Tag Archives: Barack Obama

Do free societies suffer tragedies?

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On Twitter Politico quotes from a statement issued by President Obama in response to a shooting at a public event held by Representative Giffords, which has claimed many casualties including the Congresswoman (her prognosis is reported to be surprisingly positive, having suffered a gunshot to her head) and at least a few fatalities among them as I draft this.

@politico: #Obama: Such a senseless and terrible act of violence has no place in a free society http://politi.co/fQmggR

What does that mean? Assuming even the best of intentions, does that sentiment mean much in the context of remarks from a contemporary President of the United States?

In trying to give those words meaning, these questions come to mind:

What does that imply about society? I don’t take it for granted that we live in a free one, if that was an implied premise.

Do I even agree with the statement? What does a free society need to endure, lest it stop being free?

I think we must consider the idea that a free society is going to have to accept some level of tragedy. We also need to consider how much tragedy is a function of an unfree society. I’m not sure the most vocal people who seize podiums and microphones want a free society or even understand what they want.

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The rhetoric of escalation and Orwell

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Obama’s own hypocrisy undercuts the alleged nobility of his Nobel acceptance speech, the purposeful blindness of some of those who are dismayed by it undercuts their dismay, and the constant creep of collective amnesia that allows for others support the escalation of war and the “logic” offered by Obama is Oslo undercuts our safety.

Long out of practice in even attempting to write, I am reading a selection of Orwell’s essays (both the polemic and the trite review and in between) rather than expanding on my own declaration of opinion. Maybe I will learn something. The two volumes are what I might’ve once called provocatively titled: All Art Is Propaganda and Facing Unpleasant Facts. But now they’re just remedial guides for dealing with the world.

In the meantime, I share these selections from contemporary polemicists who I think did a good and more timely job: challenging both the silly dismay of some Democrats in what they seem to perceive as Obama’s betrayal (it isn’t one, he campaigned on escalating the Afghan war) and the others who find Obama’s justification of escalation as a proper way to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, consistent with what he cited himself in the course of his speech.

Head-Roc at the "Emergency Anti-Escalation Rally" outside of the White House

Misinformation provides basis for Obama’s Afghan strategy

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Another check on the collective amnesia of the public, and how it is exploited by whoever is in power, from the Institute for Public Accuracy:

Are Obama and Clinton Being Honest About How Afghan War Began?

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RAHUL MAHAJAN: … It’s not clear how well President Obama and his advisers know this history, although it was all documented in Western newspapers at the time; what is clear is that his suggestion that the Taliban refused to negotiate is not primarily about justifying the war post-9/11 — that still remains unquestioned in mainstream U.S. politics — but rather about justifying his current position that strenuous anti-Taliban efforts in Afghanistan, including the recently announced surge, are a necessary part of ensuring U.S. national security.