Powerful Op-Ed: “As a Democrat, I am Disgusted with President Obama”

What are you thinking, Mr President?

Is this really the legacy you want for yourself: the chief executive who trampled rights, destroyed privacy, heightened secrecy, ruined trust, and worst of all, did not defend but instead detoured around so many of the fundamental principles on which this country is founded?

And I voted for you. I’ll confess you were a second choice. I supported Hillary Clinton first. I said at the time that your rhetoric about change was empty and that I feared you would be another Jimmy Carter: aggressively ineffectual.

Never did I imagine that you would instead become another Richard Nixon: imperial, secretive, vindictive, untrustworthy, inexplicable.

– Jeff Jarvis in the Guardian

Jeff Jarvis is a journalist, a professor and a self-proclaimed Democrat. While my readers know all too well what I think about these fraudulent political mafias, I mean parties, the older generation still has an archaic attachment to them. I suspect this emanates from some long forgotten time when there was actually a meaningful difference between the two.

Personally, I am quite pleased that pretty much nobody I know from my generation or below identifies with such silly notions as being a “Republican” or “Democrat.” However, I recognize that it does still retain meaning to a majority within the older generations, so when one of of them who identifies with a particular party becomes so disgusted that they turn on their tribal affiliation’s leadership, it can present a significant moment. I believe that Jeff Jarvis has created one of those moments and I strongly suggest you read his op-ed. From The Guardian:

What are you thinking, Mr President?

Is this really the legacy you want for yourself: the chief executive who trampled rights, destroyed privacy, heightened secrecy, ruined trust, and worst of all, did not defend but instead detoured around so many of the fundamental principles on which this country is founded?

And I voted for you. I’ll confess you were a second choice. I supported Hillary Clinton first. I said at the time that your rhetoric about change was empty and that I feared you would be another Jimmy Carter: aggressively ineffectual.

Never did I imagine that you would instead become another Richard Nixon: imperial, secretive, vindictive, untrustworthy, inexplicable.

No, I think it is this: secrecy corrupts. Absolute secrecy corrupts absolutely. You have been seduced by the idea that your authority rests in your secrets and your power to hold them. Every attack on that power, every questioning of it only makes you draw in tighter, receding into your vault with the key you think your office grants you. You are descending into a dark hole of your own digging.

But you know better, don’t you? In a democracy, secrecy is not the foundation of authority; that is the basis of dictatorships. Principles and their defense is what underpins your office.

First among those principles is the defense of our freedom. Security is only a subset of that, for if we are not secure we are not free. Freedom demands the confidence that we are not under attack, yes, but also that we are not being surveilled without our knowledge and consent. The balance, which we are supposedly debating, must go to freedom.

You could decide to respect the efforts of whistleblowers as courageous practitioners of civil disobedience who are sacrificing much in their efforts to protect lives and democracy. If they are the Martin Luther Kings of our age, then call off Bull Connor’s digital dogs and fire hoses, will you?

You could decide to impress us with the transparency you still can bring to government, so that the institution you run becomes open by default rather than by force.

You could decide to support a free press and stop efforts – here and, using your influence, with our friends in the UK – to restrain their work.

Full article here.

In Liberty,
Mike

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5 thoughts on “Powerful Op-Ed: “As a Democrat, I am Disgusted with President Obama””

  1. Moyers: America’s Gilded Capital and Losing Democracy to the Predator Class

    “The political class has reached some kind of critical mass in the 21st century. There is something going on in Washington that needed to be called out. I do not think it can be sustained, and I think it is indecent. It is not how Americans want their government and their capital city to be.”

    I strongly recommend that you watch this inside look at the culture of unwarranted privilege, unprincipled greed, and self-delusional narcissism amongst the ruling elite in Washington and New York.

    http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2013/08/moyers-americas-gilded-capital-and-end.html

    Reply
  2. There IS something that needs calling out in Weaselton, DC (District of Corruption)…follow the money. As far as Obama, he is a mere puppet whose strings are being manipulated by some very dark powers. He is wicked, corrupt, and evil himself, but not as much as his masters. This country is being intentionally ruined, and the media is complicit, as witnessed by the recent naming of Hillary Clinton as the next president through the four made-for-TV “specials” or “movies” about her. Mark my words, no matter who goes up against her, it’s her turn to be president. There is NO two-party system, they are two sides of the same coin, despite protestations to the contrary by such folks as Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz.

    One of the problems I see, and there are many, is that the “politikal klass” have turned what was supposed to be a two-to-eight year commitment to the People of the United States to represent them in a Contitutional Republic, into a lifetime career. Serving in the House or Senate was never intended to be permanent. It was supposed to be a chance to serve your country, not serve yourself to the treasury, which it has become. This is one of the reasons why “Term Limits” will never be enacted. They think they deserve the right to loot the U.S. taxpayers, they are but common thieves. The “little people” are not educated enough on what is REALLY going on to care. They are too busy going about their ant-like existence, being conditioned by the media to blindly accept everything that is fed to them as the truth. This is criminal, both in intent and in practice. Why do you think they no longer teach US History, American Government, or anything even slightly resembling critical thinking? In a word, to deceive.

    The U.S. finally flatlined in 2008, with the election of a Communist president, and the thug riff-raff he dragged in with him. He has sullied the reputation of the United States, the office of President, and the White House itself. People call me racist for saying that, but I don’t hate Obama because of the color of his skin, I hate him because he hates America, and is trying to systematically destroy the nation, our way of life, and our economy. I have no respect for him, nor his cronies. They are but lying, thieving cockroaches, a cancer from which this country will likely never recover.

    God bless the USA. I want my country back!

    Reply
  3. First of all I beg your pardon for my rough english…
    I enjoyed this article A LOT! I cannot understand how is it possible for my generation going on believing in political (I’m Italian). You know, I have friends, and normally they are quite intelligent peoples that are still believing in the so called democracy in Italy! They vote for PD (former communist party) and they go on saying so stupid and already proven wrong things (Italy is a full socialist country now, totally in the hands of union, bureaucracy, judges and so called politics; liberty, private property does not exist any more…).
    You gave me the answer. Plain and easy “the older generation still has an archaic attachment to them”.
    And this is it.
    Thank you very much
    Niki

    Reply

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