When President Bush authorized “extraordinary renditions” it was a national disgrace. When President Obama decided to expand the procedure it has become nuanced policy:
Under executive orders issued by Obama recently, the CIA still has authority to carry out what are known as renditions, secret abductions and transfers of prisoners to countries that cooperate with the United States.
Current and former U.S. intelligence officials said that the rendition program might be poised to play an expanded role going forward because it was the main remaining mechanism — aside from Predator missile strikes — for taking suspected terrorists off the street.
The convulsion of repressed social spending represented in the Congressional stimulus bill combined with the merely symbolic changes to foreign policy – all with a human face – leads me to the inevitable suspicion that the anti-war activities of the political left had very little to do with the inherent evils of war generally or the prosecution of the Iraq war in particular, and much more to do with a convenient way of inciting the mob. A power play, in other words. Power for its own sake.
A partial listing of change giving way to pragmatism:
- Torture: Criminal under the Bush regime. Human rights groups say that President Obama left himself some wriggle room to continue to use aggressive techniques in “counter-terrorist” operations.
- Warrantless wiretapping: Unconstitutional under Bush. Supported by Obama.
- The Iraq War: The troops would come home when conditions on the ground permitted it under Bush, an “open-ended commitment” to endless war. Under Obama, the troops will come home within sixteen months. Apart from the ones who will not.
- And now, rendition will be expanded.
It’s not hard to believe that some of those people so urgently attempting to leave Iraq to genocide really were ready to lose a war so long as it gave their party a chance to win an election.
What a world.
“Plus ça change,” and all that. But at least I’m not invoking clichés about babies and bathwater…
And let us not forget the “Father of Rendition,” President Clinton. I don’t recall a single harsh word towards that leader of the free world, then (oh, I suppose it was no big deal, with President Clinton giving “them” all he could, and blaming the Republicans for what he couldn’t), or in subsequent days.
History. It can be play-doh in the hands of those looking to “change” the environment.
Not surprising. I’m just waiting for the environmental shoe to drop. All this nonsense of CO2 emmissions et al. Bad for business is all it is, which of course will slow the economic recovery even more. Soon. Very soon.
It’ll be preceded by the loud thump of shoes on deck as the chosen one jumps off of that bandwagon too.
All of us saw from the beginning that the Dem party was ‘all about the power’ in their opposition to the war – heck, Limbaugh and others have been yelling this from their microphones for years. But, Lex, you’ve summarized it very very neatly.
If the press won’t call it what it is, they should “lose their license” – whatever that would entail. Maybe take away their legal protections for publishing lies. Not holding my breath. And I’m staying away from sharp things and high places.
But it is all in the support of principal. The principal being I just gots to do what I need to to get the power. Puff piece on Obama in the Wash post pre-election. All about how he worked so hard to ingratiate himslef with the power structure in Illinois politics as a State Seantor, etc. You know, started smoking, hanging with the guys pllaying poker, all the cool kid stuff. Article took the stance he was such a cool, pragmatic politician that was doing what he needed to to get in the power club.
You could read it that way. Or you could raed it that he was a phony that would do anything to get power.
Not saying which is right but the ability to stand for one thing and so quickly abandon all such postitions not 30 days into his administration suggests he was still just doing what he needed to to get in good with the cool kids.
He’s even managed to keep the left from noticing so far that he’s doing a good job of keeping Bush’s foreign policy going quite well.
I suspect when Obama got in-briefed on the security situation, he realized that all was not kumbaya. Now, if only he doesn’t gut the military and screw us all for good.
Everyone needs to look real hard at what’s at stake in less than two years from now. We have the chance to re-take the House, and one-third of the Senate. If the Republican party fails to get it’s act together, then I say it’s time to desert them en masse, and go with whatever gives us the best chance to restore the Union. We must do this, there are no other options. Quiting sure as hell isn’t one of them.
As the LA Times article states, rendition may indeed be “the worst option” in terms of collecting valuable intelligence, but it is the BEST OPTION for the Obammasiah personally. This way he can claim clean “hey, it was the OTHER guys” hands for benefit of all the lefties and sob sisters. Trust me, sports fans, EVERYTHING that man does is all about “ME.” Period. Fullstop.
