Feel His Pain
Obama may be forced to order indefinite detention of terror suspects. Don’t worry, he isn’t doing it because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. Washington Post:
Obama administration officials, fearing a battle with Congress that could stall plans to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, are crafting language for an executive order that would reassert presidential authority to incarcerate terrorism suspects indefinitely, according to three senior government officials with knowledge of White House deliberations.
Such an order would embrace claims by former president George W. Bush that certain people can be detained without trial for long periods under the laws of war. Obama advisers are concerned that an order, which would bypass Congress, could place the president on weaker footing before the courts and anger key supporters, the officials said.
After months of internal debate over how to close the military facility in Cuba, White House officials are increasingly worried that reaching quick agreement with Congress on a new detention system may be impossible. Several officials said there is concern in the White House that the administration may not be able to close the prison by the president’s January deadline.
He’s doing it because doing the wrong thing turns out to be harder than he thought. Wait till he figures out how hard fighting a war is.
You know, it’s kind of touching to think that Obama might prove to be the single strongest factor in exalting Bush to his proper place in history … and marginalizing the radical anti-war left … thanks to his endorsement of some of Bush’s most controversial positions. Yeah, count me among one of Balloon-Juice’s right-wing idiots. What a moron I am for noticing that Obama hasn’t come up with any better ways to keep America safe!
Greenwald, long a staunch advocate of doing the wrong thing but apparently exhausted by the rampant Bushism of the Obamists, is reduced to expressing a kind of world-weary disdain for the egregious semantics of it all. More commentary at Memeorandum.
HotAir, feeling his pain, examines some of the political considerations that bar Obama from doing the wrong thing, plus the lack of rightness in the alternatives to wrongism. It’s another Friday night dump.
American Power looks at the intensifying debate over idealism vs. realism. Yeah, it’s weird that the hated Bushitler regime is so despised for blindly believing in freedom and democracy, while the feel-good Obamists, in their bid to make us better liked in the world, insist on aligning us with despots.
Surber bemoans the Constituion-shredding.
Ha! Moe Lane: What’s the only thing better than popping awkward news on a Friday? Popping awkward news on the Friday after Michael Jackson died!
Topics: GWOT, Guantanamo, Obama
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 8:26 am on Saturday, June 27, 2009
3 Responses to “Feel His Pain”
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June 27th, 2009 at 10:14 am
Should we start calling the president Obamahitler now?
June 27th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Obama might prove to be the single strongest factor in exalting Bush… Indeed! Isn’t it rich that those who strive for regard of their fellow man fare far worse by the world that follows than those who strive to do the right thing?
June 27th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
[...] Jules Crittenden: You know, it’s kind of touching to think that Obama might prove to be the single strongest factor in exalting Bush to his proper place in history … and marginalizing the radical anti-war left … thanks to his endorsement of some of Bush’s most controversial positions. [...]