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| I dont' wanna overstate the resemblence, but... |
Inevitably (I suppose), President Obama is succumbing to the gravitational pull of political reality.
On Friday, the president stated that some detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Junior Bush's off-shore torture chamber, may be detained without trial indefinitely. So much for respecting the Constitution.
In fairness, President Obama is in a tight fix with regard to these detainees due to all the f**k-ups made by the previous administration. Junior's failure to adhere to Constitutional dictates has made it very likely that, were any of these detainees to succeed in getting a trial or even a military tribunal, much of the evidence against them would be ruled inadmissible because it was attained through torture. (If you haven't yet seen it, go here and check out the video of right-wing shock jock Mancow getting a lesson in the true nature of "enhanced interrogation techniques.") Therefore, if the new administration were to now try to change the policy to be in line with habeas corpus and the right to trial inherent in the Constitution, it would face the very real possibility of being legally compelled to release some potentially extremely-dangerous individuals.
Nonetheless, maintaining the status quo seems just a bit too convenient. I didn't vote for a sunny, smiling, intelligent version of Junior Bush. I voted for change. Change is painful and difficult.
Dick Cheney has been out on all the television news outlets, trying to hem in the Obama administration by raising the stakes. "If there is another terrorist attack, it will be because the new administration didn't follow to the letter, the policies I, Big Dick, put forth," goes his argument.
Most in the media are reluctant to speculate about Cheney's motives, but I have no such compunction. I've said it before and I'll say it now: Big Dick is afraid that he may face prosecution for his crimes, and is trying to protect himself.
Republican neanderthals will, of course, continue to shriek about the dangers of President Obama's "socialism." But they can't very well complain about him continuing policies that they so vociferously defended when their toy president formulated them.
Well, they can't unless they give up all pretense of integrity. Whether or not they will is a fifty-fifty bet.
I was wondering when you were going to catch on. Obama first vilifies and then continues with the Bush line: wiretaps, email intercepts, rendition, Gitmo.
ReplyDeleteThat's the danger of "expanding" the powers of the Presidency in times of "crisis." The powers STAY "expanded" long after the "crisis" is resolved.
ReplyDeleteThis country needs another Constitutional Congress.