Having watched Obama on 60 minutes this past Sunday evening, I was pleasantly surprised by his take on everything from the financial crisis, to Afghanistan, to torture on places such as Guantanamo Bay.
As long as viewers didn’t take his laughing over financial problems and criticisms of his work as insensitive (as Steve Kroft pointed out), it was actually refreshing to see a global leader who explicitly shows how absurd he thinks the whole situation on Wall Street has become.
He has made perfectly clear his take on Iraq, but it was Afghanistan that he had focused on this time. Against all Bush doctrine, he has claimed that the solution does not simply lie with the military, and that the mission is to eliminate individuals and organizations that pose a physical threat to the United States. Democracy is not mentioned (as Bush attempted in Iraq-the effects of which are still causing major sectarian violence and civil war). As Obama points out, the thrusting of United States military and policy (and imprisonment) around the world has not helped the United States be a global leader, but rather destroyed any good reputation it did have. Cheney was utterly drilled over a long speech about Guantanamo Bay and Cheney’s blatant opposition to closing the facility. As far as Obama is concerned: Cheney is WRONG, and he “fundamentally [disagrees]” with Cheney’s doctrine.
Now, if we can all get passed this stupid teleprompter oops, we should all see a man that is determined, but most importantly, capable. I had a discussion last night about the history in making here. Not about the first black president, but about a man who is seemingly able to pull the United States out of a slump second only to the Great Depression. I’m hopeful.
