Archive for the ‘Commentary’ Category
National columnist Charles Krauthammer hits the nail on the head by stating that Obama is the new Nixon. Nixon kept enemies lists, and set the full powers of the federal government on them. Obama is attempting to do the same, as his rather blunt and not-very-subtle attempts to deligitamize Fox News and that networks constitutional right to report the news as it sees fit. Read Krauthammer’s interesting piece on the “Fox Wars” below:
Fox Wars
The Obama administration wants to delegitimize any significant dissent.
By Charles Krauthammer
| Rahm Emanuel once sent a dead fish to a live pollster. Now he’s put a horse’s head in Roger Ailes’s bed.
Not very subtle. And not very smart. Ailes doesn’t scare easily. The White House has declared war on Fox News. White House communications director Anita Dunn said that Fox is “opinion journalism masquerading as news.” Patting rival networks on the head for their authenticity (read: docility), senior adviser David Axelrod declared Fox “not really a news station.” And Chief of Staff Emanuel told (warned?) the other networks not to “be led (by) and following Fox.” Meaning? If Fox runs a story critical of the administration — from exposing White House czar Van Jones as a loony 9/11 “truther” to exhaustively examining the mathematical chicanery and hidden loopholes in proposed health-care legislation — the other news organizations should think twice before following the lead. |
The signal to corporations is equally clear: You might have dealings with a federal behemoth that not only disburses more than $3 trillion every year but is extending its reach ever deeper into private industry — finance, autos, soon health care and energy. Think twice before you run an ad on Fox.
At first, there was little reaction from other media. Then on Thursday, the administration tried to make them complicit in an actual boycott of Fox. The Treasury Department made available Ken Feinberg, the executive pay czar, for interviews with the White House “pool” news organizations — except Fox. The other networks admirably refused, saying they would not interview Feinberg unless Fox was permitted to as well. The administration backed down.
This was an important defeat because there’s a principle at stake here. While government can and should debate and criticize opposition voices, the current White House goes beyond that. It wants to delegitimize any significant dissent. The objective is no secret. White House aides openly told Politico that they’re engaged in a deliberate campaign to marginalize and ostracize recalcitrants, from Fox to health insurers to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce .
There’s nothing illegal about such search-and-destroy tactics. Nor unconstitutional. But our politics are defined not just by limits of legality or constitutionality. We have norms, Madisonian norms.
Madison argued that the safety of a great republic, its defense against tyranny, requires the contest between factions or interests. His insight was to understand “the greater security afforded by a greater variety of parties.” They would help guarantee liberty by checking and balancing and restraining each other — and an otherwise imperious government.
Factions should compete, but also recognize the legitimacy of other factions and, indeed, their necessity for a vigorous self-regulating democracy. Seeking to deliberately undermine, delegitimize, and destroy is not Madisonian. It is Nixonian.
But didn’t Teddy Roosevelt try to destroy the trusts? Of course, but what he took down was monopoly power that was extinguishing smaller independent competing interests. Fox News is no monopoly. It is a singular minority in a sea of liberal media. ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, NPR, CNN, MSNBC vs. Fox. The lineup is so unbalanced as to be comical — and that doesn’t even include the other commanding heights of the culture that are firmly, flagrantly liberal: Hollywood, the foundations, the universities, the elite newspapers.
Fox and its viewers (numbering more than CNN’s and MSNBC’s combined) need no defense. Defend Fox compared to whom? To CNN — which recently unleashed its fact-checkers on a Saturday Night Live skit mildly critical of President Obama, but did no checking of a grotesquely racist remark CNN falsely attributed to Rush Limbaugh?
Defend Fox from whom? Fox’s flagship 6 o’clock evening news out of Washington (hosted by Bret Baier, formerly by Brit Hume) is, to my mind, the best hour of news on television. (Definitive evidence: My mother watches it even on the odd night when I’m not on.) Defend Fox from the likes of Anita Dunn? She’s been attacked for extolling Mao’s political philosophy in a speech at a high-school graduation. But the critics miss the surpassing stupidity of her larger point: She was invoking Mao as support and authority for her impassioned plea for individuality and trusting one’s own choices. Mao as champion of individuality? Mao, the greatest imposer of mass uniformity in modern history, creator of a slave society of a near-billion worker bees wearing Mao suits and waving the Little Red Book?
The White House communications director cannot be trusted to address high schoolers without uttering inanities. She and her cohorts are now to instruct the country on truth and objectivity?
