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At last! A president who plays the game, walks the walk, and all that!
Hope you heal soon, Mr. President!
And kudos for the knocks!
Category: Barack Obama
Obama Has Ethics: Pakistani Troops Linked to Abuses Will Lose U.S. Aid
The Obama administration plans to refuse to train or equip about a half-dozen Pakistani Army units that are believed to have killed unarmed prisoners and civilians during recent offensives against the Taliban, according to senior administration and Congressional officials.
The cutoff of funds is an unusual rebuke to a wartime ally, and it illustrates the growing tensions with a country that is seen as a pivotal partner, and sometimes impediment, in a campaign to root out Al Qaedaand other militant groups.
The White House has not told Pakistan of the decision, even though senior Pakistani military and civilian leaders are here for a series of meetings, according to officials from both countries.
It has privately briefed a few senior members of Congress, but it has not given them details about which Pakistani units will be affected by the suspension. One senior administration official said there was “a lot of concern about not embarrassing” the Pakistani military, especially during a week in which officials are here for the third “Strategic Dialogue” in a year.
Well, I guess Pakistan knows now. Let’s hope they hear about this from Turning Left!
‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Is Back, For Now… (Yawn)
From The Christian Science Monitor:
A federal appeals court in California granted a temporary stay on Wednesday, reversing aworldwide injunction against enforcement of the US military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
The action means the Pentagon’s ban on service members who are openly homosexual is, once again, in full force.
The policy was thrown into doubt last week when a federal judge in Riverside, Calif., declared the 17-year measure unconstitutional. As the government scrambled to halt the injunction, military recruiters for the first time began to consider openly gay recruits. Those efforts are now on hold.
In granting the stay, the three-judge panel of the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals is allowing government lawyers more time to prepare their argument. The government is seeking a longer-term stay that would hold the injunction in abeyance for the duration of the appeal.
More.
Look. There are already gays and lesbians serving in the military. Gays and lesbians have shed blood for the United States of America.
Really.
Let them serve.
Let them serve as they are.
‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Is Now History
This today from the United States Department of Defense:
Openly gay men and lesbian women now can apply to join the military, Defense Department officials said today.
The department issued guidance Oct. 15 to process paperwork for openly gay men or lesbian applicants. The instructions come from a California federal judge’s decision that the so-called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law is unconstitutional.
On Oct. 12, U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips enjoined DOD “immediately to suspend and discontinue any investigation, or discharge, separation or other proceeding that may have commenced under the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Act or its implementing regulations.”
Pentagon officials said the department will abide by the judge’s order, and that part of that compliance is allowing openly gay people to apply to join the military. But citing uncertainty over final disposition of the matter in the courts and on Capitol Hill, a DOD spokeswoman said potential applicants must be aware that the situation may change.
“Recruiters are reminded to set the applicants’ expectations by informing them that a reversal in the court’s decision of the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law/policy may occur,” Cynthia Smith said.
Phillips said yesterday that she is leaning against granting the government’s request for a stay of her order. The Justice Department has indicated it will appeal her decision declaring the law unconstitutional to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Defense Department wants a deliberative, long-range look at any changes in the law, said Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Col. Dave Lapan. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates set up a working group to examine the ramifications of a possible repeal of the law that bars gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. The group is scheduled to submit its report Dec. 1.
“The review that is going on would look at all the far-ranging impacts of what changing the law would mean,” Lapan said.
A long-range plan for changing the law would include a period of transition to conduct training, to ensure that everybody was informed about new policies and procedures, Lapan explained.
“In the current environment with the stay, you don’t have the time to go through all these processes and make sure you determine what effect this has on housing, benefits, training on individuals across the board,” he said.
The legislative remedy would allow that work to move forward, Lapan said, as the department would have “the chance to study the impacts, to get the input from the force and to make adjustments and changes before an abrupt change in the law occurs.”
Lapan said it is too early to draw any conclusions about Phillips’ stay and what is happening in the force.
