Obama de maat genomen door Murdoch's Washington Post

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Na de schermutselingen met Fox, toch erkenning van een ander medium van
Murdoch ;)

Groet / Cees

PS. De Washington Post is het meer eens met Obama, zoals onlangs nog
inzake Iran (voordat de relletjes uitbraken).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/02/AR2009110202451.html
A world of change in 287 days

By Eugene Robinson
Tuesday, November 3, 2009

It's been a year since a healthy majority of American voters elected
Barack Obama to change the world. Which is precisely what he's doing.

Like many people who desperately want to see the country take a more
progressive course, I quibble and quarrel with some of President Obama's
actions. I wish he'd been tougher on Wall Street, quicker to close
Guantanamo, more willing to investigate Bush-era excesses, bolder in
seeking truly universal health care. I wish he could summon more of the
rhetorical magic that spoke so compellingly to the better angels of our
nature.

But he's a president, not a Hollywood action hero. Most of my
frustration is really with the process of getting anything done in
Washington, which is not something Obama can unilaterally change, nimbly
circumvent or blithely ignore. One thing the new administration clearly
did not anticipate was that Republicans in Congress would be so
consistently and unanimously obstructionist -- or that Democrats would
have to be introduced to the alien concept of party discipline. It took
the White House too long to realize that bipartisanship is a tango and
that there's no point in dancing alone.

Step back for a moment, though, and look at Obama's record. His biggest
accomplishment has been keeping the worst financial and economic crisis
in decades from turning into another Great Depression. Yes, the $787
billion stimulus package has been messy, but most economists believe it
was absolutely necessary -- and some believe it should have been even
bigger. Yes, Obama continued the Bush-era policy of showering
irresponsible financial institutions with billions in public funds. Yes,
the administration bailed out the auto industry -- and we actually heard
the president of the United States reassure Americans that General
Motors warranties would be honored.

But these and other actions convinced the financial markets that the
White House would do anything to avoid a complete meltdown. The economy
grew at a rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter and, while
unemployment may not yet have peaked, the odds of a strong and fairly
swift recovery have greatly improved.

Responding to the crisis required creating an enormous fiscal deficit
that Obama will spend years trying to reduce. But not even the most
conservative economists recommend attacking the deficit before the
economy is stabilized on a path of growth. Only Republican demagogues
think that's a good idea.

On national security, Obama moved at once to categorically renounce
torture -- a big step toward removing the ugly stain that George W. Bush
and Dick Cheney left on our national honor. It looks as if Obama will
miss his self-imposed one-year deadline for closing the Guantanamo
prison, but a delay of a few weeks or months will be worth it if the
administration succeeds in developing a comprehensive legal framework --
consistent with our ideals and traditions -- for bringing terrorism
suspects to justice.

Obama should have supported a full-blown investigation into apparent
Bush-era violations of national and international law. And, at a
minimum, he should allow the limited torture probe ordered by Attorney
General Eric Holder to follow the evidence wherever it might lead.

But at least the administration is on schedule in withdrawing combat
troops from Iraq. I don't think Obama knows the right answer on
Afghanistan; I'm not sure anybody does.

Obama's months in office have been so action-packed that it's easy to
forget some of the historic steps he has taken: nominating Justice Sonia
Sotomayor, the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court. Going to Egypt and
speaking directly to the Muslim world about cooperation rather than
conflict. Embracing multilateralism as the template for U.S. foreign
policy in the new century. Accepting the scientific consensus on climate
change. Investing in "green" jobs and education reform as key engines of
economic development.

And then there's health-care reform. I've been impatient with Obama's
strategy of letting Congress take the lead on writing legislation, but
he's brought us to the brink of truly meaningful reform much faster than
anyone could have imagined a year ago. We still have some fighting to do
over two words -- "public" and "option" -- but it looks like the
principle that everyone is entitled to health insurance, a Democratic
Party goal for at least six decades, is about to become law.

Quite a record for 287 days: All that, and a Nobel Peace Prize, too.

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