Meet the new boss…same as the old boss

“Yes, I would vote to repeal the U.S. Patriot Act, although I would consider replacing that shoddy and dangerous law with a new, carefully crafted proposal that addressed  in a much more limited fashion the legitimate needs of law enforcement in combating terrorism (for example, permitting a warrant for the interception of cell phone calls, and not just land-based phones to accommodate changes in technology).” – Barack Obama

“For one thing, under an Obama presidency, Americans will be able to leave behind the era of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and wiretaps without warrants.” – Barack Obama

“…legal black hole…dangerously flawed legal approach…undermines the very values we are fighting to defend.” – Barack Obama

Now here are the facts on the ground as of this writing:

• The PATRIOT Act remains in effect.
• Wiretaps?  E-mail interceptions?  Yes, Obama apparently needs those.
• Military tribunals?  Oh, hell yes.  Bring ’em on.
• Oh, you mean those “torture” photographs aren’t going to be released after all?
• The prison at Guantanamo remains open, and congressional Democrats appear to have given Obama political cover by yanking funding required to close it.  I have a crisp new C-note (that’s $100 for those of you on the far left of the bell curve) that says Gitmo will be open for business as usual on January 22, 2010—the date by which The One’s executive order says it will be closed.  I’ll honor that bet with the first serious taker.

Naïveté and arrogance adequately explain this list.  Throughout the campaign and during his first weeks in office, Obama was a poster child for clueless swagger (young, dumb, and you know the rest).  But as I’ve mentioned in other contexts, whipping a campaign event crowd into a frenzy is rather far removed from the sober business of quotidian governance.  In this sense, President Obama is distancing himself considerably from Candidate Obama.

The political consequences of these blatant campaign betrayals are disturbing, primarily in their apparent absence.

Huge swaths of Obama’s approach to the war on terror, linguistic absurdities aside, are indistinguishable from Bush’s.  I applaud some of these consistencies as common sense.  I decry others as predictable and regrettable examples of federal powers granted and never relinquished.  (That’s the way it almost always works, kids.  Take notes.)

Given this indistinguishability:  whence outrage?

Where are the throngs of supporters who were lied to, demanding explanations and threatening to withdraw financial support?  Where is the press, to call this liar to account?  Where is the organized minority party response to this ham-fistedness?

I fear it’s not coming anytime soon.  Here’s a whole list of 180-outs, and not only is no one even so much as whimpering about it, Obama’s swagger is intact.  He’s jettisoned an entire section of “principles,” and no one gives a tinker’s damn.

What’s it going to take?

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