For all young voters, looking to Obama for change. You may be disappointed. I'm not saying you shouldn't have voted for Obama, but politics is about promises often not kept. Us "old people" know this and are not surprised by the following.
Excerpt from Lionel Beehner (italics are mine)
Pardon the metaphor, but Obama is trying to put lipstick on the pig that is US foreign policy. His national security team looks no less hawkish than the team assembled during Bush's second term. If I may ask, how is Hillary Clinton signing a communiqué or Robert Gates asking for more defense funding a "new dawn" exactly?
Ah, but the buck stops not with them but with Obama. The 3am call is his, not Clinton's, to make (even though one can almost hear her rehearsing Alexander Haig's famous "I'm in charge now" line in her head). Still, Obama's familiar-looking team of national security fixer-uppers does not inspire confidence. Nor do his vague answers to detailed questions on specific policies. "We're going to have to bring the full force of our power, not only military but also diplomatic, economic and political, to deal with those threats not only to keep America safe, but also to ensure that peace and prosperity will exist around the world," he told reporters. Obama seems to think he can wish away the world's evils with his eloquence and charm.
But his statements to date, whenever issues of substance are involved, have been lacking in specifics -- the kind of fluff that goes good with peanut butter but not with issues of war and peace. To wit: He says he will close Guantanamo. Great, a symbolic blow to terrorism recruiters' kneecaps, but what about Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, which is even larger (with over 1,000 detainees), more secretive, and even houses juveniles? Obama promises to send more troops to Afghanistan but to what end: What are our goals there? And more troops will do nothing to improve the aid-distribution mess there or rid Kabul of corruption.
and it goes on ...
I hate to say it, but in terms of U.S. foreign policy, I don't see a whole lot changing under Obama, especially with the national security team he has assembled. The biggest thing I fear is that when Obama gets that 3am phone call, his voice will sound an awful lot like Bush's.
This is what us "old people" already knew. A lesson learned for the young.
Stuff for me and anybody
