OBAMA, THE NEO-HAWK

Our moderate president seems to be turning into a hawk.

At least that is what Yale professor David Bromwich seems to be saying in The New York Review of Books.

Obama may even approve an attack on Iran, even though intelligence reports show no reason to do so, according to Bromwich.

Without a strong policy position of his own, our moderate president is perhaps being led to take increasingly hawkish positions. He has already led Congress to renew the Patriot Act, something I don't like.

None of this looks good.

I was hoping for a new kind of leader in Obama, someone who could lead us bravely into peace.

Right now, it doesn't look that way.

-- Roger

© Copyright 2011, Roger R. Angle

Obama, Our Philospher In Chief

I just started taking The New York Review of Books again after many years. Today, I got my first issue, dated July 14, 2011.

So far, I love it. It's like being on a first date with a real babe. She's smiling and sexy and she wants to do just what I want to do. (Reminds me of an old joke.)

That may not be a good analogy, but you get the idea.

The first article that I love is by--wouldn't you know it--a professor of English. David Bromwich, who is at Yale, says Obama sometimes sounds more like president of the world than president of the USA.

Yes, I think that is right. I think our Commander in Chief sometimes wants to be our Philosopher in Chief, to lead us into new ways of thinking.

Bromwich says, "Obama has always preferred the symbolic authority of the grand utterance to the actual authority of a directed policy...."

These are really cogent observations by a very intelligent person. Right on.

Here is a link:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/jul/14/obama-his-words-his-deeds/

I haven't read the rest, but I can't wait. I find intelligence exciting. It lights me up.

-- Roger

© Copyright 2011, Roger R. Angle

AFGHANISTAN: THE MESS

Oh, what a mess we are in. I never thought we should invade Afghanistan in the first place.

Only a small number of Al Qaeda affiliates, sheltered by the Taliban, planned 9/11, after all. It was not the whole country. That Bush2 business, "You're either with us or against us," was dumb as hell.

Why kill a lot of innocent people to get a few bad guys? Of course, we did much worse in Iraq.

But now President Obama says we are gradually drawing down our soldiers there. Oh, man, I don't know about this.

We abandoned the Afghans once before, after we helped them defeat the Russians. Are we abandoning them again? Are we leaving the good guys to take the heat?

How do we make it all right? How do we make it up to the families, here and there, of people who have been killed and maimed in this stupid war? How do we make the world better, not worse, these days?

I don't know. Normally, I would trust Obama. He's a smart guy, and he's our guy. But he has the burden of politics and trying to please various factions at home. He has to get along with the loony, bloodthirsty, power-mad, delusional, ideologically driven Republicans.

I don't envy him that.

I think we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. At least this way, we are going to focus more energy on nation building here at home.

BTW, I don't see anything wrong with nation building. Isn't that what we did after WWII? Didn't it result in firm allies, stable economies and functioning democracies in Japan and Germany?

What is wrong with nation building?

I think we should build more, starting at home. But I don't think we should neglect the rest of the world.

Also BTW, I think we need a much bigger stimulus package to bring our own economy up to where it belongs. More deficit spending. That is what got us out of the Great Depression.

The GOP is wrong about this, too.

-- Roger

© Copyright 2011, Roger R. Angle

Greetings From Afghanistan, Send More Ammo: Dispatches from Taliban Country

OBAMA FOREVER, BUDDY?

I have a beautiful and wonderful friend named Harley. She is tall and talented and smart. When we discuss Obama, she says, "Obama forever, buddy."

OK, I see the appeal. We don't want the crazy right-wing Tea Party types taking over the country and ruining it. (Of course, they think we are ruining it, or would, if Progressives were really in power.)

My question is, should we support Obama in the coming election?

Or should we threaten to boycott him unless he gets some heuvos and does the things we want him to, like cut defense spending; protect Medicare and Social Security; help immigrants find work and stay in this country, to strengthen it, as they have always done; and institute an intelligent single-payer healthcare system, like every other civilized country? (I have a much longer list.)

