Dispatches from the Culture Wars

There is an ongoing argument between Greenwald and John Cole over what Cole says is criticism of Obama over things he hasn't done yet. Cole says, in essence, back off and wait to see what he actually does. Greenwald responds that he is willing to do so, but that doesn't mean we should ignore disturbing signs or fail to bring public pressure to bear to avoid bad decisions.

I'm with Glenn here. I've already written at some length about these issues and noted both positive and negative facts that might give a clue to how Obama will act on a wide range of issues. This is important to do, I think, because the groundwork is now being laid for future decisions. The question of who has Obama's ear and what they may whisper in it is an important one. And the fact that he brings in people like Brennan is disturbing, though as Greenwald notes, it doesn't necessarily tell us what Obama is going to do once in power.

But it is important that we not take the attitude of "well now there's a new guy in power, so all that bad stuff is going to stop." While I didn't vote for Obama, I did root for him over McCain, largely on the hope that he will take serious action to reverse the constitutional degradation imposed by Bush over the last 8 years. And I intend to hold him accountable for that in whatever small way I can once he is in power.

Glenn Greenwald sums up perfectly why we can't just trust the Democrats to fix everything now:

It is worth remembering that the Democrats who are going to exert dominant political control are the same ones who have provoked so much scorn -- rightfully so -- over the last several years, and particularly since 2006. This is the same Democratic Party leadership which funded the Iraq War without conditions (and voted to authorize it in the first place); massively expanded the President's warrantless eavesdropping powers; immunized lawbreaking telecoms; enacted the Patriot Act and then renewed it with virtually no changes; didn't even bother to mount a filibuster to stop the Military Commissions Act; refrained from pursuing any meaningful investigations of Bush lawbreaking; confirmed every last extremist Bush nominee, from Michael McConnell to Michael Mukasey; acquiesced to even the worst and most lawless Bush policies when they were briefed on them; and on and on and on. None of that has changed. That is still who they are.

Mark Benjamin, in another Salon article, points to hopeful signs that Obama may appoint a commission to investigate the Bush administrations authorization and practice of torture. This is a hopeful sign. The appointment of John Brennan to oversee the transition on intelligence issues is quite the opposite. Like Greenwald, I'm willing to wait and see what Obama actually does before opening fire, but once he is in power we absolutely must keep the pressure on to not just end the policies of the Bush administration but to take serious steps to prevent them from happening again in the future.