Testing Obama's liberal values
Updated on 21 May 2009
The public certainly still approve, with a new poll by the Democracy Corps says 64 per cent of people back President Obama's handling of national security issues. But his liberal supporters aren't so happy and Democrats in Congress aren't exactly on the team.
Take the last few days: a battering from the likes of the American Civil Liberties Union over the decision not to publish those photographs of US soldiers allegedly abusing Iraqi detainees.
Then the President announced that military trials of Guantanamo detainees would resume, despite that campaign pledge not to pursue them outside the US justice system.
And now more problems over Guantanamo after the Senate refused to endorse the $80m in funds he needed to close the detention camp down and relocate the inmates elsewhere.
Sure, the Republicans predictably insisted none of the remaining detainees should be allowed to set foot on US soil. But even Dianne Feinstein said the money had been "sought prematurely", and this was the response from Majority leader Harry Reid: "we don't want them around".
Clearly the Dems are desperate not to be seen as soft on terrorism: but as an analyst for Washington's Cook Political Report, Jennifer Duffy, put it: "It became NIMBY [Not In My Back Yard] on steroids."
And liberals were further dismayed last night when the House passed a bill allowing people to carry loaded, concealed weapons in National Parks. The bill was supported by almost all House Republicans, and 105 Democratic votes, mostly from the South and the Midwest. I guess you never know when you might come across a grizzly bear. Or Dick Cheney.
The administration still wants to reinstate a ban on assault weapons, but gun control advocates are keenly disappointed. They expected more from a Democratic president with a majority in both houses of Congress.
But at the same time the Republicans are busy galloping to the right rather than trying to reclaim the centre.
Just a couple of days ago, the Senate Republicans produced a comprehensive policy document on what to do with those pesky Guantanamo detainees. The headline? Meet Your New Neighbor, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad?
Of course, as the Washington Independent points out, nothing in the 15 page document actually backs up that suggestion; but still, it makes for a catchy headline.
And last night it was Joe the Plumber, redux. The Republican National Committee just about managed to stop short of trying to rename the Democrats the Socialist party. But they did make this rather meaningless declaration: "We the members of the Republican National Committee recognize that the Democratic Party is dedicated to restructuring American society along socialist ideals".
After the events of the last few days, just don't go trying to get the ACLU to agree with that.
