Change We Can Believe In

Check out this picture from Dusseldorf's Carnival (Mardi Gras here in America) celebration. *This* is change we can definitely believe in. Especially that stimulus package. AW YEAH.

This is losing its funny...

It's getting painfully redundant for me to write columns and blog posts every week insisting that, in the important ways, Obama is no different than Bush. But I feel I need to continue doing it at a steady pace since pathetically faithful Obama supporters (our main constituency here at the Collegian) straight up refuse to criticize Obama for doing the same horrible things they vehemently bashed Bush for doing.

Here's a list of assorted links which help validate my claims of Obama's Bush-like disregard for the constitution and the rule of law in general. They mainly pertain to detainees, secret prisons, torture, propaganda, and disregard for the Freedom of Information Act. Hopefully the one or two people (not even? maybe?) that actually read the Ed/Op blog posts will begin to submit to the evidence and become lastingly convinced.

1. torture, human rights, et al
2. little more and a little more and a little more
3. Obama's War on Terror
4. freedom of information, and again
5. transparency?
6. Afghanistan "surge"? (just the beginning, by the way)

Still think Obama represents change? ...Fine, I'll keep trying.

Obama's "Bush-league" legal stances.

My upcoming Wednesday column will be on Obama lying (again) about government transparency and accountability and how he's now using all the Bush legal tricks to subvert the rule of law. Here is a supplementary video to wet your palates.

1100 pages for just $787B

Representative John Boehner (R-Ohio) brings up a good point today, speaking in front of the House, heaving a mountain of paper onto the floor. That mountain: the stimulus bill expecting a House vote today, rewritten last night and amounting to over 1,100 pages and a total tab of $787 billion.

Mr. Boehner explained that not a single representative had read the entire bill since its reformed completion late last night, and expressed his doubt that it was even possible for a person to read so many pages in so little time. As college students expected to tackle heavy reading loads every week, I think we can all agree that 1,100 pages is a bit much for one night.

President Obama campaigned on the promise of a reformed Washington with greater transparency. Obviously, the economy needs action now. But rushing this bill through a vote before Americans even have a chance to grasp the breadth of its policies and the depth of its spending effectively sets that mountain before the eyes of Americans and blinds them to the true content of this bill. The president can publish this bill for all to see and claim transparency, but if if it passes before anyone has a chance to even peruse the 1,100 pages, then the administration has failed to deliver on its promise.

Shouldn't Americans have a chance to judge this bill, in its enormity, for what it is before it goes to Obama's desk and turns into a reality?

Hate to say I...nevermind

A while back I wrote a column about Obama's call for open talks with Iran and how good a thing that would be if he kept his campaign promise of it. Read it here. Despite how vehemently I disagree with Obama on almost every issue, I was hopeful in this one respect.

Well, just to update, for those faithful readers who commented on the site under my column, voicing their objections quite harshly and condemning my point of view on diplomacy with Iran, here is some amount of vindication: Iran has responded positively, offering 'dialogue with respect.'