Site Presented By
Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
While I am very happy to be able to say "President Elect Barack Obama" I also voted for him with my feet firmly planted on the earth. There has been nothing in his proposed policies and voting record to indicate that he represents the kind of change that his soaring rhetoric promised. There is a very real disconnect between his words and his actions.
This is not necessarily a bad thing in all issues, but it does portend that there will be some diminishment of the Obama brand as he moves forward with his presidency.
The issues where this is particularly true are in terms of civil liberties (FISA vote for example), health coverage (lack of strong movement toward universal and portable coverage), Israel, and a few other areas.
By contrast, the areas where Obama does seem capable of real change from the past eight years--I am taking pains to not include the B. Clinton years--is in foreign policy in general, which will be more multilateral and in the economy, which will be less neocon/libertarian and more in the vein of realistic and pragmatic regulation.
I except the B. Clinton years because despite running a primary campaign that claimed Clinton to be among the failed legacy of the Washington elite and establishment--Obama's policies in the areas of foreign affairs and the economy, campaign strategy, and actions are almost exactly the same as those of Clinton circa 1992. Yet another example of where his rhetoric does not match his actions.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
