Comments on: He’s Not the Messiah, He’s Just Another President

By: Salman Shaheen

Salman Shaheen — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:30:28 +0000

Although I agree that these are unrealistic expectations of Obama, or indeed any American president, the criticism of Empire remains valid. I supported Obama’s victory, I continue to think he’s a vast improvement on Bush and that the world is a safer place for it, but I don’t think that makes a left critique of American hegemony any less necessary. If we temper our criticisms of government to include only what is achievable, no one will ever spell out exactly what they want.

By: Tendai

Tendai — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:18:10 +0000

I’m afraid, without mincing my words, this is all just ridiculous. Obama dosn’t, and, to my knowledge, never did, claim to represent every fantasy of the full spectrum of the left. This criticism just amounts to the charge that Obama isn’t “your” Obama. As for the foreign policy stuff, we know Obama’s always been opposed to Iraq: for somebody so opposed to the US presence there to keep the troops surely suggests that there are good reasons why the war didn’t end at a stroke. on 20 January 2009. It’s equally preposterous to criticise him for “presiding over [a configuration of power that the radical left hates]“. For a start, surely you appreciate the difference between coming into a setup, and being the efficient reason for its existence or continuation? Also, I’m not sure what you mean by ‘fundamentalist’. If you mean it in the religious sense, I have to wonder how you came to that conclusion. I think these criticisms are too general and idealistic (and ideological) to be fair.

By: Denim Justice

Denim Justice — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:01:14 +0000

I think this is a really good start at explaining what is wrong with Obama, but it could do with more detail about stuff like his position on Guantanamo, the whole CIA torture memo thing, Binyam Mohamed, the Patriot Act, and particularly the way he has acted in the whole health care debate: he has hardly been defending the public option, much less proposing it and arguing strongly in favour of it. In fact, at every opportunity he has said that he is open to alternatives, i.e. to a health care reform bill that doesn’t have a public option written into it, which means it won’t be reform at all. More detail on how he has escalated the war in Afghanistan, with links to details and pictures of how his “change” in foreign policy there has resulted in the deaths of even more innocent Afghan and now Pakistani civilians, would be useful.