— Charles Krauthammer is a nationally syndicated columnist. © 2009, The Washington Post Writers Group
A modern parable for the Age of the Obamunists:
|
President Obama Greeting John McCain IV at the Naval Academy Graduation
President Obama
congratulating John McCain IV on his
graduation
On May 22, 2009, President Barack Obama
delivered his first commencement address to a military
academy. This was actually his third such graduation day
speech since becoming president; the first two were at
Arizona State University, and a controversial speech at
Notre Dame. The president received quite a few cheers
from the graduating naval cadets, and the day featured
one of those interesting ironies in the fact that one of
the graduates was named John McCain IV. In the audience
was Senator John McCain III, and his wife Cindy. No doubt
the proud father must have idly wondered about the fact
that had the election ended differently, it would be he,
President McCain, giving the speech, and his hand that
the graduating younger McCain would be shaking as he
accepted his turn on stage.As it was, President Obama did give the younger McCain
a longer greeting than the other naval graduates, and
Senator McCain and his wife Cindy were in attendance.
This is actually very good proof that American democracy
DOES work. Can you imagine this scene playing out in some
third-world banana or oil republic where the winner of
the presidential election welcomes the son and namesake
his recently-defeated election foe into the ranks of the
nation’s military officer corps? God Bless America…
A very proud, Not-President John McCain and his wife Cindy greeting their son, John McCain IV at his graduation.
A very
proud, Not-President John McCain and his wife Cindy greeting
their son, John McCain IV at his graduation.
Text of the
Commencement Address by President Barack Obama at the U.S.
Naval Academy, May 22, 2009
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT THE UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY COMMENCEMENT
United States Naval Academy
Annapolis, Maryland
May 22, 2009
10:18 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you
very much. Please, be seated. Governor O’Malley, thank you
for your generous introduction and for your leadership here
in Maryland. Vice Admiral Fowler and faculty, distinguished
guests, parents, family and friends, the Brigade of
Midshipmen — (applause) — and most importantly, the
graduates of the Class of 2009. (Applause.) Seven hundred
and fifty-six Navy and, I am told, the largest number of
Marines in Naval Academy history. (Applause.)
Now, I know it’s customary at graduation for guests to
bring a gift. And I have. All midshipmen on restriction for
minor conduct offenses are hereby officially absolved.
(Applause.) I did say “minor.” (Laughter.)
Midshipmen, I’m told that the extra ribbon on your chest
is for the honor you earned, for only the second time in the
storied history of the Naval Academy — the Navy’s
Meritorious Unit Commendation Award. So I’ve consulted with
Admiral Fowler, and I can make this announcement: For all
you midshipmen returning next fall, I hereby grant you
something extra — an extra weekend. (Applause.) I should
stop now. (Laughter.)
I am extraordinarily honored to be with you today.
Because of all the privileges of serving as President, I
have no greater honor than serving as your
Commander-in-Chief.
Every day I count on Naval Academy graduates like Admiral
Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the
CNO, Admiral Gary Roughead; and my Director of National
Intelligence, Admiral Dennis Blair. I’ll also be counting on
Ray Mabus, a former surface warfare officer, as our new
Secretary of the Navy.
Every day I rely on former sailors and Marines on my
staff, young men who served as intelligence officers in Iraq
and Afghanistan, and the 32nd Commandant of the Marine
Corps, Supreme Allied Commander and now my National Security
Advisor, General Jim Jones.
I’ve admired your prowess on the football field.
(Applause.) At the White House last month, I was proud to
present the team and Coach Ken with the Commander-in-Chief
Trophy, which you won for the sixth straight time.
(Applause.) And I know you beat Army seven straight times.
(Laughter.)
But most of all, most of all I’ve admired the spirit of
your service, because it’s not the strength of our arms or
the power of our technology that gives the United States our
military dominance — it’s our people. It’s our sailors and
Marines, soldiers and airmen and Coast Guardsmen who perform
brilliantly in every mission we give them.
And Class of 2009, today is your day. It’s your day to
reflect on all you’ve achieved — or should I say, all that
you endured: the madness of “I Day” that began your
transformation from civilians to sailors and Marines; that
endless Plebe Summer when you were pushed to new levels, new
heights, physically, mentally, morally. And speaking of new
heights, I’m told that one of your proudest achievements
still stands — one of the fastest times for the Herndon
climb. Congratulations on that. (Applause.)
