Eat it Barack

I like Barack Obama. I am excited that we are finally going to have a thoughtful and intelligent person leading our nation. Often when I listen to Obama speak I am genuinely surprised and impressed. His insight and eloquence allow him to speak frankly about issues that a lot of national politicians won't address.

Obama does have some very bad policies though. Here are a few that are so bad, we think he should eat them.


The War in Afghanistan

Afghanistan may be an easy target for a politician who needs to prove that he is tough. It was easy to justify invading Afghanistan in the wake of September 11th. But easily justified is not just. Every dead Afghani, like every dead Iraqi, is a grim reminder of America's failed foreign policy.

Obama spends a fair amount of energy reminding us that he was right about Iraq and that we need to focus on Afghanistan. Bravo on being right about Iraq. I was 18 and knew it was a bad idea, as did millions of people worldwide.
Obama could show real political courage and moral authority by shutting down our military industrial complex and standing up for justice and diplomacy. September 11th was tragic but our response was disproportionate and shameful. Three thousand American lives are not worth any more than three thousand Iraqi lives or three thousand Afghani lives. The Bush Administration's response to Sept. 11th and Obama's willingness to continue those policies in Afghanistan are vengeful and dangerous. We need a leader willing to work for our safety, not just pull the trigger.

The most beautiful thing to come from the September 11th attacks was the brief display of international unity and support. Obviously, Bush squandered that at home and abroad. It would be lovely if Obama used his eloquence to remind us that building bridges is more constructive than bombing them. Ridding the world of aggressive military policies and predatory financial policies (IMF/World Bank/Free Market Capitalism) will do a lot more to make America and the world safe than any war ever could.

The Death Penalty
Capital punishment has horrified me for as long as I can remember. In the last eight years we have seen horrifying videos from abroad of people being beheaded, while at home our highest court debates whether or not the way we execute people is humane.

Pushing aside expert evidence that the way we execute people is not humane (Vets have said they would not kill animals the way the United States executes its prisoners), even overlooking our blatantly racist and intentionally punitive "justice" system, the death penalty is wrong. No country has the right to consistently fail its citizens and then turn around and execute them when they do wrong. Individuals are capable of horrifying things. It'd be nice if our society rose above its basest instinct for revenge and stopped executing people.
Sticking a needle in a person's arm and pumping them with paralytics so that we are spared the displeasure of watching a person's painful death is cowardly. At least when a country beheads a person they are forced to digest the truly horrific action they are taking. Obama's support of the death penalty confuses me. It does not deter crime. It is final but not fool proof. There is no need for such barbaric practices to be part of our criminal justice system (I'm sure I'll do another blog one day about how our entire criminal justice system is barbaric. Fun!).



Clean Coal
Coal is dirty. Enough said.

Obama needs to demonstrate leadership by reminding us that any attempt to avoid environmental catastrophe is going to be really hard. Ride a bike. Stop eating beef. Stand up and fight for all those pretty spots we like to go on vacation (New Orleans used to be one of them).









The Bailout

Free market economics and market deregulation has been failing for as long as its been practiced, from South America to Asian and now Wall Street. The irresponsible policies and lack of regulation have down nothing to benefit 99% of the world's people. The bailout is a continuation of those policies. I don't know enough about economics to elaborate farther, but perhaps this will be helpful.