactly what is happening. The same people who got us into the financial crisis are still running the show, minus the sacrificial lamb named Bernie Madoff, and it’s back to business as usual. The health insurance companies have built up an army of former government insiders to do everything in their power to protect corporate profits. Does it make any sense for people to sit idly by, while so many Americans have no health insurance and die because they can’t afford health care? Even those who do have insurance are constantly challenged for the procedures they need and often find premiums increased after a medical emergency.
If you think we have an informed public, look no further than Republican talking points. From the ignorant “Drill, Baby Drill!” mantra during the last presidential campaign, to the ridiculous reptition of “socialist” to describe Obama and his policies. People eat this nonsense up. The Republicans want to keep it that way.
It’s just not possible that all of the prominent Republicans are as mentally deficient as they appear to be. I’m quite positive Lindsey Graham isn’t as dumb as he looks. John Boehner probably isn’t really an ignorant airbag. Of course, Sara Palin and Michele Bachmann almost certainly are batshit crazy, so I don’t consider them part of the act. But working together, the actors and the real idiots largely manage to adhere to a single message. They use the same tactics again and again. Misdirection, misinformation, controlling the controversy. Repeat a lie or half-truth often enough and an uninformed public will believe it. Karl Rove and Dick Cheney proved how effective fear tactics can be.
That doesn’t mean the Democrats are angels. Far from it. Bill Maher recently put into words what many liberals were afraid to admit: that we don’t actually have a progressive party in this country. He’s right, you know. The Democrats play by different rules, to a different audience, but it’s the same game. While the Republicans present a single unified message with a unified front, the Democrats divvy it up. A number of them talk the talk, then blame their more moderate brethren for preventing them from walking the walk. The expectation is that liberals are more informed, and better educated, than conservatives. You can’t scream “Socialist! Socialist! Socialist!” at them every time they turn around and expect them to believe it. No, you’ve actually got to explain policies and give them statistics. Fear and misdirection just won’t work. Of course, if the policies actually were implemented, then the current system would crumble. We’d actually have a government working in the interest of the people. So, the so-called moderate Democrats, those who are often scathingly accused of being just right of center, play the scapegoats and allow the status quo to continue. Democratic voters remain loyal to the party, praising their liberal heroes and cursing the moderates who repeatedly spoil the fun.
Yes, I’m a disillusioned Democrat. Now that the Dems control 60 seats, I don’t expect anything to change. It is blatantly obvious that our government by the people, of the people, and for the people really is dead. And has been for quite some time. I didn’t take an interest in politics until Bush-Gore came along. Then, I realized that I am liberal through and through. And I saw the Democrats as the best hope for our future. With hindsight, I see how naive I was. I even drank the Obama Kool Aid. We all see how that’s turning out, no matter how many Obama supporters refuse to acknowledge it.
So here we are. What are we going to do about it? Nothing, apparently. We can’t even be bothered to prosecute the previous administration for torturing prisoners to death. Hell, we didn’t do a damn thing as a citizenry when the previous administration trampled all over our rights. Illegal spying, anyone? We’re letting the current administration continue some of the same policies. The architects of our financial crisis have gone unpunished. The health insurance industry is poised to win a major victory in the health care reform debate. You can bet that if there is reform, it will be watered down to the point where it will either be just as bad or some degree worse. Not only are we an uninformed public, we are an uninspired public. Though I suppose one leads to the other.
True, there have been protests regarding one issue or another over the past few years. But they were small scale. Gnats. Bloggers more influential than I have railed in post after post against some policies and in support of others. But what change have they affected? If we, as a people, really cared, we would be out in the streets en masse. We would demand that the government stop with the nonsensical games and give all Americans the right to health care, regardless of financial status. We would command our elected officials to hold accountable those in and out of government who have commited crimes, be it for the financial crisis, the misguided wars we were lied into, or the total abandoment of everything we stand for in the torture of prisoners. This is not about revenge. It’s about accountability.
The United States has lost its identity. It’s been coming for a while, always there behind the scenes throughout the twentieth century. The Bush administration managed to create a perfect storm, allowing it all to bubble up to the surface and explode. We were founded as a republic and, over the years, have adopted more democratic ideals. We were never a true democracy, nor should we ever be. Now, we aren’t even an effective republic. Coporatocracy, or even aristocracy, would be much better words to describe the state in which we exist now. Sure, you can still go from rags to riches in America. If you’re extremely lucky. The American Dream was hijacked long ago. And as the financial institutions go back to fleecing America, and the government continues to pass one law after another that ultimately favors corporations and the wealthy, despite what the polls say, ask yourself if this is ever going to change.
Go ahead. Ask. Then go back to sitting there and doing nothing about it.
Enemy of the People
May 6th
When the Patriot Act was first introduced, it had no shortage of vociferous opponents in the blogosphere. The primary concern was that the vast powers it granted federal authorities in rounding up terrorist suspects would be abused. With great power comes great responsibility, and history has shown that we can’t trust government to always be responsible. We have seen reports of many “enemy combatants” who were swept up in the fervor of the Bush Administration’s “War on Terror”, who were later found to be innocent of any wrong doing, many of them still not freed. Now, there’s a case that hits closer to home and has been publicized.
