The worm turns and turns...

Feeling puckish, I submitted my sarcastic previous post about Obama to Buzzflash. I thought that my offering would make the progs furious. Surprisingly, it received a reasonably warm welcome, although it did not make the front page.

I was fascinated to learn that most of the recent submissions to Buzzflash listed under the "Barack Obama" heading reflect severe disappointment in the Lightbringer's administration. What a strange development! (As you will recall, Buzzflash was a prime dispenser of Hillary-hate during the primaries.)

Here are some examples:

Watching Obama Morph Into Dick Cheney

America has lost her soul, and so has her president.

Obama has defended the Bush/Cheney warrantless wiretapping program run by the National Security Agency and broadened the government’s legal argument that "sovereign immunity" protects government officials from prosecution and civil suits when they violate US law and constitutional protections of citizens. Obama’s Justice Department has taken up the defense of Donald Rumsfeld against a case brought by detainees whose rights Rumsfeld violated.

In a signing statement this month, Obama abandoned his promise to protect whistle-blowers who give information of executive branch illegality to Congress.

Obama is making even more expansive claims of executive power than Bush. As Bruce Fine puts it: "In principle, President Obama is maintaining that victims of constitutional wrongdoing by the U.S. government should be denied a remedy in order to prevent the American people and the world at large from learning of the lawlessness perpetrated in the name of national security and exacting political and legal accountability."

Obama, in other words, is committed to covering up the Bush regime’s crimes and to ensuring that his own regime can continue to operate in the same illegal and unconstitutional ways.

Will the O-fans call the author of this piece a racist?

AP report: Source claims Obama intel pick tied to CIA torture program

A former Bush administration official nominated by President Barack Obama to serve at DHS was linked to the CIA’s torture program, a source tells the Associated Press.

An AP article claims that a congressional aide “who spoke on condition of anonymity,” and wasn’t “authorized to discuss the matter publicly,” has “confirmed that [Philip] Mudd, who was deputy director of the Office of Terrorism Analysis at the CIA during the Bush administration, had direct knowledge of the agency’s harsh interrogation program.”

In 2006, FBI agents feared Mudd wanted them to engage in ‘ethnic targeting’ and mocked him as ‘Rasputin’; Once allegedly ordered FBI agents to search falafel sales records to find Iranian terrorists

Team Obama/Cult Obama

Yet, these commentators are impressed, in many cases very impressed. In the world at large, this frame of mind borders on a cult.

I could go through the talk Obama gave in Cairo and point out line by line the hypocrisies, the mere platitudes, the plain nonsense, and the rest. (”I have unequivocally prohibited the use of torture by the United States.” — No mention of it being outsourced, probably to the very country he was speaking in, amongst others. . . . “No single nation should pick and choose which nation holds nuclear weapons.” — But this is precisely what the United States is trying to do concerning Iran and North Korea.)

Writer William Blum then goes on to compare Obama to Hitler -- something that even the Confluence would probably consider out of bounds.

Obama May Allow Even More Arms Exports Than Bush

A Boeing executive predicted that the Obama Administration would allow exports of even more advanced US weaponry than his predecessor George W. Bush did.

When you think about it, this development provides some substance for the right-wing "Obama's a socialist" meme. Military contracting is arguably the most socialized aspect of our economy.

The Privatization of Obama's War

The President asserted in his Cairo speech on Thursday that he has no desire to keep troops or establish permanent military bases in Afghanistan. But according to Jeremy Scahill, “I think what we're seeing, under President Barack Obama, is sort of old wine in a new bottle. Obama is sending one message to the world,” he told Moyers, “but the reality on the ground, particularly when it comes to private military contractors, is that the status quo remains from the Bush era.”

A Bush In Sheep's Clothing

"It is also undeniable," the president said, "that the Palestinian people – Muslims and Christians – have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than sixty years they have endured the pain of dislocation."

Suffered in pursuit of a homeland? The pain of dislocation? They already had a homeland. They suffered from being ethnically cleansed and dispossessed of it and prevented from returning on the grounds that they are from the wrong ethno-national group. Why is that still so hard to say?

He lectured Palestinians that "resistance through violence and killing is wrong and does not succeed". He warned them that "It is a sign of neither courage nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children, or to blow up old women on a bus. That is not how moral authority is claimed; that is how it is surrendered." (Note: the last suicide attack targeting civilians by a Palestinian occurred in 2004)

Fair enough, but did Obama really imagine that such words would impress an Arab public that watched in horror as Israel slaughtered 1,400 people in Gaza last winter, including hundreds of sleeping, fleeing or terrified children, with American-supplied weapons?

Time to Look Past Obama’s Words and Face-up to His Action

On Israel, Obama has created a small divide with Israel. He is urging Israel to stop expanding the settlements, something that is not a breakthrough in new policy. Israel is refusing, as they always have. But, Obama is saying nothing about the illegal security wall, the ongoing abuse of the people of Gaza, the continued demolition of homes in the West Bank and Jerusalem nor is he threatening to do anything if Israel continues on its land-stealing path. Indeed, he promises to continue to provide all the funding Israel has sought as well as provide all the weapons they need. Thus, Obama’s actions continue to make the U.S. a facilitator of Israel’s abuse of the Palestinian people.

When it comes to the military budget, the Obama administration is seeking more funds – not less. And, the budget submitted by the administration continues the practice of falsity with the understating military and homeland security costs. He is, so far, continuing the practice of seeking supplemental funding for wars.

Perhaps the worst news is the relative silence of the peace movement. Yes, some are criticizing, but some are still holding out hope that Obama is different. Others of us pointed out that buried beneath the peace-friendly rhetoric during the campaign were Obama’s promises of escalation. Now, more and more are seeing he meant what he said when it came to his support for a hawkish U.S. foreign policy.

Can you imagine the uproar if President Bush had taken these actions?

Well. Well well well.

If you want to see stories castigating the president, there's no need to visit Cinie or the Confluence or Red Dragon or No Quarter or even (gulp) Cannonfire. Everything you need to know is being collated on a site that once publicized nothing but pro-O puff pieces.

Still no apology...

Added note: From Joan Walsh in today's Salon...

I was on "Hardball" today talking about the climate of extreme right-wing rhetoric today, and whether it had anything to do with Wednesday's tragic shooting at Washington's Holocaust Museum, or the May 31 murder of Dr. George Tiller by an antiabortion crackpot.

I tried to choose my words carefully. Unless it's shown that either man had accomplices, we have to be clear that the men responsible for those murders are the ones who pulled the trigger. Still, it's hard not to think about the extreme right-wing rhetoric, especially about Barack Obama, and whether it could conceivably lead to more right-wing violence.

What about the tons of hate-talk offered by the pro-Obama forces during the campaign? What about the transformation of Kos, D.U., AmericaBlog and TPM into festering cesspools of cyber-rage? What about the death-threats?

Apparently, that genre of extremist rhetoric does not trouble Joan Walsh...