Home

Why Subscribe ?

Popularise CC

Join News Letter

Editor's Picks

Press Releases

Action Alert

Feed Burner

Read CC In Your
Own Language

Bradley Manning

India Burning

Mumbai Terror

Financial Crisis

Iraq

AfPak War

Peak Oil

Globalisation

Localism

Alternative Energy

Climate Change

US Imperialism

US Elections

Palestine

Latin America

Communalism

Gender/Feminism

Dalit

Humanrights

Economy

India-pakistan

Kashmir

Environment

Book Review

Gujarat Pogrom

WSF

Arts/Culture

India Elections

Archives

Links

Submission Policy

About CC

Disclaimer

Fair Use Notice

Contact Us

Search Our Archive

Subscribe To Our
News Letter



Our Site

Web

Name: E-mail:

 

Printer Friendly Version

Mr. Obama, Why We Are Not That Impressed

By Timothy V. Gatto

30 July, 2010
Countercurrents.org

I decided to listen to President Obama’s speech to the Netroots Convention in Las Vegas. I wasn’t invited, I’m sure that the cheerleaders from Daily Kos were. I’m sure that all the Democratic websites posing as “progressive” websites had invites floating around for their members. Maybe I’m not the kind of person that the Democrats want at the netroots convention. Maybe, just maybe, I’m part of the “looney left” that Bill O’Reilly is always harping about. Maybe I want a little more “change” with my politics and less bragging about bills that sound good at first glance, but after a little scrutiny, they aren’t all they are cracked up to be. I won’t bore you with the details about the “health care” bill or the “financial reform” bill, if you are reading my article, I think just by being on the website you are on; you know what I’m talking about. If you are on this site by accident, well ask around, I’m sure there are all sorts of people that will let you in on what I’m talking about.

If I could reply to President Obama’s speech, I’d ask him why he decided to ramp up the war in Afghanistan. What is it that does he knows that we don’t know? I’d also like to ask him why we spend money fighting wars that don’t make any sense when we are practically broke. Those would be two good questions I’m sure many of us would like to see answered.

The one question that I’d rather see answered above all other questions that I could conceivably ask is “Why haven’t you held the Bush/Cheney Administration responsible for all of the crimes that were perpetrated under their watch?” Why hasn’t the Obama Administration appointed a Special Prosecutor to investigate the allegations of torture, kidnapping, and the use of weapons of mass destruction, and the lies that were told that paved the way for the invasion of Iraq? This isn’t a big get-even contest; it raises the question of letting people walk away from crimes because they happen to be the President of the United States and the Vice-President of the United States. Is it now a precedent that the leaders of the Executive branch of government can break the law because of who they are?

There is another question that concerns your administration Mr. President. By failing to act on the crimes committed by the previous administration, does that make your administration an accessory after the fact? The American people really need this question answered. We as citizens face a moral obligation to report crimes that we are aware of, if we don’t we risk becoming accomplices. The basic laws of the land are in question here. Does prosecution stop when you reach a certain rank in government? If so, how high does one have to get before they are immune from prosecution? Should this be an unwritten law or should we teach it in school? Either way, the people of the United States might not feel really comfortable knowing that the chief executive and the other people of the executive branch are immune from prosecution for any crime they may commit while in office.

The only guidance I can come up with is the Nuremburg trails after World War 2. Hitler wasn’t there so I really don’t know if he would have been sentenced to death along with others in his government. I imagine that since Saddam Hussein was hung after we invaded Iraq that Hitler would have been put to death for what he did too. Is it only in the United States where the leaders of the country aren’t held accountable?

Yes, Mr. President, there are some in this nation that are just not as impressed by your administration as you would like them to be. There are some on the right that hate you because; …well I don’t know why they hate you, because you are doing everything President Bush would have done. I do know why the left is disenchanted. It’s probably for the same reason. You are doing everything President Bush would have done.

So I guess in closing, I hope that you understand why I don’t feel particularly enthralled by the change you have brought us with your relatively new administration. Maybe the next two years will do the trick. Still, every time I see Dick Cheney criticizing you on TV, I wonder why he isn’t in jail. At least Bush has the good sense to keep his mouth shut. I hope for your sake that the next Chief Executive is as forgiving as you seem to be.

[email protected] Read Tim's political book, "Complicity to Contempt" or his Novel, "Kimchee Days or Stoned Cold Warriors" from Oliver Arts and Open Press.