War Crimes and Misdemeanors

Almost two weeks in and it’s clear that the Obama Administration is still learning as it goes when it comes to governing the nation. The bi-partisan approach that candidate Obama spoke about during the campaign has been supplanted by the more rudimentary tendencies that are, sadly, deeply rooted in the body politic of Washington. The stimulus package that virtually every prominent economist has said is vital to getting the economy jump-started is a case in point. Rather than getting directly involved in the drafting of the bill he wanted, which would’ve allowed him to involve House Republicans in the process, he acquiesced and allowed House Democrats to draft the bill. His naiveté turned what could’ve been a joint venture into a highly polarizing, bitter battle in which the House passed the stim bill without any Republican votes. He further exasperated things by standing by and letting Senate Democrats have at the bill, again naively believing a number of moderate Republicans would sign on to the bill. While Obama spent most of this week sidetracked by the Tom Dascle fiasco, Republicans in both the House and Senate took advantage of the seeming chaos within the White House to score some vitally important political points with the American public. Only an eleventh hour overture by two moderate Senate Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, allowed a deal to be brokered in the Senate, thus averting what many thought was a certain Republican filibuster. Even then, Senate majority leader Harry Reid almost gummed up the works by resisting the cuts proposed by the moderate members; he eventually caved in, warmly praising the bill and calling it “an imperfect compromise.”

While Obama took it on the chin this past week, I suspect he will learn from this process and become a better president for it. He is not the first president to stumble out of the chute. Bill Clinton, in 1993, was a little too over zealous, forcing his health care initiative on the Congress without any input from House or Senate leaders. The result was that the Democrats lost both houses of Congress in the mid-terms of 1994. Obama, not wanting a repeat of ’94, opted for the hands off strategy, rather that the take-it-or-leave-it approach that boomeranged on Clinton. Unfortunately, in doing so, he lost control of the stimulus bill and allowed Congressional Republicans to define the bill as “bloated.” Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Obama's courtship of Republicans only to be rebuffed by them should serve as "an early lesson for the President and his team."

In-deed. One of the things he is going to have to do is realize that the election is over. He won; he has a working majority in both houses of Congress and he needs to spend that political capital wisely. What he needs to do is govern, and that means reeling in the more liberal elements of his party; e.g. Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid, as well as giving up any hope that he will turn conservative Republicans. What Ronald Reagan did very effectively was define his message to the American people, draft his own legislation, then look to make deals with moderate Democrats. He blasted liberal Democrats as typical “tax and spend” bureaucrats bent on destroying the country, this despite the fact that the budget proposals of his administration were usually more than the Congress called for. Reagan knew that it was the perception of the facts, rather that the actual facts, that made the difference to the vast majority of Americans. To this day, even though the budget deficit more than doubled during his eight years in the White House, Reagan is remembered as the president who championed less government spending.

In the same way, Obama needs to get it that conservative Republicans, especially in the House, are not his allies. The fact that they survived the ’08 election means that they are not likely to face serious challenges in the 2010 mid-terms. He needs to find the few moderates in the Senate and work closely with them to pass his legislative agenda. Wasting his time on politicians who look up to the likes of Rush Limbaugh only undermines his own presidency and puts into jeopardy the stranglehold his party has on the Congress. The fact that Obama has shifted gears and started going on the offensive over the last couple of days is evidence that he is aware of the fact that governing is far more difficult than campaigning. When the stimulus bill goes back to the House, Obama will face the biggest challenge of his new administration as House Democrats attempt to pick apart the changes made in the Senate. His proponents have often cited Obama's ability to change and grow; for the nation’s sake, he’d better be a quick study.

But far more important and potentially damaging to his administration than his domestic policy missteps, are the current Capital Hill hearings for CIA nominee Leon Panetta. Panetta, long an opponent of abusive interrogations and torture, did an about face by retracting a statement he had made earlier on the use of torture, practically accusing the U.S. of moving terrorist suspects to countries whose policies were far more lenient. "On that particular quote, that people were transferred for purposes of torture, that was not the policy of the United States," Leon Panetta told the Senate. "To that extent, yes, I would retract that statement." The only problem is that the United States was doing just that and the facts support the charges, whether Panetta denies it or not. Making statements such as "That kind of extraordinary rendition, where we send someone for the purposes of torture or for actions by another country that violate our human values, that has been forbidden by the executive order," does not address the underlining issue: that while current administration policies will prohibit these acts from being committed in the future, the very real dilemma facing the nation is that the United States sanctioned such practices in the past.

During Attorney General Eric Holder’s confirmation hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the nation finally heard the three most important words that could’ve been uttered from a new administration appointee when he said, “Waterboarding is torture.” But, aside from reiterating that the Obama Administration will close Guantanamo and restore the Justice Department's reputation of independence from political interference, Holder stopped short of saying whether the department would pursue criminal prosecution of those Bush Administration officials who carried out acts of torture on detainees.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, this “stain” on our country must be removed. It is not enough to wipe the slate clean and start over by proclaiming that what was done illegally will no longer be tolerated. Past offenses must be dealt with, and past offenders must be brought to justice. Failure to do so will encourage future administrations to assume that torture is condonable so long as it is policy. It also puts the United States in the same category, however much conservatives may object to the analogy, as the Nazi party in Germany. Nations, like it or not, are judged by their actions, not their words.

The Obama Administration must prosecute those officials who not only carried out torture, but also those who authorized it regardless of the political pain it might cause at home. Karl Rove’s defiance of a Congressional subpoena ordering him to testify about the politically driven hiring and firing of U.S. attorneys is yet another example of the Bush Administration’s contempt for law and justice. President Obama, you must finally put an end to this mockery and bring to a close the most painful chapter in American politics since the McCarthy era. In every way imaginable, this task is as important, if not more so, than restoring the nation’s economy and bringing the troops home from Iraq. I know you are at heart a pragmatic man. That is commendable; no doubt that character trait will serve you well during your presidency. But there are times when we all must put principles above pragmatism. This is one of those times. Future generations will not ask how pragmatic you were; they will ask, when you knew the truth, what you did with it. One of your heroes, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., once sang out three powerful words, quoting a negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last!"

A nation waits anew to hear those words again. Free us from the tyranny of fear and contempt of law that has bound us and, yes, defined us these last seven years and make a bold stand that future generations will take note of and, more importantly, future presidencies will never challenge. Please Mr. President, do the right thing, I beg you.