[Peace-discuss] Jerk

[C. G. Estabrook]

...Obama's interview today with George Stephanopoulos provides the most
compelling -- and most alarming -- evidence yet that all of the "centrist" and
"post-partisan" chatter from Obama's supporters will mean what it typically
means:  devotion, first and foremost, to perpetuating rather than challenging
how the Washington establishment functions.

...Obama today rather clearly stated that he will not close Guantanamo in the
first 100 days of his presidency.  He recited the standard Jack
Goldsmith/Brookings Institution condescending excuse that closing Guantanamo is
"more difficult than people realize."  Specifically, Obama argued, we cannot
release detainees whom we're unable to convict in a court of law because the
evidence against them is "tainted" as a result of our having tortured them, and
therefore need some new system -- most likely a so-called new "national security
court" -- that "relaxes" due process safeguards so that we can continue to
imprison people indefinitely even though we're unable to obtain an actual
conviction in an actual court of law.

Worst of all, Obama ... all but said that he does not want to pursue
prosecutions for high-level lawbreakers in the Bush administration, twice
repeating the standard Beltway mantra that "we need to look forward as opposed
to looking backwards" and "my instinct is for us to focus on how do we make sure
that moving forward we are doing the right thing."  Obama didn't categorically
rule out prosecutions -- he paid passing lip service to the pretty idea that
"nobody is above the law," implied Eric Holder would have some role in making
these decisions, and said "we're going to be looking at past practices" -- but
he clearly intended to convey his emphatic view that he opposes "past-looking"
investigations.  In the U.S., high political officials aren't investigated, let
alone held accountable, for lawbreaking, and that is rather clearly something
Obama has no intention of changing.

...Obama has long made clear that this is the approach he intends to take to
governing ... you can't very well place someone in a high-ranking position who
explicitly advocates rendition and enhanced interrogation tactics and then
simultaneously lead the way in criminally investigating those who authorized
those same tactics...

--Glenn Greenwald
<http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/11-11>