My Issues with Obama

Before I get accused of being an Obama sycophant, I just probably take a few sentences and mention all the things that his administration has done that has really disappointed me. 

First, his failure to tackle the torture issue.  Under Bush, the US committed torture.  Plain and simple.  There are two parts to this.  One, Obama did nothing to look into the prosecution of those that committed torture.  Two, it now appears that we have outsourced our torture to other nations by shifting "enemy combatants" to other countries that may not be so unkind to certain interrogation techniques. 

Second, Obama claimed to want to be a very transparent administration.  While this administration is indeed far more transparent that probably any President before, this Administration has fought just about every attempt by the public to gain information via the Freedom of Information Act by citing the States Secrets Act.  As a side note, shame on the courts for granting just about every request made by the Obama Administration.

Third, signing the extension of the Patriot Act.  This is one of the most unpatriotic and unconstitutional pieces of legislation ever written and both Dems and Repugs alike extended it with nary a wimper as to how much of our rights have been forfeited.  The existence of the Patriot Act alone is indication that the terrorists already won.

Fourth, his massive clamp down on marijuana and medical marijuana.  Massive savings at pretty much every level of government, from towns up through the Feds, would save billions of dollars a year by simply ignoring much of the petty, misdemeanor possession charges.  Police would be redirected toward other crime prevention.  Prosecutors could focus more on felony cases.  Less money would be spent on incarceration and courts.  This alone would probably be a non-trivial stimulus to the economy.

Fifth, his inability to take control of the true message during the all of the deficit an debt ceiling debacle.  The Republicans set the message early and Obama had no choice but to give in to their whims or else the GOPers would have crashed the economy.  He is finally getting now, but the Repuglicans are brazen now.

Sixth, his ordering of the killing of the American born terrorist, al-Awlaki.  When I wrote that blog, I wasn't  sure how I felt about that act, but now I believe it was illegal and leads us down a slippery slope.  Not unlike what Bush did with the torture memos.  At the very least, al-Awlaki should have been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury for various crimes.  Treason being one of them.  Then issuing a request to the Yemen government to apprehend him and extradite him to the US.  Had al-Awlaki been killed in that attempt, so be it.  But at least the due process of law for an American citizen would have been followed.  Also, if there was any evidence that he rejected his citizenship, then the Administration should have asked a court to reject his citizenship.  This would have opened up the drone attack as a true military operation against a sworn enemy of the US.