Change we can believe in...NOT
So, Obama has approved of warrantless wiretapping, secret prisons in Bagram (just don't call them "prisons"), denial of ALL rights to captives held in Afghanistan (but not caught in Afghanistan - which sure sounds like Gitmo to me), and an emerging consensus from Progressives thatas the EFF said "Obama DOJ's New Arguments Are Worse Than Bush's." and as Keith Olbermann said "[Obama is] seeking to expand the government's authority by making it immune from any legal challenge regarding wiretapping -- ever." See:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/13/obama/
For more on how the Bagram "encampment" is virtually identical to Bush's Gitmo (just in a different place), see:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/11/bagram/index.html
And Obama is asking for additional funding for Iraq in a manner strikingly similar to those bills he voted against, and on a withdrawal schedule roughly equivalent to McCain's schedule mentioned during the campaign:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123930740307806067.html
Oh and Obama wants to leave 50,000 troops in Iraq indefinitely, a move strikingly similar to McCain's plan (which Obama made fun of with his 100 years attacks during the campaign):
http://news.antiwar.com/2009/02/26/obama-to-leave-50000-troops-in-iraq-indefinitely/
And while the media is gleefully reporting defense "cuts", Obama is actually INCREASING the Bush defense budget by 4% (though juggling that spending around), a fact which was not lost on John Stewart at least:
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/stewarts-lampoons-defense-spending-imbroglio.php?ref=dc3
In other words, at least for much of foreign policy and civil liberties issues, Obama's "Change we can believe in" is more like "Change, in the same way Bush and McCain meant change".
I am personally pleased with some of these decisions. But, it's sure not what Obama campaigned on, and it is sure not the policies so many of Obama's supporters claimed would come into effect if Obama were elected.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/13/obama/
For more on how the Bagram "encampment" is virtually identical to Bush's Gitmo (just in a different place), see:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/11/bagram/index.html
And Obama is asking for additional funding for Iraq in a manner strikingly similar to those bills he voted against, and on a withdrawal schedule roughly equivalent to McCain's schedule mentioned during the campaign:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123930740307806067.html
Oh and Obama wants to leave 50,000 troops in Iraq indefinitely, a move strikingly similar to McCain's plan (which Obama made fun of with his 100 years attacks during the campaign):
http://news.antiwar.com/2009/02/26/obama-to-leave-50000-troops-in-iraq-indefinitely/
And while the media is gleefully reporting defense "cuts", Obama is actually INCREASING the Bush defense budget by 4% (though juggling that spending around), a fact which was not lost on John Stewart at least:
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/04/stewarts-lampoons-defense-spending-imbroglio.php?ref=dc3
In other words, at least for much of foreign policy and civil liberties issues, Obama's "Change we can believe in" is more like "Change, in the same way Bush and McCain meant change".
I am personally pleased with some of these decisions. But, it's sure not what Obama campaigned on, and it is sure not the policies so many of Obama's supporters claimed would come into effect if Obama were elected.