Obama Is Introduced to Reality

American Chronicle ^ | 11-26-08 | David Karki

[SJackson]

Campaign: Barack Obama said earlier this year he supported legislation that would have mandated that the CIA and other agencies subscribe to a 2006 Army field manual´s guidelines on interrogation practices, which would have the effect of banning harsh treatment of detainees such as waterboarding.

Now: Although Obama issued a statement during the campaign supporting the idea of applying the Army field manual interrogation standard to all agencies, not just the Pentagon, a senior campaign adviser to Obama left the door open to applying another standard.

The Wall Street Journal, citing a "current government official familiar with the transition," reported this week that "Obama may decide he wants to keep the road open in certain cases for the CIA to use techniques not approved by the military, but with much greater oversight."

Campaign: Obama, saying the war was a mistake by President Bush and hopelessly lost, pledges to remove all troops from Iraq as soon as possible.

Now: "The war is over and we won." – blogger Michael Yon, 11/14/08. Will Obama violate the security agreement signed by the U.S. in good faith, which keeps forces in Iraq until 2011?

Campaign: Obama promises to repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gays openly serving in the military.

Now: President-elect Barack Obama will not move for months, and perhaps not until 2010, to ask Congress to end the military's decades-old ban on open homosexuals in the ranks, two people who have advised the Obama transition team on this issue say.

Campaign: Barack Obama repeatedly berates the Bush Administration for large deficits.

Now: Obama says on 60 Minutes that fixing the economy will require running even bigger deficits.

Even the French Army doesn't retreat this much. Everywhere President-elect Obama turns, reality keeps smacking him in the face and giving him wake-up calls. As easy as it is to spew smooth-sounding empty platitudes on the campaign trail when the media is your propaganda organ, delivering on promises that are more faith-based than fact-based is much more difficult. And Obama has begun to find this out the hard way in just the 20 days since he was elected.

Whether you're talking about the hard realities of war, of economics or of science, there is a common truth: The way they work doesn't change simply because arrogant politicians think they can wave a magic wand and make it so. And ignoring how they work, so one can plunge ahead with implementing ill-conceived and unfounded plans, is a recipe for disaster. No amount of good intent can offset it.

[Vigilanteman]

So we're supposed to be happy that Obama might be content to encourage termites gnaw at the supporting timbers of this great experiment we call America rather than taking a wrecking ball to it?

[Paladin2]

"I think he thinks he has been crowned the king"

0be is all about ruling.

[phillyfanatic]

Will Gates preserve the nation from the Left’s socialist pacifism? That is an important question. The nation’s next 4 years probably will be impacted by more international problems than domestic problems. How will that affect the new Messiah’s views? Perhaps the economy will be the problem but one bomb on Israel would end that nation’s freedom. How will America react to that under this new CHANGE agent?

[happygrl]

No, I actually think he believes the ideology of the Left, but he also believes more in the ideology idolatry of himself.

He has been subsumed in a leftist world view his entire life, with few reality checks.

I think the photo of him after he received his security briefing told the story: his world view came crashing down in the light of realty, and he had to adjust it to make himself and his administration viable.

All those statements he made during his campaign reflected the only world view that he knew.