Below is an email in response to one I got last night from an acquaintance. It was an invitation to a political event. Realized this a.m. this is as good a post as any that will come out of me today...I've adjusted it to make it anonymous.
Dear XX,
I think the world of you and xxxxx. I am clearly out of step with many xxxx. Not a problem in itself. I feel no deep need to be in agreement with a majority. But being so opinionated and being a person who can rarely hold my tongue - there came a moment when I realized there was no need to cause discomfort for myself or others. Having said that, I read your letter today with interest....I must take strong issue with this:
"...the moral and spiritual profundity of Barack Obama's thinking. I am finding his leadership to be nothing short of transformative for our country and for the world. We must encourage President Obama to stay the course on some of today's toughest moral issues, making sure that in the face of fierce resistance, that he knows that we will support all courageous efforts to promote the well being, justice, and dignity of every human being."
Nothing could be further from the truth in my mind.
The Obama Justice department's recent defense of DOMA is degrading, immoral and diametrically opposed to every progressive...value. There is no "profound" thinking here. There is little evidence of "thinking" at all. Obama most likely had no legal obligation to defend DOMA - but even if he did- his Justice Department's use of incest and child abuse is gross beyond all reason. It flies directly in the face of his repeated promises on DOMA last year. Sadly, it is only one example of his saying one thing and doing another.
My distrust and dislike of Obama is known to many so my opinion may not carry much weight. I have to often discovered that Obama is the opposite of what he professes to be and my deep distrust of him has grown exponentially over time. But it is not based in blind anger. It is based in research. Be that as it may:
David Mixner's response to the sickening Justice Department brief is clear and to the point.
Mr. Obama's late signing of benefits for same sex partners in the federal government, while welcome, was largely redundant and did not include health benefits. Making it mostly a joke and a photo op to assuage some powerful and enraged gay Democratic donors. It did not. Nor has there been any political capital expended by Mr. Obama on this issue. Obama has punted on both DOMA and DADT. We are told to "wait" just as Dr. King was told to wait. I see every reason to support the courageous efforts of those working for justice and dignity. But I am baffled by the ongoing belief that Obama represents any real change. He does not. His actions thus far indicate an annoyance with and dislike of one of his core constituencies: Gay Americans. Though, a simple executive order to review DADT and slow it down is perfectly legal and within his power, he has not done it. Gay service members continue to be hounded out of the military. Oddest of all: over 60% of Americans now oppose DADT. Over 72% of service members stated in a recent poll that they had no issue with gays serving openly. There is little downside here for the President. There does seem to be one thing however - cowardice.
On closing Gitmo the President is wavering as I write. Of those who are held there, a full 75% will never get a trial according to Eric Holder. And many will be held in "indefinite detention" which is unconstitutional, against international law, and xxxx on its face. Obama will use the military tribunal to try some prisoners - which extends Bush policy.
He has expanded the "drone" war in Pakistan killing over 300 civilians so far by most counts - doubling Bush's fatality rate. This after a surge of 20,000 more troops into Afghanistan.
FISA not only still allows the unconstitutional invasion of privacy of Americans it has been endorsed and continued by Obama. How can this "change" be called change at all? Not long ago many of us on the Left were calling for the impeachment and removal of the previous President because of this very issue.
As for torture, there is little discernible difference to the one being tortured if it is done by Americans or by a foreign national after one is rendered overseas. Rendition is still American policy. It is Obama's policy. Outsourcing torture is not leadership. It is morally repellant. Further, Obama has flip flopped on being transparent on previous torture by the American Government using the exact same reasoning as George W Bush and Richard Cheney - and is now litigating against the ACLU.
(also- The lies told about NAFTA by Obama's team versus the current embrace of NAFTA - that he railed against disingenuously are well documented.)
Chris Hedges has been clear and principled on many of these issues
I hope xxxxxx will address these inconsistency's regarding Obama and xxxx. Though, there are many more issues that need discussion regarding the current administration.
The election of a biracial President in this country given its history is a cause for celebration. It does not excuse him from leading on the principles many believed he represented. Nor should it stop us from seeing clearly and holding fast to our values.
Sincerely,
John SmartLabels: delusions, kool aid
Andrew Sullivan's piece called The Fierce Urgency Of Whenever about gay rights is a good jumping off point for tonight. In it he states: ...I have a sickeningly familiar feeling in my stomach, and the feeling deepens with every interaction with the Obama team on these issues. They want them to go away. They want us to go away.
His piece is largely personal and about HIV, not gay rights (Though there are, of course, intertwined, they should not be taken as one and the same.) I have no desire to write a broadside about Sullivan and HIV. The appropriate response to that is, as always, compassion.
However, it causes a bottomless pit of fascination for me that so many people fell for Obama. And fall they did. Flat on their backs. Flattened on their backs is more like it. My distress and revulsion is still palpable.
