you must have been...high
The world is going through quite a turbulent phase right now - abroad we have the continuing violence in Pakistan and Iraq (events like these have become so frequent I'm sure a few people wonder why we even bother taking note), the US military's 600 plus death toll (and counting) in Afghanistan, the recent spate of mass murders in the US, that earthquake in Italy, not to mention the whole economy thing - okay, I'll stop. But still, there is good news. Obama delivered a great address to the Turkish Parliament that touched on the need for a large change in foreign policy with respect to the Muslim world, and very recently pledged that the time for withdrawl from Iraq has come. But I will point out that as great as these pledges and speeches may have been, only time will tell whether suitable actions will be taken to help achieve these goals.
I sincerely hope Obama can succeed in beginning to improve the world that was left behind in the wake of the Bush presidency. Last year,seeing people across the US geniunely excited and inspired by him, who worked hard to enable his historic election, that was a really positive moment for me. But even now as the rebuilding efforts are mounted, it is important that we do not become complacent, that we pay attention to what the administration is doing. Yes, I know that it is still very early into his presidency. Yes, no man is perfect. But there have been some disturbing issues lately that may not have been touched upon by the mainstream media, which I think are worth a read.
For those of you not familiar with Glenn Greenwald, he is a former consitutional litigator who now blogs and has authored several books. What I really admire about him, besides his extremely well researched and cited blog posts, is his willingness to investigate unsavory findings and his utmost effort to identify the perpetrators. What do I mean? Well, when Bush was making a mockery of the constitution and right-wing stay-at-home "warriors" were demanding more sacrifice from already exhausted US troops, and even as there were calls to address the grave issue of an aggressive, dangerous Iran (while the US was pounding Iraq), and the FBI and other federal agencies were actively breaking the law to gather information on the civilian population, Mr. Greenwald was on them like white on rice (no offense to Asians and other rice lovers). However, he has been equally critical and insightful, if not more so, about issues such as the enabling of Bush policies by Democratic senators such as California's very own Dianne Feinstein, the pitiful defense of Joe Lieberman offered up by the likes of Harry Reid, and the terrible approval ratings of the Democrat-controlled congress.
These last few months Glenn has been bringing up some very disturbing issues concering the Obama administration's continuation of Bush-era policies. These are long but I encourage you to at least skim through.
New and worse secrecy claims by the Obama Department of Justice.
Obama's "enemy combatant" policy: following a familiar pattern
America's human rights lectures to other countries
Obama fails his first test on civil liberties and accountability
The effects of Obama's refusal to investigate Bush's war crimes
Before you think I've gone off the deep end - I do not intend for you to take these as final judgments. Like I said, it is still very early and there is a lot of time to see what develops. But at the same time - I encourage you all to be at least aware of these issues. I feel that our predominant media coverage of things like Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's fashion choices (not that I have anything against the two beautiful first ladies), or whether Obama should have given the Queen something besides an iPod tend to distract us from issues with a bit more substance. We need to be critical - show tough love, if you will - towards this fledgling administration. Part of the large scorn that I noticed my left-leaning friends heap on right-wingers was their seemingly blatant disregard for widely available facts, and their sort of blind adoration of George W. Bush (at least for the first half of his Presidency). I hope that the left's admiration of Obama does not reach similar realms of worship, and that they can know when to praise, and when to call out the administration on less than stellar policies like the ones outlined above.
President Obama ran on a campaign of change, and it was a sentiment that resonated strongly with America. Now that he has been elected, those who were really passionate about change cannot become complacent and just "trust that he'll take care of it". In the Bush years the presidency gained an incredible amount of power - reaching the Nixon-esque realms of "if the president does it, it's not a crime". (I paraphrased that but I'm pretty sure it's close to the mark). Realistically speaking, one is free to believe that Obama has the best intentions and is coming into this with a pure heart. But just ask yourselves, is it okay to let the president keep outrageous powers that threaten to override the "checks and balances" system, given the assurance from others that "he won't use the power in the same way as Bush did"? Or is it better to have him completely renounce and dismantle those powers? Well, I think there's a correct answer to that question. But we'll see. We'll all do what we can, and hope for the best.
