As I mull over and view the above video of President Obama's recent personnel announcement of his recent nominees; "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye is softly playing in the background. I've been reading and listening to different perspectives from progressives, conservatives (black and white) moderate op ed folks such as Eugene Robinson and some others regarding this matter. Viewed a panel discussion on Melissa Harris-Perry's 1/12/2013 show about it especially as it relates to the lack of diversity for key powerful positions within the administration. As always, those who refuse to publicly express serious concern about his choices always begin with this caveat..."I'm somewhat concerned about his choices...BUT" and you can fill in the excuses or rationales they've used to reconcile their concerns.
Chuck Hagel (appointed Secretary of Defense) is one that they (all the above) assert is not in the pocket of the republicans and right now has lost favor with them over his stands on Israel and the middle east so..he may be worth the fight with Congress over his appointment. There is still room for concern. John Brennan is another matter. For all that is prudent; I don't understand why he chose this man as an adviser during his first term and finally decided to give him the most powerful position of CIA Director in the field of espionage. The collateral impact the latter has on domestic issues also leaves one in a state of incredulity; given his dubious history. Truthdig among other websites exposed this facet which is hard to swallow I would think for most moderates and of course progressives have added this development to their long list of issues in trying to determine who is President Barack Obama. Brennan is a scary guy and he's had the President's ear on drone strikes, torture issues and that open festering sore Guantánamo Bay among other contentions.
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| White House/Pete Souza |
I thought I'd share Truthdig's article for the sake of this post on these nominations as well as their links. If you are so inclined to express your concerns, make a comment or provide other links to articles that would be of interest on this matter; please feel free do do so.
Link:
Obama’s CIA Pick Stinks of Torture, Targeted Killings - Truthdig
4 comments:
I wonder how much say so president Obama actually has. One would hope that having an African-American in the white house has more than symbolic significance.
W. Moon
@W.S. Moon: I've wondered that myself and realized that much of the power of the Presidency has been symbolic. My concern is that President Obama is so invested in reconciliation, outreach and bipartisanism {with absolutely no cooperation from his political foes} that there is a tendency to capitulate. We need him to be a stronger advocate in his position for the marginalized, poor and dwindling middle class. Also, to promote peace which those drones and their indiscriminate terror against innocent civilians and children diminishes.
Appreciate your comment.
Carolyn,
I've not been paying as much attention this as I should. Your post alerts me to one of the issues that plagues me about PBO. Clearly, some of his appointments are highly questionable and Brennan's is not in line with the conciliatory message he promotes. However, he's obviously been a strong proponent of drones and overreaching authority that weakens civil liberties. It makes very little sense to me, honestly.
I, too, have begun to feel that the presidency is a great deal more symbolic than we've been lead to believe. Funny though that we never felt this way until the election of an African American to the office...
Your point is well taken about the appearance that symbolism seems to come to the forefront when it pertains to President Obama. To add to this perception I think has to do with the beltway/congressional opposition towards him. It was so open and virulent and his cabinet choices seemed so incongruent with the promises made during the initial campaign. Although, I must say that I thought that about Bush, for we knew that Cheney & Donald Rumsfeld actually ran the show. Reagan was symbolic and he delegated most of his duties and became a spokesman for decisions that he agreed with but couldn't pull off on his own.
I think Jimmy Carter really made that clear to me during his 4 yrs.
His own administration didn't support him especially after the Iran Hostage Crisis. He was more influential on the world stage the years following his Presidency.
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