And families, today is your day, too. It’s the latest in
a line of proud firsts: the first time you saw your son or
daughter with that Navy haircut, that first time you saw
them in their summer whites, and today the first time you’ll
see them as officers.
So to all of you moms and dads, brothers and sisters,
aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas, and all the local
sponsor families who opened your homes to these midshipmen
-— thank you for your support and for your patriotism.
We are grateful. (Applause.)
This class is about to become the latest link in a long,
unbroken chain of heroism and victory — a chain forged in
battles whose names are etched in the stone of this stadium:
from Coral Sea to Midway to Guadalcanal; from Iwo Jima to
Inchon; from the Mekong Delta to Desert Storm. For some
among us, these are not just places on a map. They’re the
stories of their lives. And we honor all of our veterans
here today. (Applause.)
This chain of service calls to mind words that were
spoken here in Annapolis on another spring day a century
ago. The crowds assembled, the bands played, the cannons
roared. As John Paul Jones’ body was carried to the Yard,
President Teddy Roosevelt spoke to the midshipmen gathered
there that day.
“Remember,” he said, “our words of admiration are but as
sounding brass and tinkling symbols if we do not… prepare
to emulate their deeds.”
Emulate their deeds. That is what you are called upon to
do. And in doing so these past four years, you’ve not only
given meaning to your own lives, you serve as a reminder and
a challenge to your fellow Americans to fulfill the true
meaning of citizenship.
America, look at these young men and women. Look at these
sailors and Marines. Here are the values that we cherish.
Here are the ideals that endure. In an era when too few
citizens answer the call to service, to community or to
country, these Americans choose to serve. They did so in a
time of war, knowing they might be called upon to make the
ultimate sacrifice.
Indeed, as we near Memorial Day, we pay tribute to all
those who have given their lives so that we might live free,
including those aboard that Navy helicopter who were lost
this week in the waters off California. We send our prayers
to their families and to all who loved them.
In a culture where so many chase the outward markers of
success that can so often lead us astray — the titles and
status, the materialism and money, the fame and popularity
– these Americans have embraced the virtues that we need
most right now: self-discipline over self-interest; work
over comfort; and character over celebrity.
After an era when so many institutions and individuals
acted with such greed and recklessness, it’s no wonder that
our military remains the most trusted institution in our
nation. (Applause.) And in a world when so many forces and
voices seek to divide us, it inspires us that this class
came together and succeeded together, from every state and
every corner of the world. By building an institution that’s
more diverse than ever — more women, more Hispanics, more
African Americans — the Naval Academy has reaffirmed a
fundamental American truth: that out of many, we are one.
(Applause.)
We see these values in every one of these sailors and
Marines, including those who have already served their
country — the dozens among you with prior enlisted
service.
It’s the perseverance of Elvin Vasquez, a Marine supply
chief in Iraq — (applause) — who finally got into the
Naval Academy on his third try — (applause) — who never
gave up trying because he says, “there’s just something
about being a Marine.”
It’s the example of Carlos Carbello — (applause) — who
left the tough streets of L.A. to serve on a destroyer in
the Pacific and who has used his time here to mentor others,
because he’s the oldest midshipman — the old man — at the
age of 26. (Applause.)
It’s the patriotism of Sade Holder — (applause) — who
came to America as a child from Trinidad, enlisted in the
Navy and then earned the titles she values most: “U.S.
citizen” and “Navy Midshipman” and today, “Ensign.”
(Applause.)
And it’s the reverence for tradition shown by James P.
Heg — (applause) — a communications — a communications
maintenance Marine in Iraq who today is joined by the man
who first urged him to sign up, his grandfather, returning
six decades after he was a midshipman, a submariner from
World War II, 89-year-old Captain James E. Heg.
(Applause.)
Honor. Courage. Commitment. These are the values that
have defined your years in the Yard and that you’ll need in
the years ahead as you join the fleet, and as you join and
lead the Marines, as you confront the ever-changing threats
of an ever-changing world.
For history teaches us that the nations that grow
comfortable with the old ways and complacent in the face of
new threats, those nations do not long endure. And in the
21st century, we do not have the luxury of deciding which
challenges to prepare for and which to ignore. We must
overcome the full spectrum of threats — the conventional
and the unconventional; the nation-state and the terrorist
network; the spread of deadly technologies and the spread of
hateful ideologies; 18th century-style piracy and 21st
century cyber threats.
