10 reasons why TRUE DEMOCRATS should oppose President Obama’s efforts to

succeed just like Rush Limbaugh does:

10.) AFGHAN POLICY

After the 911 attacks, it’s said that everyone supported George W Bush. Certainly his approval
skyrocketed, but was he really supported? People forget that in NYC, tens of thousands
protested his attack on Afghanistan. We forget that Sen. Kennedy and other true Democrats
opposed his invasion and called on him to talk to the Taliban, to give them more time to
handover Bin Laden, and almost every Democrat wanted to see Al Qaeda hunted as a law
enforcement matter rather than through the use of military force. We also forget that hundreds
of thousands protested against the US in Pakistan, were arrested, and held in Pakistani prisons
until the threat of revolution there subsided. In the UK the government nearly collapsed in
opposition to the American invasion of Afghanistan. In Egypt and Syria mobs surrounded the
American embassies and started fires. In France, the leading newspaper ran a headline that said
‘We are all Americans now,’ and while many mistakenly say that’s a sign of international
support for President Bush, the theme of the article itself was really more akin to, “It’s about
time the arrogant Americans suffered like the rest of us.” In the Palestinian territories people
sang and danced in the streets in praise of Osama Bin Laden rather than support for President
Bush.

No, the American people and the world were not united behind Bush’s war in Afghanistan. From
the moment the first bomb caught a crosswind, went off target, and the Taliban claimed civilian
casualties….from that moment on the world no longer supported Bush, and instead he was
classed as a cowboy out of control. Then when Osama Bin Laden again defeated American
intelligence and escaped into Pakistan (Dec 2001), true Democrats said Bush had acted too
slowly.

Today, those same true Democrats should hope President Obama’s war in Afghanistan fails just
as they hoped Bush’s war there would fail: by opposing the bombing of Afghan villages (to
paraphrase Sen. Obama’s own campaign rhetoric). They should oppose the illegal, pre-emptive
air attacks on Pakistani villages. Just as true Democrats called for peace and talks w the Taliban
to hand over Bin Laden, the same call should go out to President Obama. Just as true Democrats
demanded in November 2001, “Why haven’t we gotten Bin Laden?” The same should be
demanded of President Obama.

True Democrats should hope President Obama’s continuation of Bush’s Afghanistan policy (his
words via the CNN Lara Logan interview) should be changed because it has failed to defeat the
Taliban, Al Qaeda, to bring Bin Laden to justice, and to bring peace to Afghanistan. Worst of all,
this administration is sending another 17,000 troops to Afghanistan, but they have no plan, no
objectives, no benchmarks for success, and Congressman Jack Murtha is telling us we need
another 600,000 troops for Afghanistan. The only way to get 600,000 troops into Afghanistan is
to have a draft. True Democrats never accepted this kind of war strategy from President Bush,
and should not accept it from President Obama.

9.) IRAQ POLICY

Senator Obama promised to bring home all American troops from Iraq in 16 months. Later, after
his political-military advisors and the Pentagon told him it couldn’t be done, he re-phrased that
to be all “combat brigades” in 16 months (the remaining troops would be re-labeled as
“security,” “logistics,” “training,” and “anti-terrorist” forces). As President, he’s changed it again
to 18 months so that he could continue the Bush Administration’s Status of Forces Agreement
with Iraq. Now, when President Bush made that agreement, he had shoes thrown at him just 2
days later. True Democrats should oppose President Obama’s effort to succeed in Iraq just as
they opposed President Bush’s efforts to succeed there.
8.) FISA
Senator Obama was a very brave member of Congress. Despite the political risks, he stood up
and led the fight against President Bush’s FISA abuses. True Democrats opposed Bush’s
warrantless wiretapping and breach of American civil liberties and privacy. Sadly, now that he is
President, Barack Obama has embraced those same policies, and true Democrats should
oppose his use of warrantless wiretaps just as they opposed President Bush.

7.) GITMO, TORTURE, LACK OF TRIALS

Senator Obama campaigned on the promises to close the Guantanamo Gulag and to end
torture. As President, among his first actions was to sign Executive Orders that ordered Gitmo
closed, and banned torture. Unfortunately, the closure of Gitmo hasn’t happened, and it won’t
happen until someone decides what to do with the prisoners there, and there is no answer to
that=Gitmo will remain open indefinitely. President Obama’s Executive Order against torture
included some verbatim phraseology from President Bush’s ban on torture, and it leaves open
the choice to torture if a President wants to do so. He also ended the tribunals that were going
on for the prisoners so that they no longer have a day in court. True Democrats should hope
President Obama’s effort fail just as they hoped Bush’s efforts would fail; to keep the
Guantanamo Gulag open indefinitely, his legal loophole allowing torture, and his cessation of
giving prisoners their day in court.

