And It Came to Pass in the Age of Obama
Posted by: BeMindful on: June 29, 2009
cross-posted at Katalusis
In the months following 9/11, George W. Bush squandered soaring personal popularity as president both at home and abroad by pursuing policies in the name of national security that compromised the constitutional rights of Americans and alienated international allies.
Candidate Barack Obama accused John McCain of representing a third Bush term. Since Obama’s inauguration as president, however, his Bushian decisions have continually dismayed his devout supporters, while the rest of us can only shake our heads as we watch a rerun of a popular president leading the country down the same disastrous road.
The fact that Obama, a non-tenured track lecturer, padded his thin resume by claiming to have been a constitutional law professor ought to have alerted the electorate. But those were the days of Obama-luv when even the more staid types spoke in hallowed terms of “the age of Obama,” as if we were anointing a pharaoh or king instead of electing a president.
Martin Garbus, trial lawyer and author of six books on constitutional law, summarizes at Huffpo what has come to pass in the age of the faux professor:
Denying the public information, rejecting the public’s free speech “right to know” has become a pattern of this administration. Obama has become radical in his commitment to secrecy, not totally unlike the Bush administration.
Late Friday, June 26, 2009:
1. Obama announced a plan to draft laws to detain terror suspects indefinitely.
2. Obama announced it would be done by exec order so as to bypass Congress. The Washington Post article which caught the events was entitled “Executive order of detainees would sidestep Congress.”
3. Obama’s Attorney General told a federal judge that the suit by the families of the four detainees who committed suicide at the Guantanamo Bay prison should be dismissed because the issue is “fraught with political and military concerns” and Cheney, the government lawyers and the others have immunity from prosecution.
4. Obama’s Attorney General again delayed release of a 2004 CIA report which paved the way for detainee waterboarding, sleep deprivation and physical abuse. An extraordinary article by Luke Mitchell in this month’s Harper’s Magazine shows we are continuing that torture.
5. Obama’s Attorney General delayed, again, turning over 35 Bush Era defense documents to Judge William K. Hellerstein, a New York federal judge on a suit filed by the ACLU.
Garbus concludes:
Hasn’t he learned.
We see the similarities between the two administrations; similarities Obama promised us we would never see.
The First Amendment requires the government to be transparent. It requires the people be told exactly what the government is doing in their name. That is what democracy is about.
Obama’s attempt at secrecy, continued torture and repression of speech must be stopped.
This reader’s comment following Garbus’ post would be funny it were not so pathetically tragic:
Lochmon
For the first few months, I thought Obama was playing third-dimensional chess, or stalling for time, or something….
Now I no longer believe he means what he says regarding transparency. His stated preference to “look forward, not back” regarding the constitutional abuses of the Cheney/Bush years was bad enough, but his administration’s refusal to launch investigations (and criminal prosecutions where appropriate) has mutated into an actual protection of the previous admin… going so far as to, with a straight face, offer ridicule by late-night comics as a rationale for concealment. Obama has become an accomplice to the Bush years, not that that will buy him any “bipartisan” friends.
Even when I believe he’s telling the truth about what he intends–preferring a public option for health care, for example, or wanting stronger regulation of the economy–it looks like he’s too willing to roll over and trade it all away for the sake of compromising with people who prefer to destroy everything we elected Obama for.
I’m done with supporting this guy, unless and until he grows a backbone and gets serious about the promises he made. “Politics as usual” isn’t going to cut it.
45 Responses to "And It Came to Pass in the Age of Obama"
June 29, 2009 at 5:09 PM
O/T Pat if you are around, there was a special aired on Saturday that talked about the “Homosexual Agenda”. It supposedly details how it works. I know you are interested in knowing what we are up to. Of course it is told from an anti-gay position. Us gays, on the other hand, haven’t produced a show about the HA that is made for TV yet.
http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid94198.asp
June 29, 2009 at 5:15 PM
Spot on post, BeMindful. “Politics as usual” could actually be an improvement. At least we’d have a grip on what would be forthcoming. Despite that, I am deriving a measure of amusement at the dazed and blindsided obots.
June 29, 2009 at 5:22 PM
I usually avoid HuffPo like a dose of the clap but I checked on this post. The most significant thing, IMO, are the comments. The toxic Obots are in the minority and people calling Bullsh*t on Obama aren’t banned or shouted down.
June 29, 2009 at 5:36 PM
Wow! The HuffPo commenters are getting a clue, eh?
Maybe we will have a really, REALLY big march in October.
June 29, 2009 at 5:41 PM
Hi all,
Thanks for your comments, everyone.
SHV,
You’re right about the comments for this article at HUffpo; they are up to 35 now and with a couple of exceptions, the writers appear to be awake and sober.
