I was struck by this piece by Matt Taibbi on AlterNet as soon as I reached its conclusion. Possibly that because of its contrast to much of the “mainstream” reaction to President Obama’s national security approach, highlighted in his 21 May speech, which has been insipid or even craven, reducing the issues to a valiant centrist higher ground against both Cheney-ist forces on the “right” and deluded liberals — see, for example, the shallow warbling of the Washington Post’s David Broder about Obama as Commander-in-Chief facing down the “sustained outcry from the left”.

Taibbi’s polemic is blunt and undiplomatic, and it should be considered in the context of comments from our own readers such as, “Obama is now responsible for 300 million lives. That’s a heavy burden, and one can forgive him for struggling a bit in transitioning from opposition to governance.” Still Taibbi’s plain talks brings out my concern, “It was absolutely imperative, from a public relations standpoint if nothing else, that Obama immediately repudiate these practices, design some kind of due process to deal with the already incarcerated prisoners, and show the world that what happened during the Bush years was an insane aberration.”

No More Compromise — Obama Must Wholly Reject Bush’s Dictator Policies

The recent haggling over Guantanamo Bay is such classic Democratic Party politics, it almost makes you want to laugh. Almost, except that it’s, you know, revolting. Eight years of Clintonian squirming was bad enough, but now we have Barack Obama, smoking Habeas Corpus and not inhaling it.
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Obama Speech on “National Security” at the National Archives (21 May)
Dick Cheney Speech on “National Security” at American Enterprise Institute (21 May)

Halfway through President Obama’s speech on national security, including torture, the Guantanamo Bay detention regime, and the tensions in transparency and state secrets, I thought:

He’s nailed it. Flat-out nailed it.

Obama illuminated with flashes of rhetoric: ““We cannot keep this country safe unless we enlist the power of our most fundamental values.” He used the setting of the National Archives, with America’s founding documents: “We must never – ever – turn our back on [the Constitution's] enduring principles for expediency’s sake.” He turned inside-out the Bushian cloak of national security and “our boys” when he criticised waterboarding and other techniques of torture:
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A Gut Reaction to the Obama National Security Speech: Getting Stuck in A “Long War”
Dick Cheney Speech on “National Security” at American Enterprise Institute (21 May)

OBAMA: These are extraordinary times for our country. We are confronting an historic economic crisis. We are fighting two wars. We face a range of challenges that will define the way that Americans will live in the 21st century. There is no shortage of work to be done, or responsibilities to bear.
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