Blog @ MoreWhat.com

The President-elect as early Jun 24, 2007 had a take on Gitmo… SAN ANTONIO — Barack Obama told a Texas crowd on Sunday that he wants the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainee facility closed Since then or whenever Obama first stated his intent on Gitmo things appear to have changed. Wow, the mantra of change can be expressed in terms other than those intended by the Obama 2008 campaign now that he is President-elect. The first indication of this change was from reports that Obama and/or his camp were contemplating where to ’store’ the detainees at Gitmo if they were to close the facility. There is a chance that Barack Obama was and is as inexperienced as opposition to his election, including this blog, had stated throughout the campaign. Has the stark realization begun to settle in now that the Messiah has been privy to the daily intelligence briefings? Becoming commander-in-chief may have caught the former junior US Senator from Illinois and Illinois State Senator by surprise. All that focus on winning the election may have overlooked some study time on what would really be necessary to fulfill his Constitutional obligation if elected. Which also raises the question of his popular choice of Senator Biden to shore up his lack of foreign policy experience. Did Joe forget to have the discussion with Barack or fail to bring the requisite resume’ to the Office of Vice-President needed to prepare the newly elected American leader?

Even the left leaning MSM has recently expressed four reasons that Obama will not make good on his campaign promise to close Gitmo anytime soon.

The Gitmo Dilemma
Four reasons Obama won’t close the controversial prison soon.

Reason one is repatriation and the additional problem that detainees may face torture if this route is taken not to mention releasing those regarded as terrorists by some is a case of Russian roulette even for those on the left convinced of their innocence. The second reason listed is ‘not in my backyard’ if relocating detainees is viewed as an option for closing Gitmo’s detainee center. Oops, number three outlines the problem in federal courts or even the possibility of military courts having to deal with the small matter of a change from war time rules to civilian rules and items like the Miranda decision. Would future detainees be placed at Bagram air base in Afghanistan? Poor Barack Obama, so many options and so few good choices. It was much easier during the campaign when rhetoric and presentation trumped reality.

The distance between political campaigns and the realities of governing may be coming home to roost for Barack Obama and those who voted for him. During the campaign as included in Rush Limbaugh’s interesting endorsement of Obama as the candidate who can be anything you want him to be, it is quite reasonable to return to the notion that besides selecting Obama to avoid passing on a chance to elect the first black President in the US, voters may have accepted the idea that this mystery man could really be The One and not ‘that one’. Matters of law, the Constitution, its interpretation, core American values and the entire list of items expressly stated as concerns of conservatives and laughed at by liberals will be the focus of much of Barack Obama’s Administration.

One reason this blog would not support Barack Obama as the first black President of the United States during the campaign was practical and honest. Based on how little was really known about the candidate Barack Obama raised concern that beyond the risk to the nation if he was elected and proved to be the wrong choice the damage done to the idea embodied in the election of the first black President in the US would suffer as well.

Gitmo is certainly not the only issue to face the newly elected President with grave implications of principle and law. It is just the beginning of a journey that among other things may raise the level of importance in the public’s mind on what should take center stage when exercising the civic responsibility of voting and all that should be considered when doing so. In order to arrive at the voting decision requires more than casual observation of political campaigns during each election cycle. One must actively engage in the process regularly by reviewing history, this nation’s most important documents and adding to one’s knowledge in a fashion adequate to the task. Too many elections are determined by votes cast with uninformed personal opinion or not cast at all. An uninformed or selfish or apathetic electorate may be more dangerous to the republic than the terrorists discussed in this post.

Become and/or stayed informed as it is of grave importance to the survival of this nation. In addition to that, as a matter of current events, the financial woes dominating the news can be directly linked to the general public being lax in their attention to important issues. Another reason to avoid the socialist nature of those who favor a nanny state expected to attend to every individual’s requirements when given complete authority. The corporate welfare being distributed this year and beyond may be an indication the nanny state is currently in full bloom. Rely on it for your welfare at your own peril.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 4:34 am and is filed under Public Affairs, Terrorism, war, wordpress, Politics, ethics, America, Law, Justice, obama, Foreign Affairs, Military. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.