The new USA president rode into town on promises of change. But where are the changes
Troops are still in and will remain in an illegal war zone.
Prisoners are denied fair trials
The USA still pollutes like there is no tomorrow
And who would have thought a Democrat would give billions of dollars to the ivory tower brigades.
I see little difference between the worst president and the new one with the most promise(s)

beefyboy,
Look on the bright side.
At least he's nominating Supreme Court judges on the basis of race, gender and victim status, not competence.
That should pay off in the long run in terms of "progressive" decisions.

Dear BB,

President Obama has been in office approximately
4 months. He's had to change positions on an
array of issues due to circumstances beyond
his control - that have dictated his priorities,
especially with the economy being in dissaray.
This has had an impact on some of the promises
he's made.

Change doesn't happen overnight.

Regarding the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. He's
been willing to listen to his military commanders -
who've pressed for a later deadline. The issue is
a complex one but as he confirmed in a speech he
gave to his soldiers on a military base recently:

"America can no longer afford to see Iraq in
isolation from other priorities: we face the challenge
of refocusing on Afghanistan and Pakistan...
Of relieving the burden of our military, of re-building
our struggling economy and these are challenges we will
meet..."

Dear KMB,

Do you mean the competent uniformly
white and male, Supreme Court Judges of
the past - whose opinions, sympathies,
and prejudices, including their impartiality
were never questioned when they delivered historic
rulings against racial and sexual discrimination?

How could a black woman who attended Princeton
and Yale on route to the highest echelons of
the legal profession possibly compete with these
men?

You got one thing right - President Obama did
make a progressive decision with her nomination
to the Supreme Court.

Foxy I concede that the US President has made a good choice re the Supreme Court appointment and W probably would not have done that.
However in regards to illegal wars and illegal detention the most powerful leader in the world is complicit and little different to the former war monger.

Goerge Bushes' Patriot Act is still there and Obama will do as he is told by the Corporate Empire.

Dear BB,

President Obama will close Guantanamo and
roll back some of the most divisive
Bush-era anti-terrorism policies.

However, as I wrote in my earlier post -
change doesn't come instantly and he's
inherited quite a mess from the previous
administration. He's got to quell a
domestic backlash against his efforts to
close the condemned US prison. It also
doesn't help that the US Senate, controlled
by fellow Democrats, handed him a setback
by blocking funds to shutter the prison until
he presents a detailed plan on what to do with
the 240 terrorism suspects held there.

In addition the former vice president,
Dick Cheney goes around publicly scare-mongering
that the American people will be less safe if
Guantanamo is closed.

President Obama has a lot on his plate. However,
he will still pursue his goal of doing what he sees
as the right thing to do., "We uphold our most
cherished values, because doing so is right..."

Foxy at least one of the posters you tangle with here has no intention of seeing anything Obama does as good.
Strange even bizarre America has alternative leadership much like ours.
Trying to fuel false fear, failing to understand they lost.
America and Australia took a new direction.
Just sadly at a time the world markets crashed.
In our country at least the alternative government is pushing for an election of both houses, by this time next year, no later they will have lost yet another election.
Badly lost, Obama will continue to take America in new directions, he will keep his promises.
I doubt KMB wanted to thank Obama on his placement, the reverse is true.

About the usa and it's puppy dog.
Australia consistantly supports any damn thing the usa does internationally! And that in itself is a big problem.

We talk about the third world or countries with no ' pseudo democracy' as we have in the west and their human rights values, yet we adopt the same policy as the usa ' exporting our own 'born here' citizens to countries of their ancestral origin as a way of not bothering to take responsibility for them.

Did anyone watch the documentary of the usa citizens exported to some country they are not citizens of or have never been to? I can understand the dark side of the money makers how they need war to keep the coffers topped up, but no excuse for turfing our people out into 'nowhere'.

Australia and it's irresponsible citizens are a 'lulled' people we have never had a war in this country and the next one will be some other country against the usa as they have once again usurped oz for their military base in the pacific.

Better off moving to 'dontevercomehereistan' where the media prints the truth and govts represent the people.

Belly,
I believe in giving credit where credit is due and not simply fawning over some-one because they're the right colour.
Obama did the right thing when he changed his mind on releasing those photos.
Foxy,
<<How could a black woman who attended Princeton and Yale on route to the highest echelons of the legal profession possibly compete with these men?>>
So Sotomayor is black now and not merely latina?
That makes her even more eligible for the Supreme Court then.
Your in-depth research certainly has given you insights that the rest of us can only dream about.
But I think I'm beginning to see what makes you tick.
I notice you enjoy quoting lofty rhetoric such as Obama's "We uphold our most cherished values, because doing so is right..." and Sotomayor's "All judges have cases that touch our passions deeply, but we all struggle constantly with remaining impartial and letting reason rule."
Such meaningless sound bytes are designed to influence people like you.
You need to look at their actions and past history, but that might shatter your illusions.
At least you're living your dream.

Dear KMB,

OOOOps I meant to say 'Latina,' not black.
-It was late and I was tired.

And I Thank You for even bothering to read
my quotes. I'm impressed.

And yes, I am living my dream, and very grateful
that I'm able to do it in this great country of
ours.

"Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly."
Langdon Hughes.

