I made a promise to Oleeb that if the administration balked in any way on going after the policy architects of Bush era torture that I would be more outraged than him... and here I am. I am angry, frustrated, and ashamed for my President. This is the second opportunity that this administration has failed to take advantage of the political moment to administer decisive change for this nation. Both of these failures will lead to an even greater consolidation of power into the hands of the worst people in the nation and guarantees a repeat of Bush in the not too distant future. I can only say that Obama must not be listening to his constituents nor international law, but instead to the entrenched powers that are making threats.

I have given President Obama a lot of leeway because history shows that this nation is an empire masquerading as a democracy. That being said, I could not expect miracles. I did, however, expect strategic and tactical skill and a degree of competence mixed with swagger. In my opinion, Obama was swept in on a tide of "Anything But Bush" (ABB). I base this opinion on the general trends in the primary and election campaigns. Whosever appeared to be making the least risky argument for ABB moved up in the polls, and whosoever sounded/acted like Bush or echoed Bush dogma moved down in the polls. The strongest McCain surge in the polls occurred after it appeared that he had broken away from Bush and had donned a maverick and reformer image that was going to be bolder than Bush around the world and fiscally reactionary at home. Once McCain inserted his foot in his mouth and echoed Bush tropes about the economic crisis (and once Palin showed herself as too green for world power), he slipped and never recovered. This is not to say that we are a "center right" nation, but we are a nation that prefers conventional wisdom. As long as the facts gently conform to the media viewpoint, a small majority will fall in line. It just happens to be that the media is a hard right factory that manufactures center right consent.

Any progressive or liberal tendencies are pruned by the ever-present and tacit threat of upheaval (catastrophe) if we the people listened to the better angels of our nature. This is where President Obama is uniquely qualified to upset the status quo. His skills at the bully pulpit are the strongest in over a generation of politicians... the strongest since Reagan. The opposition is in disarray and out of effective ideas or tactics. I won't go as far as to say he should run the cycle on the opposition, but he should at least swing the bat.

Instead, on a pair of key national crises, he has failed to seize the moment. The first was and is the economy. I can understand (and even sympathise) with hiring FRB whiz kids and Clinton era retreads. The idea makes a degree of sense. Larry Summers and the Rubin school helped create a legitimate economic tide of prosperity in the 90s. The head of the New York branch of the Fed is the closest connection to Wall Street without necessarily being Wall Street. But President Obama has invited almost no one else to the table, and their ideas are the only ideas being offered from the bully pulpit. And their ideas are being roundly and soundly criticised because they fail on multiple levels. The action is too temperate, and the ultimate solution is a reinflated housing market and megabanks passing toxic assets between themselves like a hot potatoe and subsisting on taxpayer largesse. Quite frankly, the Summers/Geithner plan is the biggest social welfare act in US history... over ten percent of the national GDP is now being used to subsidize less than a tenth of a percent of the national population who provide less capital than they are receiving. Further, the Summers/Geithner plan allows these few banks to collude with the Fed and guide fiscal policy in perpetuity. This will guarantee increased costs, a rise in poverty, and the continuation of debt servitude that has consumed the middle class.

Why didn't Obama invite other economic thinkers to the table? Why isn't there a commission running alongside the administration that can offer a broader pallet of ideas? Why is the administration slow-playing the public with grim projections on Sunday talk shows without the consistent refrain of sound ideas? That is criticism one.

The second criticism is over the refusal to prosecute anyone associated with violation of domestic and international crimes against humanity. There isn't even a hint of independence. There isn't any allusion to potentially hiring a special prosecutor to sift through the wreckage. There is no vocal reaching out to Congress to hold investigations. The administration wants to "look forward," but it sounds more and more like they intend to cover up a national trauma. At the very very least, an effort should and must be made to investigate the ineffectiveness of torture as an intelligence technique. Lord knows we have field evidence to prove this assertion. This could shut up the critics on the right who believe that torture somehow saves lives. Further, I personally accept nothing less than an expurgation of our national sin by holding the architects of the policy accountable. The Bush administration committed unspeakable acts to men and laws. They were allowed to make clear language that prohibits torture obscure. They made a mockery of meaning that will (mark my words) give rise to grosser abuses in the future. This has to be repudiated in public through investigation and prosecution. Nothing less will do. Otherwise, we will simply pass the baton to the next administration who may or may not respect the rule of law. In other words, every passing day is a roll of the dice so long as sweep this under the rug. We will be one terrorist incident away from reigniting the same amoral fervor.

In conclusion, I want to apologize to Oleeb and others who I disagreed with for the sake of context. I temper my outlook through (I hope) a sober appraisal of history... and with history as my guide I castigate the Obama administration for making a mess out of two critical areas. There is a line between pragmatism and the path of least resistance. Real pragmatism will make difficult choices if they are in the line of the best possible solution. A real pragmatist will expend political capital to achieve the best possible goal. The path of least resistance leads to a kakistocracy that is a threat to world stability. The path of least resistance will acquiesce to the entrenched powers and tremble before the intractable assault of the right wing media. The path of least resistance will rely on a forgiving populace and uses the benefit of the doubt as a crutch.

I will continue to give Obama time to work on cleaning the Aegean stables... but from now on whenever he neglects a mess or sweeps dirt under the nearest rug, I will not apologize for it. It has become obvious to me that he needs to be held accountable. The fact is that if were a nation of laws, what Obama has done by failing to hold the architects of torture policy accountable is an impeachable offense. Quite frankly, even with the threat of a rabid right wing, Obama needs to correct himself. I will not let the potential of the crazy right keep me from repudiating the weakness displayed by our leadership. I will now get off my soapbox. Have a nice day.