By the outset of 2012, it was obvious to me that my scepticism was warranted; Obama had given me several really big reasons to oppose him, and virtually no reasons to support him. I've stayed consistent, while all of the people at the anti-war protests in 2003 have proven fickle and blinded by partisanship.
When it comes to the crimes and injutsices Obama has commited, let me count the ways:
1. Not just renewing Bush's reviled Patriot Act, but expanding it, too.
2. Bush sold war as war. Wannabe neocons/wannabe war hawks ate it up. Obama has continued and amplified Bush's interventionist, "We're the BIG GUYS on the block!" foreign policy, but he's been far more covert about it ... and that which he does acknowledge to the public, he spins as humanitarian efforts.
First of all, in 2007-08, Obama ran as an anti-war candidate, and made promises to return U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. He, his administration, and his campaign say that he's came through on Iraq, and play up that they have some sort of really nifty, brainy longterm scheme to withdraw U.S. troops gradually ... when in actuality, they significantly escalated and prolonged the war in Afghanistan.
The Obama camp's line on Iraq is particularly disingenuous -- dubious, even. Consider: on February 7th, 2012, the Washington Post reported that "[t]he CIA is expected to maintain a large clandestine presence in Iraq and Afghanistan long after the departure of conventional U.S. troops as part of a plan by the Obama administration to rely on a combination of spies and Special Operations forces to protect U.S. interests in the two longtime war zones."
To make this easier for myself, I'll copy and paste some of stpeteforpeace.org bulletpoints from their "Obam Fact Speech", piggybacking their built-in links, some of which have further links, so you can follow the trail yourself and discover that this is actually verifiable, on-the-record information.
- Waged war on Libya without congressional approval.
- Started a covert, drone war in Yemen.
- Escalated the proxy war in Somalia.
- Escalated the CIA drone war in Pakistan.
- Maintained a presence in Iraq even after "ending" the war.
- Sharply escalated the war in Afghanistan.
- Secretly deployed US special forces to 75 countries.
I'll let Webster Tarpley elaborate:
Speaking of anti-war activism, remember Cindy Sheehan? She's still anti-war, and so, logically, she's anti-Obama. Here's Tarpley and Sheehan on the matter:
The left didn't want Sheehan around anymore, once Obama was elected. Being anti-war had become just so passe:
3. Very shortly after taking office, Obama signed an executive order to shut down Guantanamo Bay. Things looked good: the anti-war humanitarian Obama of his campaign was proving to be the real deal. Now, in Guantanamo, detainees -- who are allegedly suspected of being
Four years later: Guantanamo is still in full operation. I can't help but picture Obama, when in private, crows uproariously over how he suckered with all that "Can't we all just get along?" baloney.
4. Obama actually has a -- get this -- a "secret kill list". Sounds like the behavior of a caricature of a tyrannical dictator in a dystopian novel or film, right? Or like something all those kooky anti-government militia types in the middle of the country would dream up, right? (Actually, there's anti-government types who are softspoken activist filmmakers who are commendable researchers and are working to expose injustices and not let the perpretators go accounted for.)
5. Obama likes killing innocent civilians by remote control. Here, instead of getting impatient by my fumbling attempt to teach you about this subject, I'm sure might find it more palatable if it's relayed by Abby Martin.
Abby's acutely aware of the irony of Obama having won a Nobel Peace Prize. (It's a lot like ... well, George W. Bush winning a Nobel Peace Prize.)
And here's Ben Swann, a local TV news reporter from Cincinatti (and an outstanding one), covering this issue:
6. This past New Year's Eve, when few would be paying attention, "President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), codifying indefinite military detention without charge or trial into law for the first time in American history. The NDAA’s dangerous detention provisions would authorize the president — and all future presidents — to order the military to pick up and indefinitely imprison people captured anywhere in the world, far from any battlefield."
Radio host Alex Jones was on top of this right away, posting an alarm-sounding YouTube video on New Year's Day:
Here's an NDAA tutorial courtesy of, again, Ben Swann:
Abby, of course, also knows what's up:
And, tying in some of the above-discussed jobs, here's Swann being heroic:
Now, if you're an Obama supporter, a lot of this might be new to you. You might be convinced this is rightwing propaganda. It's not. These are all matters of fact (regardless of the opinion of anyone appearing in any of the videos I've linked), and I'm not villifying Obama just because he's a Democrat. I have staunch anti-war, pro-human rights principles. That's where I'm coming from. It's true that I resent Obama for his crimes and his supporters for their ignorance, so it may seem like I am an "opponent". Given all of free passes and continued adoration he gets, can you blame me?
