Ten things of which I agree with President Obama
On the eve of the President coming here tomorrow, I figured I’d write out ten things I agree with him on. Since, as you know, I don’t agree with him on most things.
10. The rhetorical benefits of appearing to “engage” the world. Helps America out temporarily in the realm of soft power. Talking about reconciliation with the Muslim world while raining down death and destruction has some sort of poetic beauty. Not really a fan when he uses these speeches to bash his own country and his own predecessor, but I imagine he’ll learn to regret it.
9. Going for everything this year. I detest nearly all of his domestic policies, but politically it makes sense.
8. Upgrading the detention facilities at Bagram AFB. I’m happy when the Daily Kos is mad.
7. The huge increase in drone attacks in Pakistan, the forceful push against the Islamabad government in many areas (which can only be really credibly done when there’s a new party in charge in Washington, I think) and the general escalation of the war and our focus there.
6. Keeping the pressure on North Korea. As of late it seems to be out of the news and the pressure has the appearance of lessening, but its clear that the White House is continuing to suffocate the Pyongyang regime.
5. Coming around to support the constitution and rule of law in Honduras (and the clever way the administration got itself out of the hole of being on the same side as Chavez)
4. The appointment of General McChrystal to ISAF and the pressure the administration has been putting on our NATO allies for more troops. Its nice to see political capital being expended somewhere, even if I think the NATO Secretary General and PM Brown are doing a lot more heavy lifting than they should be. (not to mention our apparent approval of Canadian and Dutch withdrawals in the next few years)
3. Keeping Secretary Gates on. In general, the DOD political appointees all seem like a level-headed bunch.
2. The troop surge in Afghanistan, no matter how he packages it
1. Having the goal of, and working toward, a world without nuclear weapons.
