Obama is smooth...

[Ben]

Do you surrender your autonomy by joining a political party?

http://equalityanddemocracy.org/?p=89


Do you surrender your autonomy by joining a political party?

by admin on February 8, 2012 in Uncategorized

As a citizen and a voter in our democracy, is your role to blindly follow your leader, or to use your political power (your vote) to promote and protect your values? Are your values your own, or do you let your political party define them for you?
The Washington Post published a poll today indicating “broad support for Obama’s counterterrorism policies.” According to the poll, even “the left wing of the Democratic Party” approves of drone attacks and indefinite detention at Guantanamo Bay. The article almost immediately points out the irony of this: voters chose Obama in part because he “campaigned on a pledge to close the brig at Guantanamo Bay and to change national security policies he criticized as inconsistent with U.S. law and values.”
This paragraph is worth highlighting:
“The poll shows that 53 percent of self-identified liberal Democrats — and 67 percent of moderate or conservative Democrats — support keeping Guantanamo Bay open, even though it emerged as a symbol of the post-Sept. 11 national security policies of George W. Bush, which many liberals bitterly opposed.” (emphasis added).
Moreover, “fully 77 percent of liberal Democrats endorse the use of drones,” despite many resulting civilian casualties and its questionable legality.
It’s worth comparing the data to older polls. Regarding Guantanamo, overall 70% of respondents agreed with President Obama on keeping Guantanamo open. But in June 2009, more Americans favored closing the facility than keeping it open. In 2006, only 57% of Americans supported using the Guantanamo detention center house accused terrorists. Even in 2003, support was only at 65%. Now, under the leadership of a President who campaigned with the promise to close the facility but reneged, support for the detention center may be at its highest level ever.
The Pew Research Center released a poll last year that demonstrated a similar shift of support by Democrats on the Patriot Act. In 2006 under the Republican Bush, 25% of Democrats viewed the Act as a “necessary tool” and 53% thought it went too far. Five years later under the Democrat Obama, 35% of Democrats said the Act was necessary, while only 40% thought it went too far. Republicans, on the other hand, showed less support for the Act in 2011 than they did under Bush.
This is a very limited supply of information, ACED realizes, certainly not enough to draw firm conclusions. However, the polling data suggests that a significant number of people who identify as belonging to a political party (a) change their values to conform to the policies of their party, and/or (b) change their values to oppose the leader of the other party. Either is totally inconsistent with a citizen’s role in a democracy.
If you have real values, and if you hope to have any real impact with your vote; if you don’t want be a mere automaton predictably picking red or blue over and over again without regard to policy, you have to think for yourself and stand up for your values.
UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald does a better job of covering this issue. Similarities with his post are purely coincidental.
UPDATE 2: Here is perhaps a more telling stat. In February 2009, one month after Obama took office and when it was still believed he would close Guantanamo, 64% of Democrats supported its closure.

[onmyknees]

So who was it that started those wars with no way to pay for them, that have killed over 6,000 Americans? I put blame where it is due. And the question of why didn't Bush's republicans stop him from putting the total cost on the taxpayer, is quite valid. It's funny how the republicans knew it would put our economy in the toilet, and they let it happen anyway. But the instant the black guy takes the oval office, your beloved republicans find it convenient to blame the black guy instead of taking the blame for their own follies like real men.

Awwww you called me PRETTY BOY. Now I realize that your personal attacks on me are because you love me. I guess my new avatar was a good idea.

As for the rest of your drivel, when you decide to be a real stand up kind of closet queen and start posting something with a peck of truth in it, I will waste a little time to respond to it. Until then, you can just keep proving me correct, even though you don't realize you are doing so. I love irony.

Oh yeah.....I don't write charts and graphs. I just post the facts. I am sorry if you don't understand them or believe the truth. Actually, I think you understand them well, and you know they are true. But your disregard for the facts is expected from a GOP troll. It just what you were born and brainwashed to do. I know you can't help yourself. If the ghost of Ronald Reagan himself came to you and told you the GOP was full of shit, you would try and blame the Libs of creating a halographic image just to fuck with you.

You are just a loser. You proved that to this entire site with your personal heartless attack on Freddie about who supports his kid. That was just plain rotten to the core. And you can't be a man and except the blame and apologize. No of course not. Republicans are just ruthless bastards and don't know the meaning of apologizing to anyone.

Read your last paragraph you schmuck. Freddie's come clean, and you got your silly ass handed to you by more than a few ladies on the Danielle thread for talking shit you know absolutely nothing about....which is standard operating practice for you...From politics to SRS...you're ill informed. ( and that's being generous....) Maybe you want them to apologize too? So much for all your asinine fantasies about your "community" and wicked republicans gay hating ( BTW...are you going to post on the Rolland Martin thread? lol) . Maybe you better bow out gracefully for a few weeks and return as a mature, measured adult. Fuckin' piker. I was onto your gig way before I pegged Freddie.

[trish]

"Hey, hey, hey__don't be mean. We don't have to be mean. 'Cause, remember: no matter where you go...there you are."

___Buckaroo Banzai

[postopadmirer]

I have an opinion about something and I found some statistics to back it up.

Maybe my statistics will make you change your mind about your statistics.

[trish]

I did some research, gathered data, ran various statistical analysis and came to a tentative conclusion. Maybe my calculations will....oh fuck...never mind!

[SFTB]

Let Obama's words speak for themselves.

[loren]

Let Obama's words speak for themselves.

IKR

[buttslinger]

Obama = Cool

[buttslinger]

Obama is 60's Jazz Album Cool

[trish]

Obama is 60's Jazz Album Cool

One of the coolest albums of ALL time.