I've done my time on campaigns over the years: Ted Kennedy, McGovern, Mondale, Brown, Jesse Jackson, Harkin, Clinton, Clinton, Gore, Kerry, Clinton...and in all those campaigns the level of self congratulatory delusion never came close to what was evident in Obama's campaign. Obama in the eyes of those who supported him was not a candidate at all - but a seer, a Messiah, an answer to everything from Gay Rights to bunions. As last year wore on - and into 2009 - oozing smugness became the order of the day. Regardless of all evidence to the contrary - and though that evidence was downplayed anyone with a computer could have found it - the Obama fanatics ignored and dismissed it. Have we ever seen so many people willingly blind themselves?
Every time I volunteered I had hope and purpose. Like all who volunteer I had a belief in the process, a desire to be a part of something bigger, and a faith, of sorts, in the candidate. However, rarely did I have or detect a sense in anyone else that they thought the candidate was anything but a person. Bill Clinton remains the most gifted speaker we've seen in my lifetime. I admit to occasional moments of being so moved by him that he appeared to be something other than a politician. It never lasted. I knew Bill Clinton was a moderate and would behave as such. And chose to volunteer anyway.
The faith the Obama people put in Obama was of a different stripe. It was religious. Which is to say it was willfully blind. The candidate himself really did not matter to them- and he knew it. What they were projecting mattered.
Now, I suspect that many progressives internally exited the Obama Exultation Express when he chose an economic team straight out of Wall Street. But their egos can't come "out of the closet" just yet. So excuses and half baked criticisms are all that can be mustered. "At least he's not McCain or Bush" is the order of the day. Even that excuse has jumped the shark. With each passing compromise and avoidance by Team Obama this too becomes moot.
Instead of reflexively resting on what they believe he's "better than", realistic Obama supporters should be asking - What exactly is the difference between McCain, Bush, and Obama? The answer, so far, is not much. As I stated before, the interference in Detroit probably would not have happened with a President McCain. But even there, the result will be the same: Bankruptcy for Chrysler and GM. The gag rule being rescinded is another instance of sure difference. Still that rule comes and goes every time the parties switch off.
I know much of my audience here is more conservative than me. That's fine. I appreciate it, in fact. Still watching so many "liberals" lop off there common sense for over a year is - at the very least - compelling reading. Did Sullivan actually believe BHO would be a strong proponent of Gay rights? Did John Avarosis? I love calling them dunderheads. but they aren't and I know it. How could Sullivan remain a cheerleader for so long? How did Avarosis get sucker punched into selling his soul?
Huffington and Cheetos man are a different breed. Neither are willing to think outside the box or question their current assumptions. Their arrogance is too thick. Obama merely accentuated their constricted thinking and gave them an excuse to continue bashing Clinton -any Clinton. Obama was the perfect candidate for them- especially for the fad following Huffington. I have no doubt that once Obama sinks below 50% she will turn. She is already prepping her crowd - attacking everyone in the Obama Admin - except Obama.
It actually saddens me a bit to see Sullivan's disappointment in Obama's gay rights cowardice. Like seeing a kid who just found out Santa Clause doesn't exist.
But my patience is short. He was cold blooded and mean last year and has not earned anything but a smidgen of compassion because he realized too late that his God has clay feet on issues closest to his life. Again the issue is not supporting Obama - it is supporting Obama blindly. Not questioning. Not holding up the basic tenant of being intelligent and engaged: Question everything and everyone - even those you intend to vote for. Sullivan and Avarosis have no right to be disappointed in Obama. Both men have a large audience and a platform that could have been used to educate. They could have questioned what happened at the DNC meeting last May. They could have - at least - wondered why Obama was so secretive about his academic record. They opted for cheer leading, mudslinging and gleeful, vicious attacks on Palin.
Sullivan in not a progressive but he's become a defacto member of the Left's intelligentsia with his adoration of Obama. And yes, Andrew, Barry does want you to go away. He wants Code Pink and Move On and anyone who believed he would shake up the elite to GO AWAY. You were used by a man who uses people and throws them overboard as a lifestyle. You should have seen this coming, Andrew.
The rest of us did.Labels: andrew sullivan, Arianna Huffington, Barrack Obama, delusions, gay rights, john avarosis
Oh how I'd like to shove this headline into the face of a Pod with "war is not the answer" and Obama/Hope bumper stickers flanking their prius..pulling out of the Whole Foods....texting the college professor they used to sleep with about how "cool" Obama is...
President Obama 'orders Pakistan drone attacks'
14 dead.
Good lord, even Bush waited nine months to order a military engagement. Day 3 Obama orders an attack on Pakistan's territory. Sure we've been doing it for a while. But...President Sunshine was supposed to be about PEACE and LOVE and HOPE... and blah blah blah....
Obama is not ending the wars, he is moving them, and expanding at least one. So Sorry, Move on/Code Pink idiots, after you sober up, and stop slashing at your wrists, please feel free to come back to reality.... Labels: attack, Barack Obama, delusions, pakistan
|
|