“I would caution against conclusions made from just a few days of having a stay in place,” he said. “A repeal of the law will have far-reaching effects. Now we are sort of in a holding pattern on discharges and proceedings related to enforcing the current law.”
Nod to ENEWSPF.
Obama Related to Palin and Limbaugh, Franklin’s ‘Big Fat Idiot’
Yup — the president has family ties to none other than Sarah Palin, according to the genealogists at Ancestry.com.
Obama and Palin are 10th cousins through a common ancestor named John Smith, a pastor and early settler in 17th century Massachusetts. Obama is related to Smith through his mother, as is Palin.
The president is also related to Rush Limbaugh, who’s a 10th cousin of the president — one time removed — through a common ancestor named Richmond Terrell, who was a large landowner in Virginia, also in the 17th century.
Hee hee hee.
(The ‘big fat idiot’ reference is in reference to Al Frankin’s wonderful book, Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot
President Obama’s Base Step Up for Mid-Term Elections
It’s happening.
It was in the news tonight.
President Obama’s Blue Revolution is coming together for the Democrats at the mid-term. All of us on the Left are realizing that, if we stay at home on election day, the Tea Party, the right-wing arm of the filthy rich screaming to take power in America and restore the Gilded Age, may gain a foothold in Congress.
But Obama’s Dems will not let that happen. Obama’s Dems are waking up.
And we will vote.
Obama Sidesteps Senate Fight: Taps Elizabeth Warren to Launch Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
From Lynn Sweet at the Chicago Sun-Times:
President Obama found a way Wednesday night to sidestep a Senate confirmation blockade and install Elizabeth Warren to launch the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Warren was the first to suggest that consumers needed a government watchdog to prevent financial institutions from exploiting and tricking their customers. HOPE SHE WORKS ON TRANSLATING the small print INTO PLAIN ENGLISH.
Thank you, President Obama!
And Lynn Sweet better add ENEWSPF as one of her Sweet Links after this post!
First Lady Michelle Obama’s Stirring Tribute to the Heroes of Flight 93
From First Lady Michelle Obama’s speech at the memorial of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania:
The men and women of Flight 93 were college students and grandparents. They were businessmen, pilots, and flight attendants. There was a writer, an antique dealer, a lawyer, an engineer.
They came from all different backgrounds and all walks of life, and they all took a different path to that September morning.
But in that awful moment when the facts became clear, and they were called to make an impossible choice, they all found the same resolve.
They agreed to the same bold plan.
They called the people they loved –- many of them giving comfort instead of seeking it, explaining they were taking action, and that everything would be okay.
And then they rose as one, they acted as one, and together, they changed history’s course.
And in the days that followed, when we learned about the heroes of Flight 93 and what they had done, we were proud, we were awed, we were inspired, but I don’t think any of us were really surprised, because it was clear that these 40 individuals were no strangers to service and to sacrifice. For them, putting others before themselves was nothing new because they were veterans, and coaches, and volunteers of all sorts of causes.
There was the disability rights advocate who carried a miniature copy of the Constitution everywhere she went.
There was the Census director who used to return to the homes she’d canvassed to drop off clothing and food for families in need.
There was the couple who quietly used their wealth to make interest-free loans to struggling families.
And to this day, they remind us -– not just by how they gave their lives, but by how they lived their lives -– that being a hero is not just a matter of fate, it’s a matter of choice.
I think that Jack Grandcolas put it best –- his wife, Lauren, was one of the passengers on the flight — and he said: “They were ordinary citizens thrown into a combat situation. No one was a general or a dictator. Their first thought was to be selfless. They knew ‘There was a 98 percent chance we’re not going to make it, but let’s save others’.”
The men and women on that plane had never met the people whose lives they would save -– yet they willingly made the sacrifice.
Hit the link above and read her entire, very moving presentation.
