It’s one thing to second-guess the sitting US president from the campaign stump as a candidate—or as an opinionated blogger—but it’s quite another thing to sit at the president’s desk, know what he knows, and make decisions that affect the lives of hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people. I think Barack Obama is learning that lesson. Obama is now saying that he may have to back off from some campaign promises, including his vow to shut down the military prison at Guantanamo Bay where terrorists and other ne’er-do-wells are held.
He also acknowledged that his campaign pledge to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay will be more of a challenge than anticipated.
Obama said that while some evidence against terrorism suspects may be tainted by the tactics used to obtain it, that doesn’t change the fact they are “people who are intent on blowing us up.”
Looks like someone got his presidential national security briefing. Obama now knows what Bush knows, which is a heck of a lot more than the masses of people who have been second-guessing Bush for the last eight years. Obama has had a big heaping helping of reality, which we can hope he will assimilate and respond to responsibly. If not, we’re in for a very rough four years.
Update: And don’t let the latest news headlines fool you. Read the rumors they’re reporting and what you’ll see is that Obama is supposed to be signing an executive order the first week or day in office to begin the process of closing. Which means that someday the prisons will close. Which means that nothing has changed except a symbolic act designed to appease his liberal base.