6.) CRONYISM
True Democrats were able to look past the idea that a Governor and Mayor were slightly lacking
in their response to Hurricane Katrina. True Democrats opposed President Bush’s cronyism and
saw that the real problem with response to that hurricane was the appointee of an unqualified
friend to a position to head FEMA. Yet, President Obama has put one of his old friends, Leon
Panetta, in charge of the CIA?! Panetta’s only intelligence experience was personally arranging
for the rendition of 60-80 people during the first Clinton Administration. America cannot afford
to have a confessed torture-outsourcer in charge of the CIA, and the only reason he’s been put
there is because of his closeness to President Obama. True Democrats want this example of
cronyism and support for rendition to fail.

5.) TRANSPARENCY
Senator Obama campaigned on the promise to put every bill on a website for 5 days before he
would sign it. He said that the American people have a right to read where the money is going,
and what a bill says it will do. He also said he wouldn’t have secret agreements with
corporations and lobbyists like Bushco did with Haliburton and ENRON. Yet, just as Dick Cheney
had his energy commission records kept secret, so too are any and all records of what
agreements were made between the Obama Administration and the dozens of banks that have
been given 100x more money than Haliburton ever got. We have no idea of what backroom
deals went on between this administration and those banks, or the Big Three automakers, or
AIG. All we know is that they met with White House and Congressional officials, and they got a
trillion dollars with another 2 trillion pending. Where was the bidding on terms for these bailout
loans that have cost 2-6x as much as the entire war in Iraq (Congressional Research Service put
the cost of the war in Iraq at roughly $500bn from 2003-2009).

We didn’t get 5 days to read the final version of the trillion dollar stimulus bill (includes interest),
and the only version that was provided to the public and to voting members of Congress was
one that was littered with hand-written notes. No one-not a single member of Congress or the
President read the entire trillion dollar bill before signing it. There is no transparency.

4.) IMPEACHMENT
George W Bush and his administration were never impeached, and no impeachment
investigation is going on despite having been told that they would be held to account by
Senator Obama back in 2006, 2007, and 2008. True Democrats sought to impeach them on
charges of breaking FISA laws, torture, undo process of detainees, rendition, no bid contracts,
political cronyism in the Attorney General’s office, and more. Now, that’s not possible because
in each of those cases President Obama has either continued the exact same policies (including
rendition, making torture legal by Executive Order, no bid contracts w banks, FISA and more).
Where is the justice that was promised to True Democrats, and how can the Obama
Administration speak out legitimately against the policies of the Bush Administration while
following them itself?

3.) Fiscal Responsibility

Congress holds the purse strings in the United States system of government. When a single
party controls both houses of Congress, and that party is NOT the same as the one in the White
House, then the President is called a Lame Duck because he cannot force or compel Congress to
do his bidding. In those situations, Congress holds more power than the President. This means
that the current financial crisis happened on Senator Obama’s watch. George Bush’s deficits
were bad, but the budget deficits created by Senator Obama and President Obama are as much
as 4x bigger, and he’s only been President for a little over a month! True Democrats opposed
Bush and the Republican’s deficit spending, and as such should oppose similar lack of fiscal
responsibility from President Obama.

2.) BI-PARTISANSHIP

1.) ARROGANCE
Who can forget the images of George W Bush sitting in a classroom while Americans were being
killed at the World Trade Center? Who can forget the image of him playing a folk guitar while
New Orleans was drowning? True Democrats said he lived in a bubble and was oblivious to the
suffering of the American people, and he was held to account. Senator Obama said, “I get it.”
He told us he understands the suffering of the American people, and that’s why we get that $8-
13 more per paycheck now that he’s President. It’s why can have parties every night at the
White House (especially Wednesday’s apparently). Meanwhile, 500-700,000 Americans lose
their jobs every month. An ice storm ravaged the central Southern United States and left
millions without power or heat for weeks. He ignored it (ironically, he went to an elementary
school and read children’s books instead just like George Bush did on 911). 10,000 families lose
their homes each day. Your average American has $25-45,000 in credit card debt alone. His
response has been to give trillions to the banks rather than the people. His response has been
to dance and dine and give the people a dime (well, on average $10 more per paycheck, but it
rhymes). Senator Obama spent two years campaigning and preparing to take office. President
elect Obama spent 3 months preparing to take office. President Obama has done nothing other
than give money to banks and corporations rather than the people. That is what True Democrats
said Republicans and George Bush were doing, but President Obama has already spent several
times more than all their years in power. His so-called stimulus package won’t put money into
the economy for two years, and instead of stimulating or encouraging confidence, Wall Street
responded by crashing.

recap:
10.) AFGHAN POLICY
9.) IRAQ POLICY
8.) FISA
7.) GITMO, TORTURE, LACK OF TRIALS
6.) CRONYISM
5.) TRANSPARENCY
4.) IMPEACHMENT
3.) FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
2.) BI-PARTISANSHIP
1.) ARROGANCE
True Democrats railed against these policies when George W Bush created and embraced them
over the past 8years. True Democrats would rail against them again today regardless of the D
next to the President’s name. After all, we’re Americans first, Democrats and Republicans
second. Besides, dissent is patriotic, right?