Obama Proves That Americans Understand Irony

In the days and weeks that went by after Mr. Obama's inauguration, we were patient and accepted that he could not immediately reverse all the damage the Bush administration had wrought on the USA and the world. It's now growing

 increasingly clear that with regards to civil rights and the rule of law, Mr. Obama's administration is not offering "change" at all, and is indeed reneging on some of the most important promises it made during its election campaign.

Mr. Obama has announced the closure of Guantanamo Bay, and has disallowed the usage of the term "unlawful enemy combatants"(a term which essentially gave free reign to those charged with detaining prisoners) with reference to that facility, however, he has repeatedly asserted (and is now contesting for) the government's right to do exactly the same things at a military base in Bagram, Afghanistan. 

When it comes to the protection of civil liberties on the domestic front, the Obama administration's inability to "change" or "progress" is increasingly embarrassing for anyone who wrote articles about Obama with titles like "A New Dawn and a Mythic Hope". Mr. Obama's administration has blocked at least three lawsuits brought against the NSA (National Security Agency) over warrantless wiretapping, citing the argument that state secrets had to be protected, and that to even entertain a trial, or allow any sort of out-of-court settlement would "cause exceptionally grave harm to national security" (source). This is exactly the argument the Bush administration used to justify its executive excesses, and exactly the argument the Obama campaign lambasted, derided, and whipped up fury over.

Further, Mr. Obama and his administration brazenly betrayed a commitment made last year by congressional Democrats to allow members of the Bush administration implicated in illegal surveillance (wiretappings and email interception, mostly) to be prosecuted. When called up on this promise, the Obama administration not only declared that they would not be allowing any of these lawsuits to go forward, they also added that in the future, lawsuits against the government on the grounds of illegal surveillance will be prohibited, unless the government openly disseminates your phone bills itself. By that point, though, I'll already be applying for jobs at Minitruth. 

There is yet hope, though. the outrage that Obama's attitudes has provoked has been vigorous and healthy, and decidedly bipartisan. If anything, Obama's campaign worked too well. You can't base a campaign on reigniting the electorate's interest in politics unless you're actually ready for them to actually be interested in what you do. Thankfully, closing Guantanamo Bay wasn't a salve strong enough to mask the creeping stains of the rest of the administration's actions.

"Change can't just be a slogan" - Barack Obama, 2007