Obama's Lost Opportunity

As the Electoral College is set to decide whether to ratify the results of November's presidential election, let's take a moment to reflect upon the outgoing administration and the Obama legacy.

The principle accomplishments of the Obama's presidency are certain to revolve around his role in the recovery of an economy which was teetering on the brink of total collapse, the subsequent reduction in the unemployment rate, and the enactment of the Affordable Care Act which provided health insurance to millions of previously uninsured Americans thereby reducing the overall net cost of healthcare. While these fetes are laudable and noteworthy, a closer look at the totality of these past eight years reveals more disappointment and lost opportunity than accomplishment as the chief characteristic of this political era.

In the wake of the Bush/Chaney years, it was the hope (indeed, the promise) of the new administration to address some of the misdeeds, questionable decisions, and excesses of its predecessor. First on the list of remedial actions was the closing of the detention center in Guantanamo Bay which had held prisoners, without charge, for years many of whom were originally apprehended for bounty in their native countries with no connection to terrorism whatsoever. Instead of processing these cases through either civilian or even military judicial procedures, Obama allowed this facility to continue to function thereby, in effect, ratifying the illegal incarceration of individuals without the due process of law.

Another blight on the national record during the Bush/Chaney regime was the authorization of torture (euphemistically referred to as 'enhanced interrogation'), first brought to light through the revelation of its practice at Abu Ghraib Prison in Afghanistan and later shown to be widespread throughout the world at various 'black sites' (including Guantanamo Bay) in countries where human rights

restrictions were, at best, relaxed. The sanctioning of this unprecedented use of torture under theauspices of American authority was directly attributable to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and perhaps even higher within the administration. An essential element in rectifying a past wrong or, in this case, a violation of international law is to duly prosecute all of the perpetrators, especially those directing the transgression from a position of high office. Obama had the opportunity to do this but chose to 'look ahead and not behind' when confronted with the decision.

Obama's next opportunity at rectification of past ill-conceived policy was with respect to the so-called 'war on terror' originally launched in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and fueled by various hasty measures including but not restricted to the illegal invasion of Iraq (in violation of the UN Security Council Charter) as well as the enactment of the Patriot Act which expanded the government's ability to collect information on otherwise innocent American citizens. Instead of ending this seemingly endless war effort, Obama altered its character by focusing on the use of weaponized drones as well as the covert action of elite special operations personnel in lieu of increased ground forces in a now enlarged war campaign. This new program also yielded the use of extra-judicial assassination as a matter of official US foreign policy, clearly on display in the drone-induced murder of American citizen Anwar al Awlaki and, later, his sixteen year old son Abdulrahman as well as the much celebrated assassination of Osama Bin Laden. This policy became so commonplace that Obama's 'kill list' and his Tuesday morning review of same was a matter of everyday conversation as an element of the status quo. Obama's expansion of the Bush/Chaney policy regarding the suppression of dissent was evidenced by the invocation of the Espionage Act at an unprecedented rate in the effort to quiet the voices of whistleblowers and journalists alike as they sought to expose governmental and military excess, overreach, and wrongdoing. The cases of Julian Assange, Bradley Manning, John Kiriakou, Edward Snowden, and Thomas Drake are testimony to early and current efforts at silencing dissent first initiated by Bush/Chaney and faithfully continued (if not expanded) under Obama.

In all of the above cited examples, the Obama administration had the opportunity to right a previous wrong, correct an errant policy decision, and thereby change the course of direction in favor an arc
toward reconciliation and justice and, instead, chose either to stay the course outlined by the previous regime or, in fact, up the ante in terms of the proliferation of the original mistake.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the Obama years, however, was the lost opportunity to open a serious and potentially healing dialogue on the subject of race in America. The mere mention of race in certain quarters elicits cries of 'asserting the race card' as a way to inhibit and bring to an end any further exploration into this vital issue. I will, once again, remind my brethren that the race card has been in play in America from the original exploitation and eventual genocide of its native population, through the ugly and brutal institution of slavery, the subsequent era of Jim Crow exclusion and savagery, and into the modern day denial of equal access to quality education, entry into vital institutions, and the fair administration of justice. Unlike the aforementioned examples of lost opportunity, the failure to advance a meaningful national dialogue on race cannot be properly laid on Obama's doorstep. One need only look back on the Tavon Martin murder as evidence of both the promise of dialogue and the subsequent denial and avoidance of the matter altogether. When news of Tavon's killing became known throughout the country, President Obama made a national, prime time appeal to the American people by courageously opening his heart and sharing his experience as a black man growing up in a country often hostile to his presence based solely on the color of his skin. He famously declared that 'Tavon could have been me'. With this one statement, Obama was issuing an invitation to the inhabitants of this great country to open their eyes and their hearts to an experience known only too well by him and to empathically share it through his eyes in order to better understand the daily reality of the millions of kids, just like Tavon Martin, who must tread cautiously through a fearful landscape not of their own making. I was struck by the sincerity of Obama's implicit appeal, through the revelation of his perception as a black individual, to open a truly heartfelt and meaningful conversation on race and the real experience of being a person of color in modern day America. Instead of an embrace of this potentially pivotal moment, his announcement was met variously with suspicion, derision, anger, placation, denial, and indifference. An opportunity of groundbreaking dialogue and real communication on a national level was lost in the moment of so much promise resulting in a heartbreaking occasion. In its place, we resorted to our default position of denial, obfuscation, and resistance to the difficult task of healing a centuries old national wound. The presence of Barack Obama as our leader gave a never before seen chance to engage in a process of repair and renewal; a chance not likely to be revisited in the next four years. The conversation will, however, continue in the classrooms, clubs, multicultural organizations, churches, and in all the places where Obama's original promise will be kept, nurtured, and transformed in the hope-filled days to come.