Op-Ed: President Obama Offers No Change To Many Bush Policies

While running for President Barack Obama pledged to follow The Constitution and run the country differently than Bush and Cheney. While some of that has proved true, disturbingly the President has allowed some of W's more draconian policies to remain.

President Obama touted accountability and transparency as two of the main areas that his administration would differ from that of George W. Bush. Indeed on his very first official day in office, President Obama reversed a controversial Bush administration policy that critics said contributed to excessive secrecy during the past eight years. This was seen by some to be a clear message about accountability for both his administration and that of his predecessor. Since his early days in office however, the Obama administration has been more in lockstep with some of the more controversial policies of the Bush administration - including those related to terrorism - much to the chagrin of his many supporters who propelled him to his resounding Election Day victory last November. Early into his term, Obama administration invoked the controversial state secrets act in the case of Binyam Mohamed, an Ethiopian native, and four other detainees who claimed they were victims of the Bush administration’s rendition program under which terrorism suspects were secretly taken to other countries where, they say, they were tortured. The previous administration’s position was that the case should be dismissed because even courtroom discussion of their treatment could threaten national security. When the case was heard in February before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judges sitting in San Francisco, the Obama administration made the same argument. So much for transparency. Another instance of Obama in lock step with his predecessor was the new president’s executive order continuing Bush’s faith-based office in the White House. During his campaign, Obama agreed to uphold the Bush administration program of granting federal aid and contracts to churches, temples and mosques for charitable work but promised to bar religious discrimination in hiring and to also provide safeguards against the blurring of separation of church and state. There was no such prohibition in his directive. For all of the talk from the righties about President Obama "taking away your guns", Obama also has backed Bush's 11th hour directive to allow concealed firearms in national parks, even while a review was underway to see if the firearms measure meets environmental restrictions. In fact the election of President Obama has resulted in a boon for the gun industry while the push for so-called gun reforms has not even been mentioned during this congress and is unlikely to be brought up until at least after the 2010 mid-term elections. Obama has been true to some of his big pledges by issuing orders to shut down the controversial prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the CIA’s secret prisons abroad, known for cruel and inhuman abuses of prisoners. However, the President left unaddressed the possibility of torture in secret foreign prisons under U.S. control such as Abu Ghraib in Iraq or Bagram in Afghanistan, not to mention the many 'black sites" sponsored by our foreign so-called allies in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Thailand and other countries. In his own directive President Obama maintained that " The United States will not torture" yet he has remained silent on the question of whether the U.S. would help others do the torturing. Again bucking his pledge for transparency, perhaps out of charity toward his predecessor, a protective bent for the reputation of the country, or even protection for his own administration officials and even some members of the US congress down the line, Obama has ruled out a "truth commission" that would re-examine the policies and practices of his predecessor, a position that his Director of Central Intelligence agrees with. Members of Congress apparently knew quite a bit about U.S. torture practices, but Republicans loyal to the Bush administration and Democrats, too, played along and kept silent at the horror of it all. Instead, President Obama has insisted that Americans "move forward" without assigning blame to those who dishonored us. So much for the much touted Obama campaign slogan of "change" from the former law professor who once taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School and was head of the Harvard Law Review. President Obama also campaigned as someone who wouldn't use signing statements to get around provisions of new laws. But recently, four House Democrats accused him of doing exactly that, and warned that he might not receive any more funds for some of his priorities unless he stops the practice made popular by George W. Bush. A letter from Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Appropriations Chairman David R. Obey of Wisconsin, and Reps. Nita M. Lowey and Gregory W. Meeks of New York offers a strongly worded rebuke of Obama's continued use of the signing statements after he criticized President George W. Bush for using them to thwart the will of Congress. Among the most disturbing policies of the Bush administration in regards to ordinary citizens, was his very controversial spying on the American people, whether through illegal wiretaps with the help of telecomm companies or infiltrating groups with undercover agents and informants. It has recently been charged that the Obama administration has continued some aspects of this domestic spying. Anti-war activists in Olympia, Wash., have exposed U.S. Army spying and infiltration of their groups, as well as intelligence gathering by the U.S. Air Force, the federal Capitol Police and the Coast Guard. Some of these are the same groups that the Bush administration targeted during their reign. If the accusations turn out to be truthful, it would appear to be in direct violation of the Posse Comitatus Act preventing U.S. military deployment for domestic law enforcement, something former Vice-President Dick Cheney was urging President Bush to use as an option in the terrorist cell case in Buffalo, N.Y. and throughout the United States. The righties are quick to point out that President Obama's approval ratings are slipping due to his handling of the economy and his health-care proposals. That is more of a result of GOP fear mongering talking about the elderly and small business owners losing their health-care. With so many instances of President Obama not following through on his campaign promises so far, it is the disenchantment of those who supported and voted for him that has his support dwindling. The strategy is to govern towards the center in order not to alienate more Americans than necessary. Arguably, if the President just ramrodded his "change" through in the fashion that George W. Bush did when he had control of congress and the fear of a nation in his hands, the GOP might respect him more. With the President appearing more and more like George W. Bush, this should actually help him get re-elected.