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You’d think with a title like that, this article would be spent criticizing the president, but to be honest, through pissing off his base, Obama has demonstrated a degree of political courage not demonstrated since Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon.
Obama’s alienation of the left is nothing new. However, deciding to put 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed on trial at Gitmo certainly is. Attorney General Eric Holder got the rabble-rousers going in 2009 when he said Mohammed would face a civilian trial in Lower Manhattan, mere blocks from Ground Zero. Now it seems like Obama has some George W. nostalgia because Mohammed and his co-conspirators are being put through military tribunals at America’s most infamous gulag.
Opponents of military tribunals have argued that they are held in cases where there is not enough evidence to convict a defendant. Supporters have suggested that civilian trials of high-risk suspects present a danger to national security.
For the formally “Hopeful” Obama supporters, this is just another case of the president going back on campaign promises. During his inaugural address, Obama said our nation does not have to choose between our security and our ideals, and on his first day in office, pledged to close Gitmo within a year. He didn’t.
Obama said he was going to clean up Wall Street. But his new Chief of Staff, William Daley, recently served on the Executive Committee at JP Morgan Chase & Co. The financial reform bill the Senate passed is a practical joke on the American taxpayer and Obama signed on the dotted line.
His administration is filled with former lobbyists, which goes back on another campaign promise he made to America.
Every president breaks his promises, but with Obama, people feel particularly burnt. What his critics on the left and right fail to realize is it takes courage for a first term democrat to alienate the left.
The decision to try Mohammad at Gitmo was announced the same day as the Presidents re-election campaign and he could have done without the bad press. His decision to reverse a campaign pledge implies a greater understanding of a complicated situation, and a willingness to implement policy with disregard for his popularity. That’s usually the type of thing a president does after he has been re-elected.
The public was against Ford’s decision to pardon Nixon, but history has commended a tough decision that allowed America to move past Watergate. It is the opinion of the editorial staff at Andrewbruss.com that Obama’s decision to keep Gitmo open and implement military tribunals will be treated with the same understanding.
I could care less how terrorists are put to trial or where on this earth they are tortured. Hiring former wall street executives and lobbyists to serve on his staff is far more infuriating in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThe Gitmo thing is just a good distraction from the real problems he hasn't solved.