I am unaccustomed to agreeing with our current president. Not because I’m a partisan or a bigot or an obstructionist. I just find that we disagree on virtually everything, from smoking (he does, I don’t) to abortion (he wants to make it even more widely available, I don’t) to the division of powers (he endorses a centralizing government, I’m more of a federalist) and on and on. The point is that I don’t disagree just to disagree, but the President and I have found little common ground in his first 100 days in office.
And it looked like that trend was going to continue last week when the Obama administration agreed to an ACLU request to release photographs of American soldiers allegedly ‘torturing’ enemy combatants. Note, I used the word allegedly AND put torturing in quotes. ‘Nuff said about that.
While I am on board with a transparent government and freedom of information, I’m more on board with guarding our shores from threats foreign and domestic. Releasing pictures showing what could be construed as cruelty on the part of American soldiers toward presumably Muslim detainees would almost definitely stir up wide-spread resentment against America and jeopardize the lives of the soldiers who have dedicated their lives to defending us from harm.
Then, President Obama did an about face. Quite suddenly, he un-agreed to release the photos and basically told the ACLU to sue if they don’t like it. Now, daring the ACLU to sue is kind of like daring me to eat a hot, fresh doughnut. It doesn’t take much prodding.
The President made the right decision, eventually. The public’s right to see the pictures is trumped by the national security concerns inherent in releasing them. What’s more, President Obama has now found an opponent so liberal that he is on their Right, putting him and me firmly on the same side of the argument.
Stand your ground, Mr. O. I’ve got your back. And words I never thought I’d write: thank you, ACLU. Your out of control self-serving wackiness has given me and the Prez a chance to bond on at least one issue. Now, about those cigarettes….
It truly is the right decision. I have long been an Obama supporter, but I thought he may let us down on this one. Good for the ACLU. We have the right to know.