tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post6539673150292987749..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: High time for clemencyDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-64926516246872617182011-10-07T16:50:35.439+01:002011-10-07T16:50:35.439+01:00I believe that the problem for Obama is that he is...I believe that the problem for Obama is that he is not a politician - that is, someone who can see exactly what lever to press with which person, how to gather a sufficient flock or coalition, how to marginalise opponents, etc This is a talent needed in the politicians in all countries, but it is especially vital in the States as a result of the separation of powers. It was said that Kennedy was not adroit at these manoeverings and that the programmes which Johnson put through subsequently and successfully were due to his political skills and knowledge of Congress ( of course if Kennedy had lived these skills would have been at his disposal with Johnson as Vice President)David Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-39567766786545007522011-09-25T23:36:12.135+01:002011-09-25T23:36:12.135+01:00For David, what Will said. The best analogy that ...For David, what Will said. The best analogy that I can come up with is perhaps try to imagine the BNP on steroids and you might have an idea of the Tea Party in the US. Their attitudes towards LGBTs would not be far off from that Ugandan bigot of the <i>Rolling Stone</i> paper there (not to be confused with the US magazine, of course) who was on the BBC World Service recently, casually expressing his homophobia with the attitude "Oh, you don't hate homosexuals too? What's your problem?". <br /><br />Plus, regarding the Troy Davis case, President Obama would not have had the power to rescind the sentence anyway, because the final arbiter is the Supreme Court of the United States, i.e. the judicial branch here, not the executive branch.Geo.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05688490063600488617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-64496716046740845642011-09-25T17:07:52.402+01:002011-09-25T17:07:52.402+01:00Yes, David, many of the anti-gay religious sects a...Yes, David, many of the anti-gay religious sects and the newer anti-gay (aka pro-traditional marriage) political groups advocate such things as the deportation (what country, I wonder?), imprisonment, internment in camps, disenfranchisement and/or barring from public office of all LGBT people. One or two advocate execution. <br /><br />The Republicans, at least so far, are unwilling to disavow these people because they need them to get elected. The rhetoric is exceedingly ugly and is all based on the fear tactics espoused by the Republicans going back to the McCarthy era and most recently reinvigorated during the George W. Bush administration by arch-strategist Karl Rove. <br /><br />I understand that the most virulent extremists are a small group, but they remain part of the Republican base and a source of deep concern.hillenceWillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14279473113628377106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-3625927444715983242011-09-25T07:04:06.926+01:002011-09-25T07:04:06.926+01:00'Deporting/incarcerating LGBT people', Wil...'Deporting/incarcerating LGBT people', Will: I know they're vile, but is that stated in their policy? It's even more frightening than I thought.<br /><br />Your wonderful but riven country seems so polarised now - it's almost as extreme as Israel; in both cases, so much to hope for, so many extremists. The difference is that the extremists in the Middle East are at the top of the tree. Yours, as yet, are not.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-20476634046908285932011-09-25T03:39:05.497+01:002011-09-25T03:39:05.497+01:00I maintain that Obama believes rational discourse ...I maintain that Obama believes rational discourse is the way the business of government should be conducted and he behaves as if it hadn't been discarded with contempt some decades ago. He pulls his punches and compromises when it isn't required and/or appreciated, coming off as weak in the face of unprincipled sharks. <br /><br />The Republicans are currently in a bit of a bind as they've sold what passes for their souls to the most extreme and lunatic elements of their political base; they are well aware of the Tea Party's ability to seek and destroy Republican -- not Democrat -- incumbents and candidates it feels are insufficiently radical Right and bigoted. The Pentacostal/Evangelical fanatics to whom they have pandered so sickeningly for so long, espouse clearly unconstitutional policy such as grounding US law in the Bible and (il)legally suppressing/deporting/incarcerating LGBT people. Worst of all for the Republicans is their insistence that Social Security and Medicare must be gutted or eliminated in its current form when such a huge percentage of the population is in or near retirement. <br /><br />I believe it's going to be a vile, extremely dirty campaign and that what looks to be a Republican walk to power could well be a defeat if they continue willfully to ignore what's happening in this country and what its citizens really need in these highly troubled times. Thank you all for some reasoned and thoughtful comments.Willhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14279473113628377106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-10140320745111330292011-09-24T17:44:26.302+01:002011-09-24T17:44:26.302+01:00Sue, you're right: what would it have cost Oba...Sue, you're right: what would it have cost Obama to say 'I am ashamed of this country in this instance, but there's nothing I could do'?