Saying no to superstition as the day wears on -- Those of us leaning Left feel a sense of relief that a return to justice may be on the way again, after eight years of Georgw W. Bush ignoring the rule of law. Attorney General Holder announced that several detainees will be brought to New York City to stand trial in federal court. And President Obama confirmed his belief that justice surely will be served there. Unfortunately, but predictably, Republican leaders quickly took up their old, tired-out tactics of fear mongering. I am beginning to believe that some of them are truly fearful, though I believed for a long time that it was a political tactic. What an awful way to live. What a pitiful way to lead.
Superstition and fear are first cousins. So it is wonderfully ironic that the worst fears of Republicans (almost the worst) came true on this Friday the 13th. Over the next few months they will be found out, branded as wrong-headed and seen for their lack of imagination and capacity to move on. What this administration is doing is returning to the way it was over most of our history, normal. And for all the Right Wing's accusations of radicalism from the President, it turns out he is just methodically normal.
For example -- Congress is to be treated as a more co-equal branch of government, though the President objected to their knee-jerk military spending on an unneeded airplane. In the end Congress gets to write the legislation and the President signs it, or not. Courts are where guilt and innocence are decided and where the rule of law is defined. The Executive branch executes the law of the land, adheres to treaty obligations. President Obama is on a trip to foreign lands, talking and listening, thank goodness. He does not seem to be bound by fears, or by anger, or by angst, or by jealousy, or by ignorance. He's just sort of a normal president running a normal administration. Eight years of the Bush administration made us forget what that is like.
Illustration is from Wordle.net.
No comments:
Post a Comment