Yes, I judge Obama by a different standard than I judge(d) bushco

[cali]

* I tend to take him at face value, when I rarely did that with bush.

* I take into account his record, his intelligence and his personal history.
(OK, I did that with bushco too)


Now, I'm not saying I accept any decision Obama makes- I don't. I disagree about the photo block, for instance, but I don't automatically assign malevolence or stupidity or cupidity to his actions or words. I perceive Obama as very different than bushco, so I use a different standard to judge him than that which I used with the previous president.

[iamthebandfanman]

1. well, i expect a lot from the guy.

with bush, not so much.

whenever bush did something it was just 'there the moRAN goes again'...

everytime obama does something i disagree with tho, its kinda painful ...

[cwydro]

2. I know that I expect more of Obama.

I also know that had Bush done this same thing, I would have been really angry.

It would be hypocritical of me to feel differently in this case. I am really angry.

[cali]

3. As I said, I judge Obama by a different standard than I did bush

I disagree with him on the photos, but I take him at his word that he believes that releasing them would be deleterious to the troops in the field. Why? Well, he released the torture memos over heavy duty opposition. His first instinct was to release the photos. That lends credence to his having an honest change of mind about the release of the pbotos. Again, I disagree with him, but I don't assign nefarious motives to him here.

[crim son]

4. I tend to agree.

It has been established that we tortured detainees, and the release of the pictures is something of a redundancy, as well as a danger to Americans and not only American soldiers. Originally the call to release the photos was made because the shrub admin was denying everything, and it was actually in the nation's best interest to show the world, including the terrorists, that the people weren't going to stand for that sort of shit. Things have changed, our point is in the process of being made and it makes better sense in terms of security to keep the photos out of the public eye. I doubt Obama would be opposing their release if they were harmless pics.

[JuniperLea]

20. I think it's possible he's distancing himself from the issue...

And will let a court decide. His hands would be clean. Not nefarious; just savvy. Several steps ahead in the chess game.

[JohnnyLib2]

5. I want to do the same, but know that the bottom line is:

we're talking about a politician and a highly successful one at that. That can be taken in many ways, but the political calculations are always in play.

[Clio the Leo]

6. "I take into account his record...."

Nailed it!

You'd think he was rounding folks up and sending them to Gitmo for more torture fun ...... ya know, instead of ENDING THOSE PRACTICES.

[HopeOverFear]

7. Not directed at you, cali, but

how can people here say that Obama is trying to cover up torture by blocking the photos when he released the memos? that makes no sense to me. I agree, it's not necessary to agree with him about his decision, but assigning malicious intent to it is foolish.

[Cha]

10. It's extremly

foolish and hot headed. I'm glad we have cooler heads prevailing.

[HamdenRice]

16. You're right, it makes absolutely no sense

The explanation comes from the movie, The Sixth Sense: "people see what they want to see."

If a person can't see that delaying the pics release while releasing the memos is different from stonewalling the pics and stonewalling on the memos, that person is only seeing what s/he wants to see.

[Jennicut]

8. Of course we should judge Obama differently. Disagreement is one thing

calling him a right wing hack as the same as Bush is another thing.

[mscuedawg]

9. Kool-Aid Drinker...

:sarcasm: That's what I get called all the time!! LOL!!

[Lex]

11. What I believe is the right thing does NOT change with who is President.

nt

[cali]

13. and neither does mine. but that's not what the OP is about

[Luminous Animal]

12. So do I. I expected more from him than Bush.

[dave29]

14. I find it sad that the google ad in this thread is for "fireobama.net"

:wtf:

[Bonobo]

15. Ding. ding. +1

[salguine]

17. Holding them both to a different set of standards does justice to nobody, especially

principles like rule of law and democracy and justice and truth.

If Obama suddenly greenlighted torturing POWs, would that be okay because you "take him at face value"? Because you "take into account his record, his intelligence and his personal history"?

If something is wrong, it's wrong, no matter who does it. Splitting hairs like you're doing is like saying you'd rather drown in two feet of water than twenty—what, ultimately, is the difference?

[FrenchieCat]

18. Obama and Bush have different motives for blocking the photos....

Obama is doing it to protect our soldiers,
while Bush was doing it to protect himself.

Big difference.

[noiretextatique]

22. i agree with you

i don't care why he's blocking the release of the photos. the people of iraq know about the horrors...they have lived them. when those soldiers raped and murdered that 14 yo girl and murdered her family, two soliders who weren't involved in that incident were kidnapped and beheaded. they didn't need pictures of that atrocity to take revenge.
i thinkobama is giving himself some cover against the rw noise machine because the photos will likely be releases anyway.

[JuniperLea]

19. I think I said quote two just yesterday...

I'm more apt to assign curiosity when he does things I don't like. I'm not privy to all the things he is, and it's very difficult to understand why certain decisions are made without being able to see the whole picture.

After about a year of Bush, I would automatically think in terms of how is this going to make money for BushCo and their cronies.

Obama is at the same time more transparent, and more enigmatic.

[Hippo_Tron]

21. If the worst thing Bush had done in 8 years was not release some pictures...

DU would be a pretty small place.