I don’t see how anyone who confronts Obama’s record with clear eyes can enthusiastically support him. I do understand how they might concluded that he is the lesser of two evils, and back him reluctantly, but I’d have thought more people on the left would regard a sustained assault on civil liberties and the ongoing, needless killing of innocent kids as deal-breakers.
I find Obama likable when I see him on TV. He is a caring husband and father, a thoughtful speaker, and possessed of an inspirational biography. On stage, as he smiles into the camera, using words to evoke some of the best sentiments within us, it’s hard to believe certain facts about him:
- Obama terrorizes innocent Pakistanis on an almost daily basis. The drone war he is waging in North Waziristan isn’t “precise” or “surgical” as he would have Americans believe. It kills hundreds of innocents, including children. And for thousands of more innocents who live in the targeted communities, the drone war makes their lives into a nightmare worthy of dystopian novels. People are always afraid. Women cower in their homes. Children are kept out of school. The stress they endure gives them psychiatric disorders. Men are driven crazy by an inability to sleep as drones buzz overhead 24 hours a day, a deadly strike possible at any moment. At worst, this policy creates more terrorists than it kills; at best, America is ruining the lives of thousands of innocent people and killing hundreds of innocents for a small increase in safety from terrorists. It is a cowardly, immoral, and illegal policy, deliberately cloaked in opportunistic secrecy. And Democrats who believe that it is the most moral of all responsible policy alternatives are as misinformed and blinded by partisanship as any conservative ideologue.
- Obama established one of the most reckless precedents imaginable: that any president can secretly order and oversee the extrajudicial killing of American citizens. Obama’s kill list transgresses against the Constitution as egregiously as anything George W. Bush ever did. It is as radical an invocation of executive power as anything Dick Cheney championed. The fact that the Democrats rebelled against those men before enthusiastically supporting Obama is hackery every bit as blatant and shameful as anything any talk radio host has done.
- Contrary to his own previously stated understanding of what the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution demand, President Obama committed U.S. forces to war in Libya without Congressional approval, despite the lack of anything like an imminent threat to national security.
I’m so surprised that The Atlantic published this. Wow. Whether you agree or not, you have to give this magazine props for publishing this opinion. Please read the entire article.
170 notes
-
thatmoosewilleatyourbrain likes this
-
idealistsconundrum likes this
-
bonjournikkii likes this
-
louvwxyz likes this
-
keeponknocking likes this
-
beauty-fades-like-a-flower reblogged this from ummatii
-
lilyjoon likes this
-
america-wakiewakie likes this
-
theres-a-cello-in-your-house-now likes this
-
glasscase-ofemotion likes this
-
sinidentidades likes this
-
zanjir likes this
-
velvetvessel likes this
-
lovehopeandpray likes this
-
putorraider likes this
-
nothingworthknowingcanbetaught likes this
-
beardsandankles likes this
-
nubianbrothaz likes this
-
umph reblogged this from oohhcomely
-
kaarmasmybitch likes this
-
boompanda likes this
-
oohhcomely likes this
-
oludxra likes this
-
derczar likes this
-
carmelotheog likes this
-
hairspraysuppository likes this
-
fromstarstostarfish likes this
-
quietly-creeping reblogged this from mochente and added:
This is why I side-eye the fuck out of everyone that’s so in love with Obama. The lesser of two evils, yes, but never...
-
pfowolf likes this
-
thepeacefulterrorist likes this
-
dailydescent reblogged this from mochente
-
gravity-rainbow likes this
-
mochente reblogged this from simply-war
-
halfahole likes this
-
iamthesoviet reblogged this from goldennoosefortwo and added:
Unfortunately, we are forced to choose between the lesser of two evils. There is really no other way. That’s why i say,...
-
youhadmeatwhiskey reblogged this from atomicxbrain
-
youhadmeatwhiskey likes this
-
goldennoosefortwo reblogged this from atomicxbrain
-
atomicxbrain reblogged this from simply-war
-
ancientcity likes this
-
pulchris likes this
-
beauty-and-the-queef likes this
-
mostlyjudson reblogged this from chrismendezonomics and added:
Not voting for either person. Neither one appeals to me…
-
uglyontheskin likes this
-
disobey-the-system reblogged this from simply-war
-
davetheamerican likes this
-
greenlexluthor likes this
-
taytaygangordie reblogged this from partyfoulll
- Show more notes