Here's a clever experiment executed by Luke Rudkowski of WeAreChange: approach people in Times Square and ask if they support Obama. If they say yes, cite all of the things discussed above (drones, the NDAA, the kill list, etc.), but attribute to Romney. Even though this is the first time they've heard about any of this, they immediately accept it as fact and are not shy about adamently decrying these policies. When Luke reveals the truth to them, their reactions suggest the proverbial deer in headlights. Some even do a 180 and accuse Luke of lying, even though they had no qualms about taking Luke's word for it when they thought they were being fed new reasons to revile Romney.
No matter what the outcome of today's electio, this will stand as a summation of what I observed last year, and the conclusions I could only draw. If Obama wins, some of the rabid abortion-on-demand-demanding Obamanoids that I know would surely relish me "losing". They'll be shoot out of luck if they expect me to scrap my principles and ethics, though. As a civil rights activist from our shared history said, "you can't kill an idea."
I'll leave you with a short video making light of all of this madness. Ceasing to be against stuff that you used to be against -- or at least quieting down about it -- when "your" party is in power is inane. Here's Alex Jones, capturing the absurdity of partisanship (and not principle) perfectly:
See you tomorrow, when we'll know (well, maybe...) the election results...
-- Ryan
5. Obama likes killing innocent civilians by remote control. Here, instead of getting impatient by my fumbling attempt to teach you about this subject, I'm sure might find it more palatable if it's relayed by Abby Martin.
Abby's acutely aware of the irony of Obama having won a Nobel Peace Prize. (It's a lot like ... well, George W. Bush winning a Nobel Peace Prize.)
And here's Ben Swann, a local TV news reporter from Cincinatti (and an outstanding one), covering this issue:
6. This past New Year's Eve, when few would be paying attention, "President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), codifying indefinite military detention without charge or trial into law for the first time in American history. The NDAA’s dangerous detention provisions would authorize the president — and all future presidents — to order the military to pick up and indefinitely imprison people captured anywhere in the world, far from any battlefield."
Radio host Alex Jones was on top of this right away, posting an alarm-sounding YouTube video on New Year's Day:
Here's an NDAA tutorial courtesy of, again, Ben Swann:
Abby, of course, also knows what's up:
And, tying in some of the above-discussed jobs, here's Swann being heroic:
Now, if you're an Obama supporter, a lot of this might be new to you. You might be convinced this is rightwing propaganda. It's not. These are all matters of fact (regardless of the opinion of anyone appearing in any of the videos I've linked), and I'm not villifying Obama just because he's a Democrat. I have staunch anti-war, pro-human rights principles. That's where I'm coming from. It's true that I resent Obama for his crimes and his supporters for their ignorance, so it may seem like I am an "opponent". Given all of free passes and continued adoration he gets, can you blame me?
Here's a clever experiment executed by Luke Rudkowski of WeAreChange: approach people in Times Square and ask if they support Obama. If they say yes, cite all of the things discussed above (drones, the NDAA, the kill list, etc.), but attribute to Romney. Even though this is the first time they've heard about any of this, they immediately accept it as fact and are not shy about adamently decrying these policies. When Luke reveals the truth to them, their reactions suggest the proverbial deer in headlights. Some even do a 180 and accuse Luke of lying, even though they had no qualms about taking Luke's word for it when they thought they were being fed new reasons to revile Romney.
No matter what the outcome of today's electio, this will stand as a summation of what I observed last year, and the conclusions I could only draw. If Obama wins, some of the rabid abortion-on-demand-demanding Obamanoids that I know would surely relish me "losing". They'll be shoot out of luck if they expect me to scrap my principles and ethics, though. As a civil rights activist from our shared history said, "you can't kill an idea."
I'll leave you with a short video making light of all of this madness. Ceasing to be against stuff that you used to be against -- or at least quieting down about it -- when "your" party is in power is inane. Here's Alex Jones, capturing the absurdity of partisanship (and not principle) perfectly:
See you tomorrow, when we'll know (well, maybe...) the election results...
-- Ryan
