Just a musing here: I’ve noticed that as Obama has assembled his foreign policy/defense team, the people who will be prosecuting the War on Terror look a lot like the people who were Bush’s team to prosecute the War. And while there have been some notable—even important—changes of direction, in the main much of the campaign rhetoric now seems muted.
Is it because that was just red meat for the campaign? Are they keeping their powder dry until after the inauguration? Or maybe—and this is just pure speculation—after he was elected Obama was given access to all the information Bush has had and now that he knows what Bush knows Obama recognizes that Bush has been doing what has to be done. In all likelihood there is much more to the overall National Security and terrorism picture than any of the bloggers and pundits and journalists and even individual Beltway insiders know.
If this were true, it would be some small comfort to know Obama recognizes this.
But it is likely that this idle speculation is completely off-base and an attempt by my subconscious to formulate a reality in which Obama is not going to be as bad a president as I’m afraid he will be.
Another aspect of this is to examine it from a pro-life perspective. I know it was debated during the campaign by some that Catholics need to take a broader prolife perspective that includes the death penalty, war, just wages, etc.
This was typically argued by those Catholics seeking to minimize President-elect Obama’s abortion views. Yet, when one does consider the broader perspective, Obama will increase the number of troops fighting in Afghanistan, he is pro-death penalty in some circumstances, and is unlikely to limit covert activities important to the war on terror or dismantle the military “School of the Americas” that so many find shameful.
Then Sen. Obama was hardly a stalwart of the broader prolife perspective, and I strongly suspect his administration will reflect his…with the addition of a disproportionate support and focus in expanding access to abortions worldwide.