Our President - Today, He is The Darling of the Right Wing Neo-Cons and Torture Supporters.

[K Gardner]

Yes, he is. Why, that disgusting piece of slime Joe Scarborough even sings his praises this morning (he also compares Rush to Reagan as a Great Communicator, so take that with a grain of salt).

I was upset yesterday. I'm not so much today and here's why.

1. I watched the Arizona Commencement Address yesterday, where he took the "No body of work or diploma for YOU, Obama" b/s and turned it right back on them - delivering a brilliantly motivating commencement speech to tens of thousands in the cheering crowd. The theme: "Your Body of Work is NEVER Finished." His isn't either. And I realized, I cannot be angry at him. I just can't. I think there was a hidden message in this for all of us.

2. The pictures WILL be released. He cannot prevent this and he knows it. What he CAN do is stall for time and give himself political cover from the poisonous Right. He can avoid looking like a partisan out for revenge for Georgie Boy and his gang of War Criminals. He can avoid looking spiteful and partisan.

3. I watched his announcement about the pictures yesterday several times. He never really looked straight into the camera. He did not speak with conviction. He read from a script and I do not believe he is happy with the position he is being made to take at this time.

Who made this decision about the reversal - who initiated it and why ? We can only surmise, and as I have just done, try to assimilate it into the Barack Obama we KNOW. He is always a few steps ahead. He has thought this out. It's not that I have to trust him and his judgement - I just do. In a few months time, I think we'll understand.

So call me an Obamaphile, worshipper, apologist.. whatever. There is something much larger than what we see going on here. Justice will come - the Truth will prevail. And there WILL be prosecutions for war crimes. Is it too hard just to believe?

[babylonsister]

1. Despite all the criticism, I find it refreshing that we have a

president who will rethink an issue and change his mind as the situation warrants instead of being so set in stone about everything. And you're right, this isn't the end of it. Feinstein already has requested the photos for her ongoing investigation, so we're moving right along...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5650057&mesg_id=5650057
Feinstein asks for access to detainee photos

I think a commander in Iraq, Odierno, convinced Obama to dial it back, and I'm sure not going to second guess that decision.

Yes, it was Gen. Odierno...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8405557
Gen. Ray Odierno, along with other top defense officials, argued that releasing the images of alleged detainee abuse would endanger US troops abroad.

[K Gardner]

8. Thanks for these links.. good info there. Glad you're trying to make sense of it, too ! :-)

[villager]

24. how come, when he changes his mind though, it's never to tack more leftward on an issue

..but rather, to mimic policies that become less distinguishable from BushCo's?

[babylonsister]

28. Did you ever think he might be privy to more facts than we are?

BushCo never changed their mind, never compromised, and never accepted responsibility for anything. I had enough of that.

I imagine someone (Odierno?) came up with a very good argument to not release the photos publicly. That doesn't mean the people who need to see them won't, and if that's in private, that's okay by me.

To compare him to BushCo does a service to no one. They couldn't be more different thankfully.

[villager]

30. so the "facts" -- unknown to us mere peons -- always favor the right?

The same facts that keep us killing wolves, ignoring polar bears, covering up torture pictures, kowtowing to Wall Street, and if this morning's links are to be believed, rewriting DHS reports so the rightwing isn't too upset about their own penchant for terrorism?

I'm done being infantalized, thanks, and was hoping this administration wouldn't do that...

[lamp_shade]

2. A calculated move indeed. I'm wearing my Obamaphile t-shirt.

[Peregrine Took]

3. Something is hideously wrong when I hear the local Chicago wingnutters

getting all googly over him this morning.

I was going to go to Notre Dame on Sunday to cheer him on - now I really don't give a damn. Let him hang out with his new buddies on the right.

Oh, and the photo flap isn't going to go away - its just going under the bumpy rug with all the other crap he has stood with Bush against progressives.

[K Gardner]

11. Go to Notre Dame - you'll regret it if you don't. Think long term. Obama has no "buddies on the

right".. he knows it and you know it. And nothing is under the rug.. nothing.

Would you rather McCain be in charge?

[Jennicut]

22. Right, like most of the things he has done are loved by the Rethugs.

Throwing out the baby with the bathwater as they say. Sigh. Politicians are not so easily put in boxes as we would like. They do things to piss us off, they do things we love. Obama is no exception. He did not do this for his buddies but because he is worried about the troops and also worried about giving the Rethugs more fuel to attack Dems a la Cheney. I don't agree with it but he did not do it for any love of the right. Don't be naive.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[monmouth]

4. And since he is now the "darling of the Right"...haha, this will come in

handy when he wants a nominee for the Supreme Court to whiz through with no problems. They will "owe" him as they say....Compromise and chess, both good things to know about....