Foxy,
While we're sharing quotes,
this one makes me feel good:
"listen to others, even the dull and ignorant;
they too have their story"
Max Ehrmann

I am more than willing to consider a president by his actions
I wish it were true all the good promise comming from an obviously well intentioned good man. The Western world needs a hero.
However will he achieve his promise or will we see in the next 100 days even more backtracking on his promises.
For an indepth discussion on President Obama from and Australian perspective check out John Pilger's critique of the new American administration.
We need a western hero but are the American people willing to pay the price?? I do not think so.

Dear KMB,

"Whenever two good people argue
over principals,
they are both right."
- Marie von Ebner - Eschenbach.

Dear BB,

Thanks for the John Pilger reference - I'll
look it up. It should prove interesting
reading.

Taken from a website and -
as I wrote on another thread - 'If Obama did
as well as Gerald Ford, Bush senior, or W.
Would that be good enough?

'The best he can hope for is doing well and
counting 20 - 30 years of history to
recognize his record...'

Foxy,

<<"Whenever two good people argue
over principals,
they are both right."
- Marie von Ebner - Eschenbach.>>

Of course the good members of a selection committee might argue over which principal to appoint to a position and they might well both be right.
However when people are arguing over principles, "basic truths or laws or assumptions", which can be "used as a basis for reasoning or conduct" then they can't both be right.
One might prevail but they can't both be right.
Your feel-good quote is illustrative of the relativist swamp which is engulfing our society.
An example to clarify my point:
Obama's principle in relation to babies who are born alive after a botched abortion attempt is that to let them live would impose an unfair burden on the mother and the abortionist, therefore they must be left to die.
http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2008/01/top-10-reasons.html
http://www.jillstanek.com/archives/2008/02/links_to_barack.html
Most people I know would totally oppose Obama's stance on this issue.
These contradicting viewpoints can in no way be reconciled and they cannot both be right.
Or we could accommodate your quote simply by recognising that Obama is not a good person.
There, now we're all happy.

So we're talking about abortion now?
Men need to get right out of anything to do with 'womens business' Sow the seed and bugger off till you are permitted to see if their is any result.
Women have always known what to do about childbirth it's only men that have stuffed it all up and never ask a politician

neilium,
<<Men need to get right out of anything to do with 'womens business' Sow the seed and bugger off till you are permitted to see if their is any result.
Women have always known what to do about childbirth it's only men that have stuffed it all up>>

Very perceptive analysis.

It would be interesting to compare pre-industrial revolution maternal mortality rates to modern maternal mortality rates.

Effectively we can...

Afghanistan: 1600 per 100,000 live births.
No male interference there, what with Islamic prohibitions on such things.

USA: 11 per 100,000 live births.
Must be all that medical technology invented, designed and manufactured by women.

You're right on the ball neilium.

Dear KMB,

The subtlety of the quote I gave you
by Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, has
apparently been lost on you.

She said:

"Whenever two good people argue over
principles,
they are both right."

Her inference was - they're both
convinced they're right, not
that they necessarily are.

Few issues in recent years have so divided
most people as the morality of abortion.
Many women feel that a decision about
abortion should be a strictly personal one,
and they deeply resent other people insisting
that they should bear a child they don't want
to have...

In any case, the American abortion rate, which
is believed to be the highest in the Western world,
must be seen in the context of social changes in
American premarital, marital, and family life -
particularly the climate of sexual permissiveness
and the sense of individualism that leads people
to make decisions primarily in terms of their
personal desires rather than of traditional
norms.

In Islamic countries - Muslims look with horror
at America's sexual permissiveness, at the
relative assertiveness and immodesty of American
women, at the high rates of illegitimacy, abortion,
and divorce, at the pre-occupation with pleasure,
drugs, alcohol, pornography, and at the search for
individual self-fulfillment at the expense of
obligations to kin and community.

The fundamentalists regard Americans as essentially
barbarians - whose economic, technological, and
military influence threatens the integrity of Muslim
societies and traditions.

That would be the Useless Idiot spherical take on Moslem Societies Foxy; - If you actually look further than the professed propaganda, you will find that the Arab underworld of LIBERALISM , is alive and just as depraved as what exists in Western society-

The only difference is the philosophical ante theistic notion of Primitivism as superior- whilst normal thinking westerners who do not subscribe to the decadent self indulgent Liberalism are made to feel Guilty of crime they have not committed.

And to save you time Foxy – John Pilger – Just study what constitutes Neurological disorders – and that will explain John Pilger without ambiguity.
Shame on you BB – JP is a working experiment in clinical terms , not an intellectual reference.

you maybe entitled to your opinion but John Pilger is a respected academic with many peer reviewed papers to his credit.
However this discussion is digressing greatly into personalities.
My original point and a valid one is that Obama has made many promises and achieved none of them.

And that is the point BB – the whole existence of nothingness but platitudes and pointless gibber, now known as politics of envy, and a dialectical mess that will cause catastrophic consequences on the western world.
And when it is gone- Then What?

That is the indicator of how far gone , and the deterioration of the populations Intellect , when pathological liars and reality devoid morons are launched to positions of absolute authority and power by virtue of their values that equal nothing - Not by ability and knowledge , but by Con and deceit .

It was the Undepravdom that created this mess, demanding more wealth without value or ethics, and what is Undepravdom? The pretentious Union who claimed to be the workers voice, when it is a Proletariat Con.
And what is Obama?
A Con.

Where in history have we seen that plaid out?