Shock! President Obama is a Politician

Posted on 05/14/2009 at 3:07 pm by Bob Cesca

Yes, his flip flop on the torture photos is disturbing.

Yes, the photos will eventually be released one way or another. Most likely by the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, no, the Republicans won’t be able to say that the president ignored advice from top military brass and “endangered” our soldiers.

Yes, the post-Bush era of transparency will be served.

Yes, President Obama is a politician who must make some decisions with politics in mind. I think that gets forgotten sometimes.

UPDATE: Sullivan seems to agree on the politics of this:

I will note this too about the politics. If Obama wants to get the truth out, and does not want to be slimed as a partisan avenger (the propaganda line from the Rovians), it helps him to have symbolic spats with those of us who believe we have no choice but to confront the war crimes of the last administration. This has long been his mojo: give symbolic gifts to your opponents while retaining the core issue.

The president appears to acquiesce to the right, knowing that the photos will be released anyway. It’s — how you say? — smart politics. Just because he didn’t personally drop the pictures from a helicopter onto Glenn Greenwald’s house is irrelevant. The idea is to eventually reveal the photos. If it gets done, who cares how it gets done?

UPDATE 2: This photo thing is beginning to look like small potatoes next to the emerging evidence that the Bushies used torture to fabricate a case for war.

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  • http://tarackian.deviantart.com J M Ashby

    I totally agree and I thought this was a political move from the start. Its a smart political move though, and will allow him to continue focusing on domestic policy reform.This is further self-distancing on the torture issue and leaving it to congrees and the courts.He eliminates a whole host of right-wing talking points with this move.

  • jmy

    I hate that term flip-flop though. I think as with anybody you have the right to change your mind and that’s what he did. When he decides to release them a week from now, then change his mind again a week later, then yeah, I’ll say he’s flip-flopping.

  • http://www.broadwaycarl.blogspot.com Broadway Carl™

    Yikes, it took Bob five sentences what it took me all morning to write about.

  • http://www.xkcd.com/ ∇•B=0  Silly Ratfaced Git  ∇•D=ρ

    I agree with jmy. This was not a flip flop in my book.All appearances indicate that the change was brought about after counsel from DoD provided reasons for the change. I don’t particularly like the decision, but it does not change my trust in the President. I see no indication that the decision was capricious and therefore assume that it was a careful and thoughtful decision. I don’t have to agree with the President on everything in order to trust his judgment.

  • langx

    Imagine if Bush changed his mind just once on a number of issues.

  • ablamj

    that’s not change we can believe in

  • http://www.xkcd.com/ ∇•B=0  Silly Ratfaced Git  ∇•D=ρ

    There is no indication that Bush had a mind to change.

    “I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn’t here.” –at the President’s Economic Forum in Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002

    “You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.” –interview with CBS News’ Katie Couric, Sept. 6, 2006

    “I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.” –on “Good Morning America,” Sept. 1, 2005, six days after repeated warnings from experts about the scope of damage expected from Hurricane Katrina

    I’ve seen AIs that show more signs of intelligence.

  • http://www.xkcd.com/ ∇•B=0  Silly Ratfaced Git  ∇•D=ρ

    W describes the 19 to 21% in his own words:

    “You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on.” – George W. Bush

    At least the intellectual leaders of the Democratic Party have not fled in horror. Judge Posner thinks the GOP is done. Kaput: GOP Icon Declares Party “Brain Dead”. I hope your brain dead leadership works well for you. At least Lush can give advice on staying out of jail when you are arrested on drug charges. Too bad his method involves having lots of money to buy your freedom. How is that Family Values pretense working for you?

  • http://frankchowrules.blogspot.com Frank

    Thank you for posting this. Another thing to note, what are the legal matters of releasing photos that could be used in a court of law?Shoot Chris Brown might get away with his domestic violence…

  • Lexaburn

    The Pete PUMAS are calling for Obama’s head on this so-called “flip-flop.” President Obama is an utter failure, they say.I was wondering when you’d broach the subject, Bob.People do not seem to get that Bush left Obama a ton of crap to deal with, so he’s not going to appease each and every single article for mere retribution’s sake. The bastards deliberately left all this nonsense, like the march to nationalizing banks, the two wars, the image and our national psyche in need of repair, etc.Some of you want to sit and stare at disturbing photos once again, you can. We already know that the bastards did the deeds, and to my ears, the arguments some present against releasing these photos makes a whole lot of sense…at this stage, I mean. At some point the record is going to have to be set straight on just what these people were up to. If these photos are as bad, or even worse than Abu Gharib…I’m just saying the drama is going to be heavy, and we’d better be prepared to suffer consequences for the Bush Administration’s incompetence. It is what must happen. We all bare some responsibility, because, as they say, Bush was our guy. We must never let ANYONE forget that this is all Bush’s fault.Now let some snippy GOPussy holler about Bush not being president anymore, right? Tell the bozos to stop parroting the idiots, and while they’re at it, they really do need to stop throwing up Truman as an example. They’re not as clever as they believe when they do it, and the only thing it highlights is desperation on their parts.Damn, this whole thing sucks. But it’s what we have to do.Get ready to fight the orcs and warlocks on this, y’all.President Obama made the right choice, IMHO…for now.