So SEALs and special operations forces, we need you for
those short-notice missions in the dark of night. But we’ll
also need you for the long-term training of foreign
militaries so they can take responsibility for their own
security.
Marines, we need you to defeat the insurgent and the
extremist. But we also need you to work with the tribal
sheikh and local leaders from Anbar to Kandahar who want to
build a better future for their people.
Naval aviators and flight officers, we need you to
dominate the airspace in times of conflict, but also to
deliver food and medicine in times of humanitarian
crisis.
And surface warfare officers and submariners, we need you
to project American power across the vast oceans, but also
to protect American principles and values when you pull into
that foreign port, because for so many people around the
world, you are the face of America.
These great opportunities come with great
responsibilities. Indeed, midshipmen and Presidents swear a
similar oath, not only to protect and defend the American
people, but the Constitution of the United States.
Yesterday I visited the National Archives and the halls
that holds our Constitution, our Declaration of
Independence, and our Bill of Rights. I went there because,
as our national debate on how to deal with the security
challenge that we face proceeds, we must remember this
enduring truth: The values and ideals in those documents are
not simply words written into aging parchment, they are the
bedrock of our liberty and our security. We uphold our
fundamental principles and values not just because we choose
to, but because we swear to; not because they feel good, but
because they help keep us safe and keep us true to who we
are.
Because when America strays from our values, it not only
undermines the rule of law, it alienates us from our allies,
it energizes our adversaries, and it endangers our national
security and the lives of our troops. So as Americans, we
reject the false choice between our security and our ideals.
We can and we must and we will protect both. (Applause.) And
that is just what you will pledge to do in a few moments
when you raise your right hand and take your oath.
But that simple act — by that simple act, you will
accept a life of great sacrifice: long deployments,
separation from loved ones, tests and trials that most
Americans can’t imagine. But that is the oath you take, the
life you choose, the promise you make to America.
And today, this is the promise I make to you. It’s a
promise that as long as I am your Commander-in-Chief, I will
only send you into harm’s way when it is absolutely
necessary, and with the strategy and the well-defined goals,
the equipment and the support that you need to get the job
done. (Applause.) This includes the job of bringing the Iraq
war to a responsible end and pursuing a new comprehensive
strategy to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its
allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan. (Applause.)
And to get you the support you need, we’re enlisting all
elements of our national power — our diplomacy and
development, our economic might and our moral suasion — so
that you and the rest of our military do not bear the burden
of our security alone.
We’ll also ensure you can meet the missions of today,
which is why we’ve halted reductions in Navy personnel and
increased the size of the Marine Corps. And we will ensure
you can meet the missions of tomorrow, which is why we’re
investing in the capabilities and technologies of tomorrow
– the littoral combat ships, the most advanced submarines
and fighter aircraft — so that you have what you need to
succeed. In short, we will maintain America’s military
dominance and keep you the finest fighting force the world
has ever seen. (Applause.)
Now, as you advance through the ranks and start families
of your own, know that we will be with you every step of the
way, increasing your pay, increasing child care, and helping
families deal with the stress and separation of war –
because as my wife Michelle has come to see in her visits
with military families across the country, when a loved one
is deployed, the whole family goes to war.
And, finally, whether you’re 26 years old or 89, if
you’ve worn the uniform and taken care of America, then
America will take care of you — (applause) — with a modern
VA that keeps faith with our veterans and wounded warriors,
with a 21st century GI Bill that gives our veterans and
their families the chance to live out their dreams.
This is America’s covenant with you — a solemn
commitment to all those who serve. And while our nation has
not always fulfilled its duties to its armed forces, let
there be no doubt: America’s men and women in uniform have
always fulfilled theirs.
And that’s exactly what America’s Navy did just last
month in the seas off Somalia. (Applause.) I will not
recount the full story of those five days in April; much of
it is already known. Some of it will never be known, and
that’s how it should be. But here, on this day, at this
institution, it must be said: The extraordinary precision
and professionalism displayed that day was made possible, in
no small measure, by the training, the discipline and the
leadership skills that so many of those officers learned at
the United States Naval Academy. (Applause.)
And after that operation, after Captain Phillips was
freed, I spoke to one of the Navy SEALs who was there and
with the skipper of the USS Bainbridge, Commander Frank
Castellano, Naval Academy Class of 1990. And I can tell you,
as they would, that the success of that day belongs not only
to a single commander or a small team of SEALs. It belongs
to the many.
