Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A Change is Gonna Come

And today is the day my friends. Today is the day. 45 years later. Today is the day.

7 comments:

Oemissions said...

Let's HOPE so!

Robert G. Harvie, Q.C. said...

I too, am optomistic. As a Conservative who truly just wants what is best - I echo Mitt Romney's comments yesterday complimenting President Obama on his efforts to reach across party lines to find difficult solutions in troubled times.

I look foward to more such change. Our parties could all take a lesson, including our own PM.

Saskboy said...

There is a case to be made though, for prosecuting crimes like torture, even if it risks appearing as an attack on partisan differences. Like it or not, torture was never constitutional in the United States, and not even the President can order things that are not constitutional. Some of the change has to be the stopping of crimes against humanity.

Robert G. Harvie, Q.C. said...

..hmm.. must have missed that reference to "torture" in the Seal lyrics.. but, in any event, the new President appears unlikely to engage in any "torture" witch-hunt.. to his credit. See: http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/011209a.html

The country needs to be united - not divided, and the sort of partisan glee than lead the Republicans to the Kenneth Star side-show is hopefully unlikely under Obama.

Saskboy said...

This isn't about a stain on a blue dress, this is about Gitmo, Iraq, illegal actions in prisons, illegal spying on Americans, simulated drowning, and sleep deprivation. Clinton lied about an affair, but Bush broke founding principles and laws of a free society that is supposed to oppose war crimes. Do you think Bosnia could move on if it left its war criminals to slink away? How about Zimbabwe, should they let Mugabe go peacefully? A country that is about "taking responsibility" needs to clean up its own mess, and not leave it to the UN.

Robert G. Harvie, Q.C. said...

Well, firstly, I don't really want to wade into the debate about whether or not "truth commissions" are all they are cracked up to be -but Obama is much too seasoned a politician to be side-tracked into a partisan debate on the questions of conduct of the past administration.

If you think the American people - broadly speaking - are going to stand for a former President to be questioned about his response to the killing of American citizens on American soil - well, I think you are naive in the extreme. And comparisons of Bush to Mugabe or to Milosovic are simply puerile.

The bottom line is, as Obama has keenly observed - the priority for Americans is restoration of their economy - and other than a marginal minority, no one wants to see their new administration drawn into a "Watergate" type of mess to serve the interests of those who, ostensibly, are enemies and terrorists of the U.S. people.

Even in Canada - where we didn't endure the horror of our citizens being murdered on our own soil - you aren't hearing a huge hue and cry over the current hearings on Omar Khadr. Canadian citizens of convenience are not exactly a major priority over those worried about feeding their children next month. So - while your comments regarding torture are, in some respects, valid - I would suggest nothing will come of it - and probably, in the big picture, nothing should.

Saskboy said...

"And comparisons of Bush to Mugabe or to Milosovic are simply puerile."

The dead, if they could, would probably disagree. Not that I should speak for the dead. Instead I'm speaking for the living, who have a high respect for the rule of law, the ideal the American Constitution is founded on that all men are equal and are treated equally under the law.