Some news from Trinidad:
Mr. Obama came to this lush and mountainous Caribbean island with the aim of forging new relationships in a region that felt ignored by his predecessor, and on that score he clearly succeeded. He tamped down tensions over Cuba by declaring he sought “a new beginning” there. By the summit meeting’s end, Mr. Chávez said he was ready to send an ambassador to the United States.
Yet some old tensions remained. President Evo Morales of Bolivia confronted Mr. Obama during a private session with a charge that the United States is meddling in his country and had plotted to assassinate him. Mr. Obama responded on Sunday, saying, “I absolutely oppose and condemn any effort at violent overthrows of democratically elected governments.”
Good to hear.
How about other forms of government?
Did they come into power by violently overthrowing the previous government?
There are other forms of government with peaceful successions, such as constitutional monarchies. On the other hand, if Obama supports democratically elected governments, governments elected in internationally-monitored free and fair elections, then that would include Hamas. And Hugo Chavez.
Don’t think there are any constitutional monarchies in Latin America… are there? At any rate if Obama opposed the violent overthrow of non-democratically-elected governments this would imply he opposed the war in Afghanistan…
Ah but what do the shadow services think? After the torture memos they are going to hate him more than ever. I wouldn’t put it past them to do something risky that if it works, shows Obama up for not using “hard” tactics or if it fails, embarrasses him.
BTW, Rosenberg hosting an Obama attack party over at Open Left this weekend.
Even for Paul that essay is outstandingly ignorant and pompous. But he has shown a capability to keep growing on those fronts, so one should not be surprised.
That’s kind of what I was thinking. The CIA has invested so much in being one of the most implacable enemies of democracy abroad and the rule of law at home that it’s difficult to imagine that they can be brought to heel without a concerted effort. In any case, it will certainly take more than the president’s sentiments to contain them. They were already a state-within-the-state before Bush; they are quite likely almost entirely autonomous now.
Fighting corruption, particularly within the military and state security apparatus, is always a tricky problem for those states unfortunate enough to be faced with it. Invariably, the corruption has already spread into other areas of government (e.g., the legislature) well before the fight begins, and the villains can always hide behind a pretense of patriotism and count on a certain proportion (27%?) of the population to defend them like the useful idiots they are. The end result is that attempts at reform are hobbled from the outset.
How far can a reformer go if he cannot even state the obvious, which in this case is that the upper echelons of the military and virtually the whole intelligence bureaucracy is rotten to the core?
If only the “left” was attacking the corrupt security force instead of the reforming President.
It’s amazing how everyone else gets to skate when the hate is poured on the President. Lovely.
I oppose sedans. Oh, sorry.
I agree, good to hear, but he isn’t saying that he opposes all coups or non-violent undermining of foreign governments or meddling in the internal affairs of other countries. It’s a pretty narrow statement.
Here’s something else Obama and Holder must do:
Prosecution Conundrum Worsens: Immunity for Torture
Lawyers? How About a Pardon for Truth Lawyers?
by Jesselyn Radack [Subscribe]
Share this on Twitter – Prosecution Conundrum Worsens: Immunity for Torture Lawyers? How About a Pardon for Truth Lawyers? Mon Apr 20, 2009 at 05:26:38 AM PDT
On Friday, my diary discussed the moral absurdity created by the Spain court’s decision not to prosecute top officials involved in torture because they “weren’t there,” coupled with Obama’s grant of blanket immunity to the CIA operatives who actually carried it out.
Some of you suggested that Obama was leaving the door open to prosecution of the top perpetrators. Wrong. As Kossacks have already blogged about over the weekend, Rahm Emanuel said that President Obama opposes any effort to prosecute the Justice Deartment lawyers who drafted the heinous memos devising, authorizing and justifying torture.
And to think that I was mad that Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility was giving John Yoo and his ilk special treatment.
Disappointment does not begin to express my despair that–taking a page straight from the Bush playbook, which characterized those seeking a torture investigation as being out for “revenge”–the Obama administration painted anyone seeking an inquiry as being out for for “retribution.” Contrary to what the MSM would have you believe, this is not a middle ground. It’s a free pass.
Jesselyn Radack’s diary :: ::
First, the MSM is pushing the notion that the White House has struck a “middle ground” after the release of the torture memos by granting all the players immunity.
This is not a “middle ground.” The usual transparency and open government advocates “won” the release of long sought-after memos that were in the public’s interest to see. The torturers won immunity. The tragic choice here is not the torture. It’s the decision to willingly blind ourselves to U.S.-sponsored brutality in order to “look forward”–an absurdity on its face.
Second, there is a difference between retribution and justice. There is a difference between retaliation motivated by spite or vindictiveness and justice motivated by lawfulness.
Shame on President Obama for deliberately conflating the two when he knows better. Investigation (with the possibility of prosecution) forces a democratic society to confront the evil of torture in an open way. Otherwise, brutality operates off the radar screen of accountability in an extralegal “twilight zone.”
Finally, I would like a presidential pardon for Thomas Tamm (who revealed warrantless wiretapping), Matthew Diaz (who revealed the names of those being held on GITMO), myself (who revealed the first known instance of torture and government misconduct post-9/11), and anyone else who helped expose the illegalities of the prior administration.
If the President of the United States is going to grant immunity to everyone from the telecoms to the torturers, then pardon those of us who have been criminally investigated, bankrupted, blacklisted, and are still suffering the personal and professional fallout of what really was pure “retribution” for doing the right thing.
ACTION: * Go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/... and share your outrage.
* D.C. Office of Bar Counsel: (202) 638-1501
has authority to investigate Yoo, Bybee and Bradbury, but is still investigating me. Anyone can file a complaint.
* Call American Bar Association (312) 988-5500
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