President Obama: Our War is with Al Qaeda, Not Islam
As part of a brilliant and erudite news conference yesterday at the White House, President Obama told reporters that the United States is not at war with Islam. Crediting President Bush with remaining clear on that point, the president stressed the need for Americans to stand together as the ninth anniversary of 9/11 drew near:
One of the things that I most admired about President Bush was after 9/11, him being crystal-clear about the fact that we were not at war with Islam. We were at war with terrorists and murderers who had perverted Islam, had stolen its banner to carry out their outrageous acts. And I was so proud of the country rallying around that idea, that notion that we are not going to be divided by religion; we’re not going to be divided by ethnicity. We are all Americans. We stand together against those who would try to do us harm.
And that’s what we’ve done over the last nine years. And we should take great pride in that. And I think it is absolutely important now for the overwhelming majority of the American people to hang on to that thing that is best in us, a belief in religious tolerance, clarity about who our enemies are — our enemies are al Qaeda and their allies who are trying to kill us, but have killed more Muslims than just about anybody on Earth. We have to make sure that we don’t start turning on each other.
And I will do everything that I can as long as I am President of the United States to remind the American people that we are one nation under God, and we may call that God different names but we remain one nation. And as somebody who relies heavily on my Christian faith in my job, I understand the passions that religious faith can raise. But I’m also respectful that people of different faiths can practice their religion, even if they don’t subscribe to the exact same notions that I do, and that they are still good people, and they are my neighbors and they are my friends, and they are fighting alongside us in our battles.
And I want to make sure that this country retains that sense of purpose. And I think tomorrow is a wonderful day for us to remind ourselves of that.
I support President Barack Obama, and wish to thank him and President Bush for remaining clear and consistent on that matter.
Is America Ready for a Nuanced Discussion of Just War?
Writing about a lecture he attended at St. Irenaeus Church in Park Forest, Illinois, Park Forest Mayor John Ostenburg presents perhaps one of the most nuanced perspectives I’ve ever read on the Catholic Just War Theory. The lecture, given by Kathy Kelly, coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, "covered a much wider scope of things. Really, her presentation should have been promoted with the old John Lennon song title, ‘Give Peace a Chance,’ Ostenburg says on his blog, The Outpost Observer.
What follows is a summary of the lecture by Kathy Kelly, and additional perspective by Ostenburg, including the following:
While I agree with Ms. Kelly in principle, that the sincere and consistent efforts of even a handful eventually can reap genuine rewards, I also am inclined to believe that it is extremely difficult to control the behaviors of any individuals — or even nations — who have hatred in their hearts. Turning the cheek is a personal act that any one of us can take (I might even say, should take), but those charged with the responsibility of protecting the public at large face additional responsibilities that reach beyond that. As Christians, Ms. Kelly and her compatriots do well to imitate the actions of Jesus Christ in how he showed love for those who extended ill toward him; however, even Jesus took up the whip to expel the money-changers in the Temple because of the social ill they were spreading.
As such, I find it difficult to accept that absolute pacifism is enough to effect the kind of change that Ms. Kelly would like to see. Lest we forget, law enforcement also was a necessary component of the changes that ultimately brought major controls on racial hatred in the 1960s and 1970s. People had to be arrested, sentenced, and sent to jail; federal officers often had to engage in strong tactics in order to bring the wrongdoers to their knees. And — even with all the combined efforts of peaceful protest and effective law enforcement — things today are far from perfect and the ugly head of racism still rises all too often and spews its hateful venom.
So, from my perspective, it is legitimate for the U.S. to seek to curtail hateful acts by Al-Qaeda and/or the Taliban. But I also believe the methods we employ in our efforts at self-protection must likewise be legitimate.
An explanation of the Catholic Church’s Just War Theory follows.
What strikes me as fascinating in all of this is this line from Ostenburg’s post, "Even Jesus took up the whip to expel the money-changers in the Temple because of the social ill they were spreading."
Yes, He did. And I never thought about that in connection to warfare.
Read this post in full, and ask yourself, is America, polarized as it is today, ready for a truly nuanced discussion of war — and peace?