President Obama Still Doesn't Get It

Dear Friends,

Lately there have been some signs that President Obama now understands that he will never be able to please or get help from Republicans and that he might actually be a moderately liberal President.  Unfortunately, two articles on the front page of The New York Times yesterday brought me back to the reality that President Obama is not at all progressive and seems intent on repeating the errors of the first term of his Presidency.

At first glance one article with the headline "Post-Filibuster, Obama Faces New Anger Over Judicial Choices" (here) gave me hope that President Obama was making good use of the change in Senate rules to permit up or down votes on judicial nominees.  After all, it took a lot of work to get the Democrats in the Senate to actually change the rule so that democracy could function.  Unfortunately, President Obama is undermining the rule change by adhering to the tradition that the Senators from the state involved must approve the judicial nominees in that state.  Even in the best of times, this tradition was not a good one.  In today's political environment, it is a disaster.  President Obama has even gone so far as to nominate judges that were approved by right wing Republican Senators.  We do not need supposedly Democratic Presidents appointing conservative right wing judges.

The other article entitled, "U.S. Militant, Hidden, Spurs Drone Debate" (here) indicates that President Obama continues to believe that he can kill American citizens without due process. I have written about this problem before (here).  How can we believe that we are entitled to due process of law when all it takes is the Executive Branch of the government to say

"We have clear and convincing evidence that he’s involved in the production and distribution of I.E.D.’s,” said one senior administration official, referring to improvised explosive devices, long the leading killer of American troops in Afghanistan.

If a Constitutional Law professor who claims to be a Democrat treats the Constitution this way, what hope do we have?

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

[Q] Qaddafi, Libya and President Obama's Foreign Policy

Dear Friends,

It appears as though the Qaddafi nightmare for Libya has ended or is about to end, and for that we can all be thankful.  As you may recall in June I was upset with President Obama's flagrant disregard for our Constitution and the War Powers Act (here).  I remain just as upset with President Obama's imperial presidency views, but I must admit that the end of the Qaddafi regime in Libya is a significant foreign policy victory.

President Obama's restraint with respect to the use of all out American force, his understanding of the need for the Libyans to own this revolt and its outcome and his willingness to try to tip the balance towards the rebels even though they might not prevail proved to be absolutely correct approach. The stark difference between President Obama's approach to foreign policy and that of President George W. Bush is something that all Americans should remember.  The fact that Senators McCain and Graham today criticized President Obama for not using the full force of American air power makes the contrast between President Obama's approach to the world and that of the Republicans even clearer.  As an American, I am proud of President Obama's foreign policy with respect to Libya.

His failure to follow the Constitution and the War Powers Act is not forgiven because of the result, he could have achieved the same result in a constitutional and legal way.  But we need to separate the issue of his imperial presidency views with his approach to foreign policy. 

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal