[Peace-discuss] Greenwald on Obama

[John W.]

On Mon, Jan 12, 2009 at 4:52 PM, E. Wayne Johnson <ewj at pigs.ag> wrote:

C. G. Estabrook wrote:
>

>  What are you compelled to, by this?
>
>
>>  compassion.


For whom, and under what conditions, Wayne?  Or is your answer merely the
generic Christian one of compassion for all humans at all times under all
circumstances?

How, for example, does this "compassion" of yours inform your attitude
toward the prosecution of war criminals and corporate criminals who in the
name of greed undermine our social fabric and despoil our environment?  How
specifically does it influence your attitude toward societal (i.e.,
governmental) assistance to the poor, the disabled, the disenfranchised
among us?  How does it affect your own stewardship of the earth on which you
temporarily dwell?

John Wason




> "...Obama's ... devotion, first and foremost, to perpetuating rather than
>> challenging how the Washington establishment functions...
>>
>> "...Obama ... stated that he will not close Guantanamo in the first 100
>> days of his presidency ... [and that we] 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.
>>
>> "...Obama ... does not want to pursue prosecutions for high-level
>> lawbreakers in the Bush administration...
>>
>> "...Obama ... 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>
>>
>>
>> Brussel wrote:
>
>
>>  Glen Greenwald notes, compellingly,
>>>
>>> …I've been saying since the election that it makes little sense to try to
>>> guess what Obama is going to do until he actually does it.   That's
>>> especially true now, since we'll all have the actual evidence very shortly,
>>> and trying to guess by divining the predictive meaning of his
>>> appointments or
>>> prior statements seems fruitless.  Moreover, anonymous reports about what
>>> Obama is "likely" to do are particularly unreliable. I still believe
>>> that,
>>> but 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.
>>>
>>> As Talk Left's Jeralyn Merritt documents, 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 (in response to Stephanopoulos' asking him about the
>>> number one highest-voted question on Change.gov, first submitted by Bob
>>> Fertik) 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.
>>>
>>> In fairness, Obama has long made clear that this is the approach he
>>> intends
>>> to take to governing.  After all, this is someone who, upon arriving in
>>> the
>>> Senate, sought out Joe Lieberman as his mentor, supported Lieberman over
>>> Ned
>>> Lamont in the primary, campaigned for Blue Dogs against progressive
>>> challengers, and has long paid homage to the Beltway centrism and
>>> post-partisan religion.  And 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.
>>>
>>> So Obama can't be fairly criticized for hiding his devotion to this
>>> approach.
>>> But whatever else one wants to say about it, one cannot call it "new."
>>>  This
>>> is what Democrats have been told for decades they must do and they've
>>> spent
>>> decades enthusiastically complying.
>>>
>>>
>>> (c) 2009 Salon.com
>>>
>>> Glenn Greenwald was previously a constitutional law and civil rights
>>> litigator in New York. He is the author of the New York Times Bestselling
>>> book "How Would a Patriot Act?," a critique of the Bush administration's
>>> use
>>> of executive power, released in May 2006. His second book, "A Tragic
>>> Legacy",
>>> examines the Bush legacy.
>>
>>
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