Democratic POWER Club

The Change We Worked and Voted For?
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Author: Maria Roberts
http://www.democraticpowermiamidade.com/article.asp?ArticleId=60

The Change We Worked and Voted For?Maria Roberts At this juncture you will tell me that I should give President-Elect Barack Obama a chance. After all, he has four years to bring about the change he promised. But I say that our country does not have that much time to recover from the Bush administration's horrific policies that make me cringe every time I think about them. So what's bothering me? For one thing, the fact that Robert Gates is being kept on as Secretary of Defense. True, Gates is better than Donald Rumsfeld. But is “better than Rumsfeld” the change we worked and voted for? In the eyes of the world that is no change at all. Another fact that prompts my griping is Obama's change of heart about using private military contractors in war zones. While a senator, he filed a commendable piece of legislation to rule out the future use of Blackwater, KBR and others of their ilk. These companies made billions on the war, yet failed to meet their obligations to support our soldiers. They murdered civilians in Iraq, and their employees generally acted as if they wre above the law. As Jeremy Scahill points out, in a recent statement Obama refused to rule out using these outlaw companies in the future. Far too many individuals who held positions of high responsibility in the Clinton administration are being mentioned for top roles among the Obama cabinet and as White House advisors. True, some folks with high level experience are needed, but having all the Clinton officials together again brings too much inbred “old-think” to bear on the issues of the world as it is today. That world has changed immeasurably from the 1990's. Yesterday's solutions, even if they were Democratic solutions, are an outdated approach to tomorrow's problems. Just one more example connected with intelligence gathering: Long-time CIA official John Brennan is coordinating Obama's intelligence transition team and may be named CIA Director or Director of National Intelligence. Brennan has been an outspoken proponent of torture and advocates the expansion of the FISA courts and immunity to telecom companies that collaborate with spying on American citizens. In short I am much less optimistic than I was right after the election that the change we worked and voted for will happen. Heartened as I am about our heard-earned victory and the world's very positive reaction to it, my fear of disappointment and disillusionment is beginning to creep in. Even if our President is a man of our own Party, we have the right to complain when we disagree with his policies. Democracy is not a spectator sport!