Thursday, January 19, 2012

Would you vote for any candidate who promised to do all of this?

There's been a minor media whirlwind for the last few days about the latest Newsweek cover. 
It features a piece by Andrew Sullivan about how freakin' stupid Obama's critics are. 


The funniest part is the little slogan about "the man with a plan".  Heh.  I don't think he could plan a lunch for four at McDonald's, but that's just me. 

Here's the best response I've seen to the Newsweek piece.  It's from Conor Friedersdorf with the Atlantic Monthly.  It hurts.  Go here to read the whole thing. 

How would you have reacted in 2008 if any Republican (or any other resident of this planet) had promised to do the following: 

(1) Codify indefinite detention into law; (2) draw up a secret kill list of people, including American citizens, to assassinate without due process; (3) proceed with warrantless spying on American citizens; (4) prosecute Bush-era whistleblowers for violating state secrets; (5) reinterpret the War Powers Resolution such that entering a war of choice without a Congressional declaration is permissible; (6) enter and prosecute such a war; (7) institutionalize naked scanners and intrusive full body pat-downs in major American airports; (8) oversee a planned expansion of TSA so that its agents are already beginning to patrol American highways, train stations, and bus depots; (9) wage an undeclared drone war on numerous Muslim countries that delegates to the CIA the final call about some strikes that put civilians in jeopardy; (10) invoke the state-secrets privilege to dismiss lawsuits brought by civil-liberties organizations on dubious technicalities rather than litigating them on the merits; (11) preside over federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries; (12) attempt to negotiate an extension of American troops in Iraq beyond 2011 (an effort that thankfully failed); (13) reauthorize the Patriot Act; (14) and select an economic team mostly made up of former and future financial executives from Wall Street firms that played major roles in the financial crisis.
Amazing, isn't it? 
Newsweek magazine, R.I.P. 

4 comments:

Hot Sam said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Many have and will again. There are no oath keepers at that level. Our congresmen and senators or there "handlers," author this stuff. We are just along for the ride.

kerrcarto said...

Don't forget six trillion in new debt and selling guns to drug lords while at the same time curtailing Americans right to own them.

The Whited Sepulchre said...

AND Cash For Clunkers. I'm still pissed over that one....