Okay I need to sleep....Writing this post was exhausting. Keep on keepin' on!
I sincerely hope Obama can succeed in beginning to improve the world that was left behind in the wake of the Bush presidency. Last year,seeing people across the US geniunely excited and inspired by him, who worked hard to enable his historic election, that was a really positive moment for me. But even now as the rebuilding efforts are mounted, it is important that we do not become complacent, that we pay attention to what the administration is doing. Yes, I know that it is still very early into his presidency. Yes, no man is perfect. But there have been some disturbing issues lately that may not have been touched upon by the mainstream media, which I think are worth a read.
For those of you not familiar with Glenn Greenwald, he is a former consitutional litigator who now blogs and has authored several books. What I really admire about him, besides his extremely well researched and cited blog posts, is his willingness to investigate unsavory findings and his utmost effort to identify the perpetrators. What do I mean? Well, when Bush was making a mockery of the constitution and right-wing stay-at-home "warriors" were demanding more sacrifice from already exhausted US troops, and even as there were calls to address the grave issue of an aggressive, dangerous Iran (while the US was pounding Iraq), and the FBI and other federal agencies were actively breaking the law to gather information on the civilian population, Mr. Greenwald was on them like white on rice (no offense to Asians and other rice lovers). However, he has been equally critical and insightful, if not more so, about issues such as the enabling of Bush policies by Democratic senators such as California's very own Dianne Feinstein, the pitiful defense of Joe Lieberman offered up by the likes of Harry Reid, and the terrible approval ratings of the Democrat-controlled congress.
These last few months Glenn has been bringing up some very disturbing issues concering the Obama administration's continuation of Bush-era policies. These are long but I encourage you to at least skim through.
New and worse secrecy claims by the Obama Department of Justice.
Obama's "enemy combatant" policy: following a familiar pattern
America's human rights lectures to other countries
Obama fails his first test on civil liberties and accountability
The effects of Obama's refusal to investigate Bush's war crimes
Before you think I've gone off the deep end - I do not intend for you to take these as final judgments. Like I said, it is still very early and there is a lot of time to see what develops. But at the same time - I encourage you all to be at least aware of these issues. I feel that our predominant media coverage of things like Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's fashion choices (not that I have anything against the two beautiful first ladies), or whether Obama should have given the Queen something besides an iPod tend to distract us from issues with a bit more substance. We need to be critical - show tough love, if you will - towards this fledgling administration. Part of the large scorn that I noticed my left-leaning friends heap on right-wingers was their seemingly blatant disregard for widely available facts, and their sort of blind adoration of George W. Bush (at least for the first half of his Presidency). I hope that the left's admiration of Obama does not reach similar realms of worship, and that they can know when to praise, and when to call out the administration on less than stellar policies like the ones outlined above.
President Obama ran on a campaign of change, and it was a sentiment that resonated strongly with America. Now that he has been elected, those who were really passionate about change cannot become complacent and just "trust that he'll take care of it". In the Bush years the presidency gained an incredible amount of power - reaching the Nixon-esque realms of "if the president does it, it's not a crime". (I paraphrased that but I'm pretty sure it's close to the mark). Realistically speaking, one is free to believe that Obama has the best intentions and is coming into this with a pure heart. But just ask yourselves, is it okay to let the president keep outrageous powers that threaten to override the "checks and balances" system, given the assurance from others that "he won't use the power in the same way as Bush did"? Or is it better to have him completely renounce and dismantle those powers? Well, I think there's a correct answer to that question. But we'll see. We'll all do what we can, and hope for the best.
Okay I need to sleep....Writing this post was exhausting. Keep on keepin' on!