June 29, 2009 at 5:42 PM
Harumph!
Obama has succeeded where the Republicans failed.
That is succeeded in achieving the Republican Agenda.
He has set history back 50 years.
Gays, lesbians rally in Fort Worth over bar raid, By Tammye Nash Senior Editor
Jun 28, 2009
Police say 7 arrested for public intoxication; one man remains hospitalized with brain injury incurred during incident
http://www.dallasvoice.com/artman/publish/article_11499.php
June 29, 2009 at 6:09 PM
Geez madamab, your operatic aria broke a glass by my computer and forced me out of lurkerdom (but it was a beautifully executed sustained song).
Bemindful, I love your postings. Used to lurk at your own site too, but now you’re here I can kill two lurks with one.
Latda, I thought you were kidding, till I went to the link – WTF???
Butters, yes, yes and amen. Women, gays and anyone who doesn’t agree with the obama chimera.
Oddly, I was watching a documentary on Baden-Powell last night (you know, the Boy Scouts founder) who was a just and honorable man, however, one wonders about how his techniques of engaging young people are being used today.
June 29, 2009 at 6:09 PM
Man injured in Rainbow Lounge raid may need surgery to stop bleeding around brain
[...] Continued here: And It Came to Pass in the Age of Obama « The Widdershins [...]
June 29, 2009 at 6:17 PM
Madamab, ooh, ooh, forgot. I loved your pictures of Aruba! And if you ever get tired of your hubby, could you send him my way, please! I promise I’ll take care of him….oh just a minute, can he change a light bulb? fix a toilet? rewire a receptacle? replace floors? install new insulation? Wait, I can do all that, send him anyway!
June 29, 2009 at 6:46 PM
O/T Did you all see the language Cleve Jones is using in his call for the march? He is preaching the 14th Amendment. It is a much more inclusive battle cry. I like it:
“We seek equal protection under the law, in all matters governed by civil law, in all fifty states”
____________
During three speeches at the Utah Pride Festival, Cleve Jones, former Harvey Milk protege and founder of the NAMES Project, the AIDS Memorial Quilt, called for an October 11 march on Washington. Jones said that the march would be for “full civil equality,” but he never mentioned marriage equality specifically. Though some news outlets reported that he called for a “gay marriage” march, Jones later confirmed in an e-mail to me that though full civil equality includes the right to marry, he intentionally left out a specific appeal on the marriage issue in favor of a single, more all-encompassing sentence. “We seek equal protection under the law, in all matters governed by civil law, in all fifty states,” he wrote. (Article from The Nation by Lisa Duggan)
June 29, 2009 at 6:59 PM
Sorry, I am catching up on my reading. Way to Go, Sec of Labor, Hilda Solis! (Huge Hillary Supporter)
Labor Chief Deplores Defacing of Gay Pride Posters
June 29, 2009 at 7:04 PM
Hey, everyone,
Here’s a good one. I just found this comment at Huffpo to Garbus’ post cited above:
learneddemocrat
Disappointed that Garbus only pointed out the lack of transparency over the detainees, the papers, etc. Does that mean he feels Obama has been transparent about all his other “events’? Lies, lies, lies. That is all that comes out of Obama’s mouth. He tells the group he his speaking to just what they want to hear, and all along has no intention of keeping his word. Five days for the public to view any bills, no lobbyists in my administration, I don’t want to run the car manufacturers. I don;t want to interefere with the banking industry, tells the DOJ to drop charges against the Black Panthers that terrorized the voters in Philadelphia, tells them to lay off the investigation of ACORN………the list goes on and on and on. He has elected over 20 czars that will by pass the Congress and answer only to him (congress – our representatives; get it?) And Garbus is only worried bout this. Take a breath,everyone, as it is gonna get a whole lot worse before it gets better if we don’t stop this egotistical madness soon.
June 29, 2009 at 7:11 PM
There is a good post at No Quarter about Honduras. They basically told backtrack to go to hell. It is very informative.
Should we all sing a chorus of ” Wake Up Little Susie” for the obots or should we just sing loudly ” It’s about Time”?
WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE, MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS
PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE
June 29, 2009 at 7:13 PM
HT – LOL! I just read your comment to my hubby. He loves to hear how good-looking he is, of course.
And by the way, he can do all those things – and much more.
June 29, 2009 at 7:19 PM
Wow, BeMindful, that is a good comment. I noticed that same disconnect in Garbus’ article. Obama has not been tranparent about ANYTHING.
Did you see Glenn Greenwald’s article today? He was brutal – in a good way.
