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I am not saying it is a bad thing (I mean in this post. In general I think it is a terrible thing - but that isn't the thrust of these musings.)
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Arguably his number 1 legislative success is the Affordable Health Care Act, which was designed by a Republican Think Tank (the Heritage Foundation) and first implemented by a Republican Governor. It doesn't provide a "public" option, all the implementation is through private companies. That is straight-ass Republican dogma.
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As President he has prosecuted whistle-blowers in a manner that would make Dick Chenny proud. Although he didn't waterboard Bradley Manning, Manning's treatment for 10 months was defined as torture by every international body that was allowed to visit him - something the International Red Cross had to petition to do. Bradley Manning was subject to this in order to get him to implicate Julian Assange, and the torture didn't stop even after it was clear that Julian Asssange did NOT contact Bradley Manning. The Marine Commander in charge ultimately resigned his post rather than continue the inhumane treatment of Crpl. Manning. A Marine Commander said the treatment Manning got was too much!
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President Obama has expanded the scope and reach of internal spying beyond reasonableness. Everytime someone gets up and tells us "everything" we find they have lied to Congress, to the american people and nothing happens. We are on an international snit becuase of EricSnowdon, but haven't done fuckall about the NSA chiefs, sub-chiefs and minnions that lied to Congress about that same security apparatus. Those are felonious, but nothing NOTHING happens to them. No we are goign after the low level man who exposed their lies. In Communist China that would be something we would comment on as a breach of rights. IN America Diane Feinstein is on the warpath agains the little shit because she didn't do her job. Oversight schmoversight.
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President Obama's team has carried out drones strikes, bragged about them, and then - when questioned - cites national security to refuse to even admit there is a drone program.
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He made the Bush tax cuts permanent for anyone making less than $400,000 a year, locked in idiotically low capital gains rates and then allowed obnoxiously wealthy hedge fund managers to claim their wages as capital gains.
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Now he has acted "liberally" in some areas - gay marriage and not deporting children of undocumented workers that are going to college. But I would argue these are more libertarian, the model of Western Republicanism than liberal (and by Western I mean Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and California prePete Wilson). Kind of the fiscally conservative, socially libertarian ideas populated by Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan (before he was canonized and idealized by the Republican establishment to the point Reagan wouldn't be Reagan-enough anymore). Even Rick Perry supports allowing undocumented people brought as children to go to college and contribute to the tax base.
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And, so as not appear weak on immigration he has massively increased deportation and border security. (Border security is up by 100% since Bush the Younger and Deportations are up five fold).
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Is all this bad? Maybe not. Maybe the best President is a Republican in Democratic clothing. In fact, Ed and I have often discussed that a reasonable Republican would give the American people a choice. I would, however, have liked to see a real Democrat back in the White House after voting for the party.
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Perhaps, given the state of the world, this is impossible in America. Maybe we are too big a target or something. Heaven knows it isn't world wide. Other countries (Spain, UK, Sweden, Italy and Germany) have had terrorist threats and actions within their borders and haven't turned into security fiefdoms. I wish there was an option to vote for that would try a different path.