I heard a pundit on the radio the other day say we should "hold Obama's feet to the fire," to get him to be more Progressive.

Hmm. I wish I knew how to do that. I'd light the match.

-- Roger

© Copyright 2011, Roger R. Angle

DEAR MR. PRESIDENT

Dear President Obama,

During the last presidential election, in 2008, I was an Obama telephone volunteer (in Los Angeles, on Motor Avenue). When we finished instruction, our trainer said, "Let's go change the world."

I still choke up when I say it. We were excited, thrilled, and charged up with the possibilities, and with our role in history. We dared hope for a better world. About 200 of us made, they told us, some 30,000 phone calls that morning, many of us on our own cell phones.

Apparently we didn't make as much difference as we thought. We helped you get elected. But where is that change?

Please stand up and do the right thing on healthcare (Medicare for all), on Iraq and Afghanistan (should have been police actions), on Latin America (combat drugs by legalizing them, controlling them, and shutting down the profit system; stop supporting dictators) and on the economy (get the Wall Street foxes out of the government henhouse).

If you don't, I may leave the Democratic Party and join the Greens. I believe thousands of Democrats may do the same. I would hate to jump ship. I've been a lifelong Democrat, and I believe in basic Democratic values.

Please, Mr. President, show some courage.
Let’s see that change we believed in.

Thank you.
Respectfully,
Roger R. Angle

I WISH I LOVED BARACK THE WAY I USED TO

OK, it's been six months since Obama took office, and I haven't seen nirvana yet. The so-called "War On Terror" is still terrifying innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan. Americans are still dying. Gitmo is still functioning. And single-payer universal health coverage seems like a distant dream.
More and more, Barack sounds like George in foreign policy.
Change is slow a-coming.
What happened?
Politics, that's what.
Seems to me that Barack, being the smart politician that he is, is looking forward to the next election and trying to find a way to win again.
The dilemma is this: Do you go for it, and try to bring new policies into every arena all at once? Or do you look at the long haul, and figure you have got to keep winning elections to win the big battles?
It looks like Barack has taken the long view.
He's probably right, but I wish I loved him the way I used to.
Oh well, he's still a million times better than Bush and his band of cronies, sycophants, morons and war criminals.

WEAK PRESIDENT?

I was incensed yesterday to hear former Vice President Dick Cheney call Obama a "weak president."
No, Dick, that isn't weakness, it's intelligence.
Cheney criticized Obama for "apologizing" in Europe and Mexico for past U.S. actions.
Obama is right to strike a new course for the USA.
No more torture, no more illegal wars, no more giving the finger to the rest of the world.
No more "You're either with us or against us."
No more mindless ideologies.
No more paranoid right-wing fantasies that millions of rabid Muslims are out to destroy America.
No more politics driven by fear.
No more stupid statements like "Mission Accomplished" and "You're doing a heckuva job" when the person isn't even doing his job.
Bush treated the government like a giant cash cow, funneling money to his friends and to his "base," the very wealthy, instead of spending it for the good of the nation.
No, Mr. Cheney, we don't have a weak president.
We have a strong and smart president.
For a change.
Thank God.

OBAMA & COMBAT

I was very happy to see the Navy SEALs rescue Capt. Phillips from the pirates off Somalia. Sounds like it went perfectly.
I'm glad Obama gave the word to use force. We need a balanced approach to world leadership. As Teddy Roosevelt said, "Walk softly and carry a big stick."
The U.S. right wingers don't get this. They think we should "Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran" and "Drill Baby Drill," pushing for simple-minded tactics to try to solve complex problems.
Thank heaven Obama has a more nuanced view.
It looks to me like Obama is leading us to our rightful place in the world, not as ideological bullies driven by fear, but as thoughtful, strong leaders who have the whole world's best interests at heart.