Our Obama, Right or Wrong...

Yesterday I shared a link to an article by Glenn Greenwald (Salon.com) on my Facebook page. The article was about the level of hypocrisy on the left when it comes to President Obama and his continuation (and, in some cases, strengthening) of certain George W Bush policies – especially in the realm of foreign policy and civil liberties. Greenwald cites a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll that finds some 70% of respondents approve of Obama keeping open the detention center at Guantanamo – with some 53% of self-identified liberals indicating their approval of this obvious failed promise from the 2008 campaign.


Perhaps worse than the Democratic Party’s acceptance of GITMO is the poll’s finding that Obama’s increasing use of unmanned drones to rain death and destruction onto innocent people has even wider approval. According the Post:

“The Post-ABC News poll found that 83 percent of Americans approve of Obama’s drone policy, which administration officials refuse to discuss, citing security concerns.

The president only recently acknowledged the existence of the drone program, which some human rights advocates say operates without a clear legal framework and in violation of the U.S. prohibition against assassination.

But fully 77 percent of liberal Democrats endorse the use of drones, meaning that Obama is unlikely to suffer any political consequences as a result of his policy in this election year.

Support for drone strikes against suspected terrorists stays high, dropping only somewhat when respondents are asked specifically about targeting American citizens living overseas, as was the case with Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni American killed in September in a drone strike in northern Yemen.”

The drop in support for targeting Americans is detailed by the Post’s Greg Sargent who got a break down of the polling numbers:

“The number of those who approve of the drone strikes drops nearly 20 percent when respondents are told that the targets are American citizens. But that 65 percent is still a very big number, given that these policies really should be controversial.

And get this: Depressingly, Democrats approve of the drone strikes on American citizens by 58-33, and even liberals approve of them, 55-35.”

Now I would like to say that I am dubious of “self-identified liberals” for any number of reasons but with percentages as high as are being reflected in these poll numbers; combined with face to face discussions I have had with certain “self-identified liberals” of my acquaintance, it is a major reason why I am so dissatisfied with what is passing as the modern Democratic Party. It is one thing to say, ‘I will vote for Obama because the other guys are so much worse in many ways’, but what seems to be happening is an embrace of the policies in order to reinforce the support for the man. Nowhere in these numbers does it reflect a party base that is still hoping for change.

There is no doubt that there has been a steady drift to the right in this country over the past 30 years. Sadly, with numbers like the ones reflected in the Post poll, it would appear that the drift has turned into a rush.



Peace,

Chad (The Left) Shue