  • jm

    Question: How soon after Obama,(hypothetically), decides to carry on the policy of “enhanced interrogation” for the good of the country will you guys declare that it’s not torture if a democrat does it?sign me too far to the left to trust any of them.

  • ablamj

    I agree with jm

  • Harry Hood

    That explains the absence of rainbows and unicorns. Thanks for the clarification.

  • http://tarackian.deviantart.com J M Ashby

    “How soon after Obama,(hypothetically), decides to carry on the policy of “enhanced interrogation” for the good of the country will you guys declare that it’s not torture if a democrat does it?”Probably never since that isn’t going to happen.Obama isn’t dumb. We just heard from the FBI yesterday (under oath) that the good information they did get was from before they applied torture.So if normal techniques work, and torture doesnt, why use torture?Not only is torture illegal, but it doesn’t even work anyway. The only reason you would use it with this knowledge in hand, is if you’re a pleasure seeking sociopath.Am I suggesting that torture was ordered for malicious reasons? Absolutely. It had absolutely jackshit to do with national security.

  • rdale

    I think Obama is playing them all. So he says he doesn’t want to release the photos, knowing full well that they’ll come out anyway, one way or another. So when they do come out and everyone is outraged, he can say “hey, it wasn’t me!” totally undercutting the Reich-wingnuts who then can’t accuse him of hatin’ on Th’Troops. I think it just shows how very smart he is.

  • Lexaburn

    Never mind “torture” for a minute. Who says what constituted “enhanced interrogation” in the first place?Oh, and why we’re the same people who defend the acts using such terms as “enhanced interrogation techniques” slipping in and out of arguing for “torture” as if the two acts were of equal consideration?What were/are these people attempting to say when they talk out of two sides of their mouths in such a manner?

  • Imaginista

    Just because Obama says no to the release of the photos to the public doesn’t mean they go away. Nor does it mean the investigation stops. Adding citizens armed with torches and pitchforks doesn’t make some greater case that the torture is heinous. We already know it is, and I’m sure we don’t even know the half of it yet, but we will. Call me naive, but I believe Obama when he states his reason for keeping the pics under wraps and I don’t think his reasons have anything to do with keeping the Cheney family happy.

  • http://obamaproject.windonwater.net QueenTiye

    Thanks, jm, for giving me another truth watch item.QT

  • JDS

    I agree with everyone who thinks Obama is doing the smart thing.Fortunately we can count on him to do what is smart. In my view he is more pragmatic than most leaders.

  • jm

    You’re welcome Queen. And, just to set the record straight, I don’t necessarily believe that Obama Will start torturing people. But he has already shown that he is just another tool of the corporate oligarchy and not the shining knight. I voted for him myself. But only because the system is rigged so that only conservatives(democrats) and fascists(republicans) are allowed anywherew near the reins of power. Some choice.

  • MatthewN

    Let’s say for argument’s sake that the SCOTUS overturned the appeal and allowed the pictures to remain secret.What then? Would Obama release them anyways becuse his little gamble (being forced to do the right thing) failed?At the end of the day he’s breaking his campaign promises, he’s breaking his own stated policy on the FOIA, and he’s actively pursuing what looks to be an untenable legal position.This is not only about producing the right outcomes. This is about showing the country and the world that we’ve changed course.So far, what America and the rest of the world is seeing is a president who:Is trying to sweep his countries obvious torture of detainees under the rug.Is making the same state secrets claims to deny plaintiffs their day in couts.Is talking about reinstating Miltary Commissions rather than giving (presumed innocent) detainees a real chance to defend themselves.Is trying to find a way to continue holding some of those prisoners indefinitely.And more.The message we’re sending the American people is “Bush was right to do these things; Obama is finding that out now that he’s sitting in the big chair.The message we’re continuing to send to the world is “Fuck you. American Exceptionalism, baby!”I understand the concept of “I’m going to let the court be the bad guy and MAKE me do these things so I don’t have to pay a political price to get things done”. But Just like with Bush… the ends don’t justify the means.