Thursday, April 23, 2009

Presidential Poison

is the title of a WSJ editorial which begins - - -

Mark down the date. Tuesday, April 21, 2009, is the moment that any chance of a new era of bipartisan respect in Washington ended. By inviting the prosecution of Bush officials for their antiterror legal advice, President Obama has injected a poison into our politics that he and the country will live to regret. …

Mr. Obama may think he can soar above all of this, but he'll soon learn otherwise. The Beltway's political energy will focus more on the spectacle of revenge, and less on his agenda. The CIA will have its reputation smeared, and its agents second-guessing themselves. And if there is another terror attack against Americans, Mr. Obama will have set himself up for the argument that his campaign against the Bush policies is partly to blame.

Above all, the exercise will only embitter Republicans, including the moderates and national-security hawks Mr. Obama may need in the next four years. As patriotic officials who acted in good faith are indicted, smeared, impeached from judgeships or stripped of their academic tenure, the partisan anger and backlash will grow.

And speaking of which, when will the GOP Members of Congress begin to denounce this partisan scapegoating? Senior Republicans like Mitch McConnell, Richard Lugar, John McCain, Orrin Hatch, Pat Roberts and Arlen Specter have hardly been profiles in courage.

Mr. Obama is more popular than his policies, due in part to his personal charm and his seeming goodwill. By indulging his party's desire to criminalize policy advice, he has unleashed furies that will haunt his Presidency.

The entire editorial’s here.

I’d like to think the WSJ editors are wrong but I’m afraid they’re not.

Something else: I can’t shake the belief President Obama may be doing what he’s doing for political reasons.

What are your thoughts?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

One other aspect to this issue:
our intelligence officials conduct liaison with foreign intelligence and security agencies; information is exchanged and cooperative agreements are reached. I can absolutely guarantee that foreign services are watching this spectacle and they will be very hesitant to trust us with sensitive information or cooperation because they will, with justification, conclude that the next administration may go on a witch hunt and their identities and information will no longer be secure.
I served as liaison between U.S. Military Intelligence and Republic of Korea Home Ministry, National Police, and Central Intelligence Agency from 1971 to 1976. I've seen sources dry up following political witch hunts in our country during the Carter administration. Obama will soon regret what he has done if he truly wanted to increase bipartisanship and end the game of political "gotcha!"
Tarheel Hawkeye

Ken said...

Every, and I really mean, every action of the Obama regime is driven by politics. There are no standards. There are no principles. There are no morals. Obama is the culmination of the marriage of the Democratic Party with the extreme left in this country.

Just remember when Obama says he's post-partisan, he means that no one will be allowed to disagree with him.

Anonymous said...

Clearly, BO caved to the Move On crowd. That would just be another day in BO World normally, but in this case there are national security implications and his actions are just wrong.

GMP