Joe Conason: Another round for democracy

[babylonsister]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2009/05/22/obama_cheney/


Another round for democracy

Cheney's hostile speech only highlighted President Obama's commitment to American standards of liberty

By Joe Conason


May 22, 2009 | In his landmark speech on terrorism and the Constitution, President Barack Obama sought to draw the sharpest contrast possible between his policies and those of his predecessor on the critical issues of secrecy, torture and the rule of law -- perhaps in response to critics who see an unflattering resemblance. By choosing to deliver his address at the National Archive, in the presence of the original founding documents, the president stressed his own determination to bring America back to the principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Penetrating and direct as Obama's words were, his message was amplified by Dick Cheney's latest attempt to justify and even glorify the lawlessness that the new president has vowed to eradicate. The former vice president's choice of forum was likewise telling, for he chose the Washington redoubt of neoconservatism, the perverse authoritarian ideology that guided (and misguided) the national security decisions of the previous administration.

Whatever the shortcomings of the present administration in restoring civil liberties and openness to government -- there are and will be many -- the commitment delivered again today by the president at the very least provides a benchmark for evaluating his performance and a restoration of the idea that Americans stand for fairness and decency. Methodically but eloquently, he described the dilemma that he confronts as a commander in chief who must protect the nation and its people against extremely malevolent enemies while respecting the democratic institutions that balance his power as well as the human rights of those same enemies. Not only is that approach the only way to remain true to his oath of office, the president said, but it is also the only way to effectively defend ourselves and our allies against those who would do us harm.

The decisions that were made over the last eight years," he said, "established an ad hoc legal approach for fighting terrorism that was neither effective nor sustainable -- a framework that failed to rely on our legal traditions and time-tested institutions; that failed to use our values as a compass." The "mess" created by those errors can be expunged only by returning to core values.

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With a touch of acid sarcasm, Obama explained that irresponsible politicians who exploited fear made the wrong decisions over the past eight years -- and said that they are repeating those mistakes now with their demagogic campaign against closing the Guantánamo prison camp. He set his own choices in context, from the Supreme Court decisions that struck down the unconstitutional actions of the Bush-Cheney administration to the protests by John McCain, his erstwhile Republican opponent, against torturing prisoners and the continued operation of Gitmo. Rather than pretend that whatever he might do as president would be lawful per se, he promised to find lawful ways to protect necessary secrets and detain dangerous prisoners.

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That contempt for democracy as "weakness" should be familiar to anyone who has studied authoritarian regimes in history and around the world today. It was one of the hallmarks of an American regime that is at long last gone, but inflicted damage that will require years to repair.