73 posts tagged “barack obama”

While I wouldn’t consider myself a “birther” (I am far too left-wing, relatively speaking, for that), there’s a part of me that wishes the American president would show his birth certificate, just to silence a good group of his critics and get them focusing on more important matters. I publicly said so at the time when the matter first came up and yes, it did seem odd, even if his challengers in the courts’ system had fairly ill-prepared cases.
   However, I remember how John Major, then PM of the UK, resisted showing his O levels, which he also had sealed, because he felt they weren’t important. Eventually, he released them, and his marks were unremarkable. They made absolutely no difference to his authority and it was a “nothing” story that the British media were good at pushing. Maybe President Obama is taking a lesson from a conservative politician: showing it would be a waste of time.
   I imagine in the US, things are so divisive politically that if President Obama were to show his (original, long form) birth certificate, there would still be people saying it was faked. I have read some comical criticisms even of his certification of live birth, pointing out the colour differences between ones they had seen and the one on the President’s campaign site. I guess those people have never used more than one scanner, or more than one digital camera.
   The political right, even if its case had merit, kept shooting itself in the foot with some of the less thought-out theories. I admit there is a question that could be easily cleared up, but Obama’s own critics are clouding the issue. While they’re doing that, then the President and his allies can sit back comfortably.
   Still, just to get a bit of closure as I potentially enter local politics, here’s a 37-year-old piece of paper (in fact, it is 37 years today that Dad had my birth registered):

   Queen Elizabeth Hospital is still there, as is 4 Victory Avenue, though we soon moved into the front apartment. Here is how the entry to the building looks these days:     Now, that should all check out, not that local politics gets as nasty as American national politics.

Another little gem from my visit to Robert and Delia’s place today. Robert forwarded me the URL to April Winchell’s blog, who blogged about some swearing the President did.
   Specifically, then-Sen. Barack Obama read the audio book version of his autobiography, Dreams of My Father, quoting his friend Ray, who had rather colourful language.

Days after his inauguration, President Barack Obama signed into effect plans to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility within the next year. What do you think should be done with its remaining detainees?
Sponsored by “Inside Guantanamo” on National Geographic Channel. Premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Goodness, this is a politically charged one.
   There was a reason many of these people were terror suspects when they were first arrested and detained. Some of them were good reasons, some of them lousy. If the President is to close Gitmo anyway, then there are only a few paths open to the US.
   The detainees should be charged and subjected to a fair trial under US law, based on the ideals and Constitution of that country, as soon as practicable—preferably on the sort of timetable that US subjects themselves are given.
   Those whose governments have requested extradition for trials in their own countries the US should consider on a case-by-case basis as to avoid clogging up the US justice system.
   They should not be denied counsel.
   I think the American people deserve to know what these people have allegedly done or are suspected of doing, so that the full impact of any terror plans are known.
   If they are people who will commit crimes if they are released, then it’s an incentive for the US Government to build airtight cases against them for conspiracy. If they still have any intelligence to give, there are other laws under which they can be detained, especially with some of the anti-terror legislation enacted since 2001.
   The War on Terror is not over so this should not be seen as an end, and I believe the President is aware of that.

I now know of one colleague who is cancelling her plans to visit the United States because of the Obama administration’s changes to travel requirements.
   While I am unsure whether these are a hangover from the Bush days or not, they are fatal to US tourism, and disconnect the country from the rest of the world in terms of international travel.
   As mentioned, people from countries which were once eligible to visit the US for 90 days under the visa waiver programme (this includes close allies such as the UK—excepting British overseas nationals, as the USA now practises apartheid against British subjects) now have to fill out a form with the Department of Homeland Security 72 hours before travel.
   And although the US Government claims this takes seconds, the reality is that it takes 20 minutes per person—far longer than the old system which took mere minutes per traveller. If you are the person applying on behalf of your family to travel, be prepared to be by your computer for over an hour.
   The form applies even for people transiting who have not entered the US through Immigration—which suggests to me that whomever dreamt up this policy actually has no understanding of where US sovereignty begins.
   Americans already have a stereotype of being ignorant of overseas affairs. While untrue for the most part, policies like this do not help.
   Secondly, the US Government has the right now to charge travellers not holding a passport with a chip US$545, even if they have filled out the Homeland Security forms.
   This is despite the passport being valid. Apparently, for the United States, passports valid anywhere else in the world are not good enough for Americans.
   While the charge is at the airport’s discretion, who can tell when one would get stung?
   Americans already have a stereotype of being arrogant. While untrue for the most part, policies like this do not help.
   Hang on, there’s déjà vu there.
   The US Government, even under President Obama, is as detached from everyday Americans and the citizens of the world than ever.
   I can only hope these are things that the President has not got around to sorting out. For they sound just like Patriot Act-inspired policies that restrict freedom. Or, as the President himself once put it, ‘the failed policies of George W. Bush’.

I think we can all get a kick out of this one, regardless of which side we stand on the political spectrum.

I see that the US president’s brother, George Obama, has been arrested for marijuana possession.
   Have we returned to the era of goofy, Democratic presidential brothers?
   Sam Houston Johnson, Billy Carter, Roger Clinton and now George.
   We have to return to the days of J. F. K. before there was a Democrat in the White House whose kid brother didn’t embarrass him.

Bob the Builder isn’t the only one who used ‘Yes we can’ to great effect nearly a decade before the New Hampshire concession speech of the current US president. Here’s a sticker that’s coming off an old Toyota imported from Geelong in Victoria, Australia that Lucire head designer Tanya spotted today as we headed to the first anniversary Vista Group lunch:

A few nights ago, Jon Stewart cheekily edited various George W. Bush speeches, following them with words from the President’s inauguration speech. The implication: the two men are saying the same thing. Or that President Obama is a political kleptomaniac. Remember that the cornerstone of his campaign was also borrowed, from children’s show Bob the Builder:

   Not just the theme tune, but I understand there was a special (sold on video cassette) named for it, since the words were so motivational and energized kids around the world:

Finally, a version of the 44th president’s inauguration speech that has not been divided into parts on YouTube, from C-Span. (It includes the oath of office, which included the Chief Justice’s slip-up.) Inspirational words, as we expected from the President.