Under the authority granted by the Patriot Act, the FBI swept into a North Carolina home one night in early March and took away a suspected terrorist. He was arrested, according to the warrant, for making bomb threats in Indiana. In my personal opinion, this particular case has the potential to be yet another PR disaster for the government and, I hope, a powerful case to challenge the Patriot Act in court. The problem is that the “suspected terrorist” is a 16 year-old boy and, again under the Patriot Act, the authorities are allowing no contact with his mother and giving no information about him, other than that he is being held at a juvenile detention center in Indiana. Due process? Forget about it.
This is effectively the nightmare scenario that Bush opponents have feared for years, that the government can grab anyone they want, call him a “terrorist” or “enemy combatant”, and take him away to who knows where for who knows how long. And it’s happening on Obama’s watch.
This nation of values that I keep hearing about, the one that honors freedom and prizes human rights, seems to be turning into a legend. Remember when people actually had rights? Give it more time and that’s a question you’ll be hearing as people look back on the days of yore, before they sold their rights down the river. While the Obama administration is considering the reinstatement of military tribunals for Gitmo detainees and continuing to toe the Bush line on the State Secrets privilege in court cases, the FBI is slapping the Patriot Act on sixteen-year-olds. This is not a mindless, liberal conspiracy theory. It’s happening right now. And unless it is strongly challenged and protested, it will happen again and again over time. You can bank on it.
This is the America we live in today. Bush brought us here, but Obama isn’t doing as much as he had said he would to turn this train around. The boy’s mother summed it up accurately.
“Never in my worst nightmare did I ever think that it would be my own government that I would have to protect my children from,” Lundeby said. “This is the United States, and I feel like I live in a third world country now.”
The Dark Side of Obama’s Administration
Mar 3rd
I’ve been pumped about Obama for some time now. Watching what he has achieved since taking office and learning the plans he has laid out for the future has been inspiring. But there’s a darker side to his presidency that isn’t getting the attention it deserves. Even if the mainstream media isn’t telling us about it, at least Glenn Greenwald is on top of it.
In short, in a lawsuit against the government, begun under Bush, the Obama DOJ is taking up the extreme position established in the Bush administration that the president has broad powers under Article II of the Constitution. Specifically, in this case, the DOJ
…is literally arguing that no court has the power to order that classified documents be used in a judicial proceeding; instead, it is the President — and the President alone — who possesses that decision-making power under Article II, and no court order is binding on the President to the extent it purports to direct that such information be made available for use in a judicial proceeding.
This should not be taken lightly. Reversing the failed policies of the Bush administration is great, but continuing down the path of the imperial presidency is something that should not be tolerated. Some of the liberalati would like to give Obama the benefit of the doubt. What they need to understand is that if it was wrong for Bush to do this, it’s equally wrong for Obama to do so.
Jindal’s Rebuttal
Feb 25th
After Obama’s State of the Union speech, Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana gave the Republican rebuttal. A misnomer, that, as I didn’t actually hear him rebutting anything Obama actually said.
Most of Jindal’s speech was an attack on the stimulus bill or Democratic positions in general. He repeated the usual Republican “cut taxes” mantra as the most effective means of getting us out of the current crisis, asserting that the stimulus bill will raise taxes. Interesting comments, considering that Obama explicitly mentioned twice in his speech that 95% of Americans will get tax cuts from the recently passed stimulus package. Jindal also told his audience not to let anyone tell them that America’s best days are behind her, alluding to a comment Obama made weeks ago that the economic crisis could potentially be irreversible. Again, interesting comments considering that in Obama’s speech tonight he essentially said that our best days are ahead of us.
That was the extent of the Jindal rebuttal, rebutting points that were the opposite of what Obama said in his speech tonight. What’s worse, though, was his tone of voice. In first grade, I remember my teacher’s husband coming to school one day to talk to us about art. That’s who Jindal reminded me of tonight. He kept alternating between that talking-to-first-graders tone and an infomerical-narrator tone. Does he expect that his target audience have the mental acuity of first graders? Is he trying to tap the gullible to sell what no one really wants to buy? I’ve never heard him speak before, but if it’s always like this I dread seeing him all over the news in the prelude to the 2012 campaign.
Yeah, so this speech was based on the same old, tired Republican tactics. Making wild claims and false accusations, distorting reality, and trying to dupe as many people as possible. All while smiling and pretending to be a good ol’boy, average Joe, guy you’d like to have a beer with. Haven’t the Republicans realized that this song faded from the charts some time ago?
An Exciting Day
Jan 21st
It’s a little past 1:00 am here in Seoul as I start to type this. Normally, I’d be in bed by now. Tonight (or this morning I suppose) I’m staying up to catch Obama’s inauguration on CNN International. I don’t have any classes to teach on Wednesday mornings, but it wouldn’t stop me from staying up if I did.
This inauguration is historic not only for Obama’s skin color or the number of people there to see it. It’s historic also because we can finally say goodbye to the worst president, and the worst administration, ever to set foot in the White House. The only thing that is more exciting than welcoming Obama is saying goobye and good riddance to Bush. I’ll be flipping on CNN shortly, as I believe the swearing in begins at 11:30 am EST (0r 1:30 am KST for me).