It belongs to all the sailors — officers and enlisted,
not on one ship, but several — who diligently stood their
watch. It belongs to the pilots and airmen who gave cover
overhead, to the intelligence specialists and negotiators
and translators, to all the people who worked, day after
night on the scene and in command centers half a world away
to save one man they knew only as a fellow American.
And we recall that in those moments of danger and
decision, these Americans did what they were trained to do.
They remembered their skills. They did their duty. They
performed their job. They stood their watch. They took their
time and then they took their shot. And they brought that
Captain home. (Applause.)
And as Commander Castellano said later of his sailors:
“Every citizen in the country should be happy and thankful
that they’re there.” And I told him that we are.
So, Class of 2009, months or years or decades from now,
should you find yourself in a moment of danger, a moment of
decision, and should you wonder, “What is expected of me?
“What should I do?” Just look at that ring on your finger.
Remember your days on the bank of the Severn. Remember all
you achieved here and all that you learned here: “Devotion
to Honor, Strength from Courage.”
Live these values. Live these virtues. Emulate the deeds
of those who have gone before you. Do this and you will not
only distinguish yourselves as sailors and Marines — you
will be in the lead as we write the next proud chapter in
the story of this country that we love.
Congratulations, Class of 2009. God bless the Navy. God
bless the Marine Corps. And God bless the United States of
America. (Applause.)
END
10:41 A.M. EDT
–President Barack Obama in
Annapolis, Maryland, on May 22, 2009
http://obamapresidency.us.com/obama_commencement_address_naval_acadamy_text_video_may_22_2009.htm
Bush and Obama cabinet member, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, is trying to keep a significant number of the Bush administration political appointees to remain on the jobs at the Pentagon until the incoming Obama administration finds replacements. This unusual move is intended to prevent a leadership vacuum at among the military’s civilian leadership as the U.S. wages war on two major fronts; Iraq and Afghanistan.
Gates confirmed that the Obama Transition Team is on board with his attempts to prevent a vacuum at the Pentagon as with the change in adminstrations, as is usually the case at all federal agencies and departments. Gates intend to keep, at least temporarily, most of the service secretaries and undersecretaries, whose replacements will need Senate confirmation. Senate confirmation is a process which often takes months.
Senior officials asked to stay include John Young, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, and James R. Clapper, undersecretary of defense for intelligence.
While this move is obviously done for practical reasons, (the fact the U.S. is deeply in war, and this will not change quickly), some anti-war activists and bloggers are voicing displeasure at the apparent turnabout by Obama in keeping so-called neoconservatives and Hawks in positions of authority in the civilian leadership at the Pentagon. Obama may be seeking to avoid public battles with the military establishment early on, as is belived at http://www.openleft.com/, but most likely, he is doing whatever he can to prevent costly national security mistakes or omissions if dozens of Pentagon positions go unfilled for the first few months of 2009. This appears to be a practical move on the part of President-Elect Obama.
With the blogosphere heating up with criticism of Barack Obama’s expensive Hawaii vacation rental digs (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1222081obama1.html), and negative comments on the money being spent on his trip, especially the government funds paid for Secret Service bodyguards, and the ongoing Blagojevich scandal, what is the likelihood that the new President-Elect will use part of his vacation time to visit the troops in the war zones?
Such a bold (though hardly unprecedented) move would certainly shake things up. Using Hawaii as his launching pad, Obama could jet over to Afghanistan and Iraq to share Christmas and Hanukkah meals with our men and women over there. How would the President-Elect benefit from such a trip? One, he would cancel any nascent criticism of his choice of vacation locations and the high cost of this trip in bad economic times, if he could show it as being “job-related” . Second, it would put all other political news on the back burner, particularly the Blagojevich scandal back in his home town of Chicago. It would also serve to void the stupid argument between Dick Cheney and Joe Biden that is currently filling the political talk shows. More importantly, such a visit would help shore up Obama’s thin foreign policy resume and show that he puts the needs of American troops above his own needs, such as improving his golf game. And, after much talk and publicity over the domestic economic crisis, Obama needs to show leadership on the war front.
The last time the U.S. had a presidential election in which neither the sitting president nor vice-president ran was in 1952. Then, the nation was in the midst of a fairly unpopular war which is often now referred to as “The Forgotten War.” President-Elect Dwight Eisenhower visited the troops in Korea after winning the election. It was the right thing for Eisenhower to do, and it will be the right thing for Obama to do as well.