June 29, 2009 at 7:36 PM
The comments on this Huffup blog aren’t too pleasin’ either. Tinfoil hats are wearing thin.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/29/obama-gays-will-be-please_n_222631.html
June 29, 2009 at 7:42 PM
Madamab, I’m happy that I gave your hubby a laugh. Normally I’m a very staid individual, however, I’ve followed you for a long time, and seeing him in the pictures….well, he’s a keeper (this from a long term celibate with a nasty history). I just hope he recognizes that he has a keeper in his life as well (YOU).
Bemindful, in terms of Obama’s transparency, it has taken on a new meaning.
Obamtransparancy
\ō-bam-trans-ˈpa-rə-en-cē\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural o.bam.trans.par.en.cies
Etymology: Elite American combination of original meaning of transparency bastardized with opacity shadiness, from Latin opacitat-, opacitas, from opacus shaded, dark
Date: 2008
1 a: obscurity of sense : unintelligibleness b: the quality or state of being mentally obtuse : dullness coupled with transparancy of sense – openness of opinions and actions.
2: the quality or state of a body that makes it impervious to the rays of light while proclaiming that the same body is going to open itself to be open to the ray of light; broadly : the relative capacity of matter to obstruct the transmission of radiant energy, while proclaiming that it is going to do the direct opposite.
3: an opaque spot in a normally transparent structure (as the lens of the eye) – which was the intention from the beginning of the speechifying.
June 29, 2009 at 7:56 PM
Awww, thanks HT! 
Your kindness is much appreciated.
Latda – Wow! Very impressive!
June 29, 2009 at 8:04 PM
The Brownshirt paid bloggers most be working overtime these days, MB. Running around trying to hush up the oborgs that are starting to take off their hats.
June 29, 2009 at 8:06 PM
la-t-da ~ you are in trouble my friend…lure me over to the Huffpoop to read that crap….. I’m gonna need a pressure wash. 
June 29, 2009 at 8:10 PM
Here’s the Greenwald article and there are some updates, MB.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/06/24/photos/
June 29, 2009 at 8:23 PM
HT,
That’s some definition of transparency!!
la-t-da,
I gotta go read that Greenwald article now.
June 29, 2009 at 8:29 PM
I’m in more trouble by my own self, indigo. My alter ego actually posted there in response to some Brownshirt. I got the hell out of there fast. I haven’t posted there since March a year ago.
June 29, 2009 at 8:35 PM
I had 5 days of a time-out on vaca, indigo. When will I ever learn.
June 29, 2009 at 8:35 PM
Actually, that was not the article I was talking about! Although it was very good.
The one I was talking about is linked over at Partizane in comments. It’s about how Obama is Bush III. Unfortunately, I am on my BB and can’t get the link right now.
June 29, 2009 at 8:40 PM
OK. here it is. Off to read it now.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/06/29/obama/
June 29, 2009 at 8:54 PM
Yes, excellent op-ed. One of our moderators here could have written that. Actually these are the points from us “far left ideologues” who are often called Republicans that we have been making since day one: BushBo lives.
June 29, 2009 at 8:58 PM
Yup, Latda, that’s the one. Thank you!!!
I think someone must have replaced Glenn’s Koolaid IV with coffee. He seems a bit less stupefied.
June 29, 2009 at 9:19 PM
I guess it pays to look at the record and to run in the other direction when all they have are ‘Just Words’…
Ah, we could have had the best candidate that just happened to be a woman, Hillary R. Clinton.
June 29, 2009 at 9:44 PM
Completely, O/T. We are getting our first monsoons…or the winds are pushing it our way anyway. Anticipation of the collective sigh of relief that occurs annually. Rain in the desert! Oh, Goddess, let it rain!
June 29, 2009 at 10:07 PM
Latda – I just spent ten days in the desert, drying out from almost two solid months of rain. I wish I could have sent some of our weather your way!
Today and yesterday it actually was sunny all day – no precipitation at all. Gasp! But the rest of the week may bring more thunderstorms. A two-day respite seems to be all we’re going to get.
This is what “summer” has come to in NYC – two nice days in June?! Where do I lodge a complaint?!
June 29, 2009 at 10:16 PM
Most snowbirds come here in the winter, MB, but I suppose you and your hubby could migrate here in the summer. Just as long as I can stay in your house in the summers.
June 29, 2009 at 10:18 PM
South Fl has nearly daily showers in the summer. It breaks the heat nicely. Right noiw it’s dropped fro, 90 to 78.
June 29, 2009 at 10:23 PM
This is from a post at Liberal Rapture. It said every thing needed about the obots
There is a similarity between those who lost their fortunes to Madoff and those who sold their principles off (for a song) to Obama. Neither group asked questions. Both groups were taken in by appearances. Both groups felt good about what they were doing.
So who is really immature here? The bloggers pointing out that Obama – the politician -is nothing like Obama – the commodity – and taking some rightful happiness in being right? Or the buffoons who trashed Clinton so they could feel good about voting for the shill who made them…feel good?
