barack obama Archives - Page 2 of 37

Obama’s Report Card

The terrifying prospect of a Mitt Romney foreign policy has somehow obscured just how badly President Barack Obama has performed. When Obama took over as the self-proclaimed “leader of the free world” in January 2009 there was a war going on in Afghanistan, a lesser war continuing in Iraq, and smaller interventions in Yemen and … Continue reading

The Unraveling of Obama’s Foreign Policy

Three days after Ambassador Chris Stevens was assassinated, Jay Carney told the White House press corps it had been the work of a flash mob inflamed by an insulting video about the Prophet Muhammad. As the killers had arrived with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons, this story seemed noncredible on its face. Yet two days … Continue reading

Race for the White House, 2012:
Whom to Root For?

In September of 1992, as the presidential election pitting George H. W. Bush against Bill Clinton loomed, libertarian theorist and all-around political junkie Murray Rothbard wrote a piece, “Making Our Way Back to the President,” in which he explained the key difference between voting for (i.e. politically supporting) a candidate, and “rooting for” one: “Whom … Continue reading

Obama Against the World

Since this is my version of an election piece, I plan to get the usual stuff out of the way fast. So yes, the smartest political odds-givers around believe President Obama has a distinct edge over Mitt Romney coming out of the conventions, the Senate is trending Democratic, and who knows about the House. In … Continue reading

Rumors of Wars

The presidential candidates’ failure to have a serious discussion about Afghanistan and America’s other ongoing wars has been noted by many. Mitt Romney did not mention Afghanistan at all in his acceptance address. In his defense, he cited a speech made to the American Legion on the night before his appearance in Tampa. “The president … Continue reading

The Dumbing Down of American Foreign Policy

Think back to the election of 2008. Do you remember how one candidate had it easy? He had eight years of abject failure to run against. Eight years that included the launching of two dismal wars, the creation of a torture gulag with its crown jewel at Guantánamo Bay, the ushering in of a program … Continue reading

Politics Subvert the All-Important Rule of Law

One of the most important issues in the 2012 election is a non-issue because both parties want to ignore it: punishment for Bush-era human rights violations by torture. Nevertheless, in a country where the rule of law (that is, we are all supposed to be equal before the law) should be paramount, it is vital … Continue reading

The Freedom 7 Are Beating Obama in Court

While Congress was dickering over doomed amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the “Freedom 7” have been quietly gaining the upper hand over the federal government. In fact, their successes so far have been so underreported by the mainstream media that it is hardly known that this small but determined group of plaintiffs … Continue reading

Shame on All of Us

The shameful spectacle of American politicians trying to outdo each other in demonstrating their love for Israel played out again last week. The sparring began before the Olympic Games in London. Israel asked for a moment of silence at the opening ceremony to commemorate the 11 Israeli athletes who were murdered in Munich 40 years … Continue reading

Four More Years of Warrantless Surveillance

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) established a panel of judges (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court) who were empowered to issue warrants to federal government organizations, including the National Security Agency, to enable them to listen in on the conversations of American citizens or residents who were speaking to foreign nationals overseas or … Continue reading