Thursday, May 21, 2009

Obama's Defensiveness   [Michael Rubin]

What is most striking is Obama's defensiveness. Having spent the early portion of his adult life exclusively in universities, community organizing, or in government, and clearly being brilliant, Obama seems to expect affirmation rather than challenge. 

That he brought up questions about his release of the interrogation documents shows how much the criticism has stung. Unfortunately, he answered these charges with arrogance rather than fact. That there will never be a need for interrogation is nonsense. Obama is president for, at most, eight years. He does not speak for his successors nor does he know what they will face. Presidencies are defined by the unexpected. When Woodrow Wilson took office in 1913, he did not expect the Great War. Franklin Roosevelt had no clue the evil which the United States would face on his watch. Nor was every method in the explanation of enhanced techniques "torture," even by Obama's arbitrary and amorphous definition. What Obama did with his ill-thought out release was enhance the abilities of our adversaries. Whatever else he does, this will be a part of his legacy he can never reverse.

05/21 11:11 AMShare