[K Gardner]

9. A point I had not thought of.. and a good one.

[lamp_shade]

12. Good one indeed. I've noticed a whole lot of kudos coming from the right.

[TankLV]

26. Yeah - like THAT'S ever worked before with these fucking REPUKES in the past!!!

The REPUKES will NEVER cooperate or deal in "good faith" on ANYTHING, EVER!!!

As other posters are fond of saying: "Get your head out of your ass"!!!

[ClarkUSA]

5. Just a thought...

Obama's not saying he's going to continue any of the practices you and millions of others have rightfully condemned.
The Justice Department is currently investigating the Bush administration, and has been good about revealing what
went on, with more revelations to come. Also, it's not as if Obama is going to destroy the pictures or never release
them. He's just saying that it might be a good idea, for the safety of not just our troops but of hundreds of thousands
of others, if the United States did not release these photos to the public right now. That may very well be true, and if
it is he's behaving the way a responsible Commander-in-Chief should behave. I see nothing immoral in that decision.

[K Gardner]

10. "the way a responsible CiC should behave.." I like that and agree. (eom)

[BeyondGeography]

6. I'm not upset about torture porn

which is a no-win situation for everyone, really. Nothing but humiliation for all involved. I worry far more about the economy. If it doesn't show some more life in the next couple of months, companies will take the knives out again and we will be staggering for the next couple of years. In fact, I fully expect that to happen.

I also think it has nothing to do with Obama, who I see as the best available leader to take us through this messy period in our history. He has inherited a thoroughly fucked up country and I believe that he knows it. It will take the better part of his four years to show progress on the three things he promised to change forever; health care, education and energy policy. He's a marathoner and he understands pacing; part of that is not squandering political capital on no-return deals such as the photos.

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. The right won't know what to make of him.

I like that idea.

[Enrique]

13. I agree except for the "who made the decision" part

it was Obama's decision.

[JohnnyLib2]

15. Agreed.

That "who made the decision" part sent a chill down my spine.

[K Gardner]

17. Yeah.. I looked at that after I wrote it and thought, 'that's just stupid', LOL !

[Creideiki]

14. Is claiming to be an Obama worshipper/apologist/whatever

a bannable offense?

[Clio the Leo]

16. Will we STILL be mad four years from now when he is re-elected in 2012....

.... because he managed to maintain control of the middle and strip voters from the right?

I dont think the decision was motivated out of political reasons, but the pragmitist in me doesn't mind that fringe benefit.

[ClarkUSA]

18. "A picture is worth more than a thousand words to an illiterate."

Here's another opinion by a journalist who has been absolutely scathing towards BushCo and the issue of torture for years. His sensible opinion reflects the many facets of this issue accurately.

A picture is worth more than a thousand words to an illiterate. The literacy rate in the non-urban areas of Afghanistan and North West Pakistan is less than 10%. Thousands of American troops will be pouring into southern Afghanistan this summer. They will have their hands full with the Taliban... They certainly don't need the intense provocation that torture photos will cause among the Pashtun tribes.. I am sure the civil liberties absolutists will say that this impinges on the free flow of information. They have a point. But we've gotten the picture: we know what American torture looks like. And the distribution of these photos, with American troops and diplomats and international humanitarian workers at risk, constitutes something akin to shouting fire in a crowded theater... All the energy devoted to this will result in...what? Justice, you say? Well, maybe. But most lawyers who are not civil liberties absolutists seem to believe it will be exceedingly difficult to make a case against the Bush Administration miscreants. And the publication of these photos is far more likely to inflame--and endanger--than inform or illuminate.

[Hepburn]

19. Bottom line:

If assholes like Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham like something and good guys like Russ Feingold and Bernie Sanders are against it...

...how tough is it to figure which side to support? :shrug:

Hint: If the RWs really, really support an action ~~ it is the wrong thing to do.

Get it?

[KayLaw]

20. Yes, I get it.

And Cheney's prancing around like someone's prize pig, crowing like he thinks it's his third term as president.

[Hepburn]

31. That one, too!

What the hell is going on????

[leftofthedial]

23. That's because today he IS a Right Wing Neo-Con Torture Supporter

[NYCGirl]

29. And tomorrow they'll hate him again.

Unlike yourself, to whom everyday is a hate Obama day.

[HamdenRice]

25. I almost didn't click on your wonderful post because of the subject line!

One of the most salient things you wrote is that the pictures WILL be released eventually, and he knows it.

Given the push back from the military, it is a matter of strategy determining the "when."

[K Gardner]

27. Agreed.. and I think the "when" is being planned even now.