Thursday, August 7, 2014

William Rivers Pitt — The Dumpster Fire of Obama's Moral Authority

The presidency of Barack Obama ended on Friday, August 1st, 2014, as far as I am concerned. He'll sit in that round room until January of 2017, but he can go peddle his platitudes elsewhere. By lining up with and defending the torturers, he has added his name to the roll call of shame that continues to dishonor this nation. I no longer have any interest in what he has to say.
Barack Obama reveals himself for what he really is, a pragmatist without principle. A suit instead than a person. And a criminal, just like those who broke their oath and the torturers.

Truthout | Op-Ed
The Dumpster Fire of Obama's Moral Authority
William Rivers Pitt

3 comments:

Dan Lynch said...

Thanks for saying that, Tom.

Anonymous said...

Obama is a pragmatist?

Tom Hickey said...

I would say that Obama views himself as acting pragmatically than as a matter of principle. He is willing to throw principle under the bus to achieve a result. This is a serious character flaw revealing a morally weak person.

Conversely, Republicans like G. W. Bush view themselves as principled rather than ruthless. I would call it being delusional, or even criminally insane in the case of ordering torture. But while their principles may be morally depraved and legally vacuous, they "stand on principle" unwaveringly. Many Americans agree with them, and the press has refused to question their actions, let alone condemn them, indicating a morally sick society.

Obama doesn't really stand for anything and just blows in the wind. He has reversed himself on previous stand on just about everything. While he sees this as being pragmatic — the perfect being the enemy of the good— I would call it being pusillanimous and even craven at times, as in the case of not dealing with torture according to the law and his oath to uphold the constitution. He is a constitutional lawyer, after all, or at least taught constitutional law.