Michael Harris
Ottawa Sun
Saturday, April 18, 2009
The Obama presidency is becoming a reverse fairy tale: The prince is turning into a frog.
Elected as an anti-war candidate, he has dispatched 21,000 more troops to Afghanistan, stepped up CIA drone killings in Pakistan, and given the order for the world’s most sophisticated navy to blow away three pirates in a skiff. Like his predecessor, the current Chider-in-Chief has lectured European nations on their failure to supply more troops to the mission. Don’t they know NATO is just another American division?
As for Iraq, the promise to end the war is turning into a Clintonian exercise in twisted diction. It all depends on what “withdrawal” means. The dates for leaving are as blurred as a bad forgery. It doesn’t matter. The president can hardly say he’s pulling out when as many as 50,000 U.S. combat troops are staying behind to guard the gas station.
What about integrity in government? Judging by his gutter-ball series of appointments and attempted appointments, I am beginning to think that either his vetting process was actually looking for crooks or the president is moving in the wrong circles.
Obama put a tax-cheat in the U.S. Treasury, tried to put an even bigger tax-cheat in Health, and only reluctantly dropped an accused influence peddler as commerce secretary. He can’t even get a Kennedy into the Vatican as America’s ambassador. Didn’t he know the Pope doesn’t approve of abortion? Didn’t any of the Chicago millionaires around the president know that Caroline Kennedy does?
Remember all that change coming? George Bush spied on Americans illegally and then said it was OK because the terrorist surveillance program was all about national security. Candidate Obama and his running mate were shocked and appalled.
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