<br /><br />Geo., spot on, surely. The only beef I have with the current petitioners is that they're trying to say that academics append their universities' names in comparable letters to the papers, so why shouldn't the players have stated their orchestra? I might easily have so blundered myself, but having had it explained to me by lawyers and others, I can see why the contract with your employer might prompt action, albeit much more moderate than this one, which is patently absurd.<br /><br />And with that I'm out of it unless my support is needed - just too disturbing to watch the right-wing opportunists ripping the players to shreds on blogs and tweets (ah yes, wondered why I don't usually go into twitterland).Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-36196299849023454392011-09-24T06:24:38.060+01:002011-09-24T06:24:38.060+01:00On behalf of my country, I apologize 13.5 months i...On behalf of my country, I apologize 13.5 months in advance for the fact that in all likelihood, the electorate here will turn out President Obama in favor of an idiot even dumber than W., yet another profoundly ignorant Texas governor who thinks the world is only 6000 years old and that global climate change is a myth (and who will authorize the bombing of a Middle East country, 4 letters beginning with "I", simply for the heck of it). I hope that my pessimism will be misplaced, but I really don't think so this time. Obama is flawed, no doubt, but infinitely better than any of the appalling Republican candidates on offer now.<br /><br />Not that I have much to say regarding "The LPO Four", but they were foolish to state that they represented the LPO in their statement on the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra's Prom, when they should not have said that they represented the organization. I certainly would not have stated the name of my employer if I were to put my name to any comparable statement, because they'd have my hide, and rightly so. Having said that, a 30-day suspension would have sufficed to make the point.Geo.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05688490063600488617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-43282937765500437392011-09-23T23:43:34.803+01:002011-09-23T23:43:34.803+01:00I also think Obama is a good man who means well, b...I also think Obama is a good man who means well, but he's too often not done well, and that we sorely need. (Perhaps I would be more sympathetic had I watched West Wing . . .)<br /><br />On Troy Davis, while it is a state issue, it does not mean he could not have spoken out. Not to do so was a political calculation, where what was needed was leadership. At this point in his tenure, though, I do agree that his options are severely limited. <br /><br />Probably his only chance to make bold moves was right at the beginning, but, while he has the oratorical skills, it's not his temperament. <br /><br />We're in a sad state over here, and it's hard to see what will make that change. America's stance on Israel is a particularly frustrating case in point.Susan Scheidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09250142489341777926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-89400938347076725072011-09-23T19:04:26.021+01:002011-09-23T19:04:26.021+01:00Having been so absorbed by the compromises explain...Having been so absorbed by the compromises explained in The West Wing, I have a great deal more sympathy for him. Time and again the intransigence of the opposition in the Big American Divide is going to scupper progress - oddly parallel to what's going on in the Middle East...<br /><br />Strong meat from Mahmoud Abbas at the UN, I thought. Surprised the World Service didn't pick up the phrase 'ethnic cleansing', but that's not an unreasonable expression when it comes to the settlements...Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-199197914926198102011-09-23T18:45:46.310+01:002011-09-23T18:45:46.310+01:00He's an idealist with no clout, but he may be ...He's an idealist with no clout, but he may be paving the way for future generations to tackle key chinks in the USA's armour... dodgy foreign policy, healthcare, capital punishment. He may not have the strength to defeat these issues, but at least he introduces them.<br /><br />Excellent post, David. Linked on the EM Facebook site.Gavin Plumleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08367649538228383713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-82038842809681331452011-09-22T15:44:54.676+01:002011-09-22T15:44:54.676+01:00Thought so. Poor fellow, his hands are so tied - I...Thought so. Poor fellow, his hands are so tied - I still believe he's a good man who means well in spite of everything.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-24813758709143988862011-09-22T15:43:10.049+01:002011-09-22T15:43:10.049+01:00Agree mostly, though I'm pretty sure that Obam...Agree mostly, though I'm pretty sure that Obama has no power to intervene in an execution which is, after all, very much a state issue. The issue of state's rights has, of course, been a rather vexing one in America history.Andrewhttp://devilstrillblog.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com