“Man of the People” but brings his own personal chef to the WH from Chicago. All during the campaign it was all “nobody here but us middle-class, bent-over-by-student-loans chickens;” now we find out he had a pvt chef all along for his little haus frau. Who knew?
OK, then get with the moderation.
It’s not hard to believe that some of those people so urgently attempting to leave Iraq to genocide really were ready to lose a war so long as it gave their party a chance to win an election.
And the depressing part is that so many of our fellow citizens fell for it. *sigh*
And not only did they fall for it, they’re apparently willing to maintain their support or association with people/organizations who put Politics so far ahead of Country… and even ahead of life-and-death morality.
God help us.
The thing that chaps my delicate butt [forgive me, please, I'm angry] is that Obama has just shown great disregard for almost one million of his citizens in Kentucky, and other points in the South, who are suffering and freezing in the aftermath of the storms of the last few days without power and WITHOUT FEMA to help them! While he gives White House dinners with $100 Wagyu beefsteaks for his buddies.
I remember Hurricane Katrina and President Bush making pleading phone calls to Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco to request the federal government help and assistance. As you all know, since you paid attention in high school civics class, the federal government can’t come to the assistance of the states in an emergency unless the state authorities request it. And Gov. Blanco ” wanted to think about it” for another 24 hours or so. Emergency rescue forces of National Guardsmen were all waiting outside the perimeter of New Orleans, ready to come in and help if Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco would just pull themselves together and allow it.
I don’t have to tell you all that the only federal agency which can intervene in an emergency without such a specific request, as you gentlemen and ladies know, is the U.S. Coast Guard, which can do so to help reinforce local police. And the U.S. Coast Guard did a spectacular job after Katrina hit while Gov. Blanco was still “thinking about it,” lifting people off the rooftops of flooded buildings, and rescuing hundreds of people stranded by the storm. I who never watch daytime television wss riveted to Fox News coverage of all this. And it was not a pretty sight.
Mr. Obama is not beginning his reign well. Not well at all. I hate to think what next he will neglect to do.
Marianne
Amen Sister Marianne!
At least our Governor came to visit us.
My parents are frozen in Kentucky.
I’ll be coming back to my house that doesn’t have power tomorrow.
Regards,
Jake
Marianne: It is remarkable that Prez Obama has not taken the opportunity, now almost the necessity, of being nanny / mourner-in-chief. But, you don’t really believe that the new Prez really cares about you, do you? President Obama is all about himself which is how he’s gotten so far so fast – something that comes in more clearly day by day as he does the pronouncements from on-high. Really, our new President has some good tools that got him elected (nice speaking voice; able to run through a speech without the embarrassing Bush speech impediments; nice looking with a nice smile) and he was of the correct party and didn’t they, the dems and the press, same thing, just fall all over themselves to elect a black guy who, I predict, is going to turn out badly unless there is far more substance than he’s shown so far.
Captain Lex Sir,
Thank you. You (and the others) have literally said what has been on my mind for years now. It’s good to know that I’m not alone. Oooh, I am definitely going to remember this post and show it around (with your permission first and foremost of course)…
The Manchurian Candidate has been in the White House for only 10 days, and look what he has accomplished so far. Makes you wonder what this nation will be like after 4 years of such accomplishments.
But…as was so smugly stated by one of our great journalists some time ago: “If we don’t report it, it didn’t happen.”
Very well said, Lex … and Marianne. It becomes more obvious with each passing day that it was always about the power.
Of course, power is spelled: $$$$$
What was it that Lurch always said, about anything? Seems appropriate to say about most anything, these days.
Yah, I know, Jerry Pournelle tells us that despair is a sin. Lurch was not expressing despair, so much as disappointment and disapproval.
We have a new slogan…
Obama
Continuity you can believe in.
Oh, there’s a hardcore leftist element that opposes all war, all the time, regardless of merit or purpose – all wars the United States is involved in, that is. As for the vast majority of national level Democrat politicians, it appears the Republicans were right to question their patriotism for doing everything in their power to lose the Iraq War for nothing more than political gain.
After all, the Democrats main supporters, the Netroots, largely view politics as a war for the implementation of their preferred “progressive” policies, and they are willing to do virtually anything to win that war – the only one that matters to them. “Permanent Majority” and all that.