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Flickr Photo by chad davis
A lot of my fellow progressive friends and I have been complaining a lot about some of the positions the Obama administration has been taking lately, especially their apparent lack of a burning desire to prosecute the blatantly criminal conduct of the Bush administration.
But here's the thing- I figured out the politics here. It took me a while, and until I got it I fumed at the new President, thinking my vision of a real progressive in the White House was a pipe dream. I'll clue you guys in- the secret is the mixed message. Let me explain.
First you have Rahm Emmanuel proclaiming loudly on This Week last Sunday that the Obama administration had no intention of pursuing the Bushies for torture legal opinions, etcetera. It was obviously done, on the most authoritative Sunday show now that Russert is gone (in my opinion) and by a wily pol like Rahmbo. That should have gotten my attention, and laid bare the plot then. But it didn't- it took a while.
Until then I was pissed off at the President I voted for 112 days ago or so. I couldn't believe they would allow these guys to destroy the economy in their greed at credit default swaps, allow 9/11 to happen to begin with and then use it as a pretext for war and torture, sponsor and even publicly advocate for a complete breakdown of the regulatory process in this country (lead paint on toys, salmonella on peanuts, e coli on spinach, I rest my case) amongst their long list of transgressions. Then come out and blythely say that we're just looking to the future, not ocncerned about the past.
What made it click for me was two facts; the widely-publicized, political power group meeting in DC and making up strategy plays like the "Rush is the De-facto Leader of the Republican party" bit from last month, whose reported members were the likes of Emmanuel and those old Clintonian bagmen Carville and Begala. The other was this story that just came out about some new detainee treatment photos that are surfacing.
This flood of Bush-era torture documentation is coming out for one reason; the President wants justice too. Just as bad as you or I. He's just apparently way too politically savvy for us, or he's letting the Democratic Strategist Brigade pound out a new subterfuge to cloak themselves politically from the blow back of the sure-fire Bush cabal prosecutions to come.
Think about it- why would they declare so loudly that they did not seek to spill GOP blood, while at the same time stating clearly that the Justice department was an independent arm of the Executive meant to do it's job free from political pressure, unlike the policies of the Cheney-led pack of cretins who just fled the Capitol? And while simultaneously dumping all the evidence the public, or any Court for that matter, would ever need to hold those responsible accountable for their actions?
Why? Because they want them prosecuted, they just don't want the blood on their hands. Obama wants to stir up the mob and hand them pitchforks, then stand back and let them go after the perpetrators with violence in their hearts. So to speak.
Anyhow be calm, my liberal and progressive Lefty friends. They know what they are doing at the White House, and subtlety is apparently one of their strong points.