Get used to “WE TOLD YOU SO!” Obots. It is getting louder everyday.
WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE,MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS
PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE
June 29, 2009 at 10:50 PM
OT> I was just watching an old – must be early 1980s, though perhaps even very late 1970s – episode of The Match Game on The Game Show Network. The episode started with panelist Marcia Wallace pointing out that host Gene Rayburn is wearing an ERA button. Which prompted another panelist, the show regular Brett Sommers, to declare that she, her children, and her ex-husband (that would be Jack Klugman) will be marching on Washington to support the ERA. They then proceeded to try to convince Ava Gabor (I think it was Ava…perhaps it was Zsa Zsa…who can tell!) to march with them. Gabor seemed slightly shocked at being asked to walk anywhere, though in a good natured way. Anyway, it just amused me to see people talking about the ERA on a television game show almost 30 years ago. (They’ve also had jokes about the Swine Flu. Everything that’s old is new again!)
June 29, 2009 at 11:05 PM
BeMindful thanks for citing to that article, because I never would have gone over there to find it myself. Lets see if my comment goes through:
Well Amen! I’m glad people around here are finally starting to see through all this transparency, but there were many, many people who saw through the double-talk and looked at the actual, you know, actions, like his vote for FISA , when it actually mattered, and predicted this. But like crying Cassandras, we were destined to tell the truth & not be believed (and in fact we were attacked & demeaned for our troubles, to boot). Well, I told you so, suckas.
I wasn’t fooled. YOU own him.
I’m not buying the b.s. “I was fooled” meme that is already starting. No F*cking Way! This is more of the same “no responsibility” b.s. from these morons. I want a full-blown apology. Until then, sure, I’m glad they are waking up, but they have proven they cannot be trusted, so they can still all kiss my ass.
June 29, 2009 at 11:16 PM
I’m not buying the b.s. “I was fooled” meme that is already starting. No F*cking Way!
**********
Exactly..It didn’t take much research during the primary process to know that Obama had serious problems. The lack of a paper trail was a huge red flag.
June 30, 2009 at 1:04 AM
I’m glad you agree SHV!
And while I’m at it, I’m sick to the death of “he’s better than McCain” bullshit too. Can someone, anyone, please tell me how (other than the letter behind his name) it would have been worse for this country to have a president who did not lie, cheat, steal & accept delegates who didn’t even fucking vote for him in order to garner his party’s nomination? Call me old fashioned, but regardless of political party, I think the President of the United States of America should have an ounce of integrity. Not to mention, that agree with McCain or not, he held a fucking full-time job before going into the Senate.
These morons who voted for Obama are no better than the morons who voted for David Duke — they voted for a man with absolutely zero integrity.
And while I’m at it, I’m sick to death of PUMAs not getting enough credit — Obama spent almost ONE BILLION FUCKING DOLLARS when (as fuzzy said) a tray of cheese with a “D” after it would have won & he still ONLY got 52% of the fucking vote!!!!!! That was US. If the funides hadn’t stayed home (and make no mistake, they stayed home because the HATE McCain — that right there should tell you that McCain is no GWB) Obama would have had to cheat even more to win the GE (and there was plenty of fucking cheating going on in OH, PA, FL, NC & VA despite the msm not reporting it).
June 30, 2009 at 1:25 AM
gary — have you seen this bullshit?
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/06/potus-to-lgbt-welcome-to-your-white-house.html
Obama, who is against same-sex marriage, files that despicable DOMA brief & doesn’t want to lift his finger to stop DADT gets “thunderous applause” from the LGBT community at the WH “celebration” of Gay Pride month? WTF?!?!?! I really thought the LGBT community was going to stand up to his punk ass.
And WTF? ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” filled the room? Don’t get me wrong, I love that song, but is that not totally stereotypical and insulting (or am I, a non-gay, reading too much into it?)
Finally, love this quote:
“We’ve been in office six months now. I suspect that by the time this administration is over, I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration.”
Translation: I’m totally going to help you out, just not right now.
Ok, I”m done. Night all!
June 30, 2009 at 1:34 AM
We’ve been in office six months now. I suspect that by the time this administration is over, I think you guys will have pretty good feelings about the Obama administration.”
*********
That is consistent with Mr. Berry’s BS. LGBTs get their pony at the twilight of the second term.
June 30, 2009 at 7:33 AM
Naral is endorsing Kirsten Gillibrand in the primary for the 2010 special election for the US Senate seat (NY). Good or bad?
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June 29, 2009 at 5:00 PM
(clearing throat importantly)
(in loud operatic voice)
WEEEEEEE TOLLLLLLLLD YOUUUUUUUU SOOOOOOOO!
(great post, BeMindful!)