It was supposed to be stupid.

I don’t get why so many of you are blissfully ignorant of how stupid you sound.

Charlie I think in your article there is an implicit severe misappropriation of what constitutes America’s moral leadership. It is not some sort of shining standard of morality that America has generally adhered to. A quick examination of our history will reveal that that is simply not the case. Rather it is the fact that when we do slip, we have these self examining moments: the light of our society shines on our Watergates and exposes corruption. That’s the reason we’re the shining city on the hill.

Yes Obama has kept in place many of Bush’s policies, but Bush+nuance equates to the self reflection that makes America great. Further saying that Obama is in large part mirroring Bush neglects how far Bush’s policies changed from 2002-2008. A big reason Cheney has been so critical of Obama’s policies is that he was taken out of the national security loop in Bush’s second term (witness the lack of waterboarding, rise in trials, etc.). These changes are institutional and take time. Regardless I would urge you not to push Obama towards some Carteresque idealistic foreign policy but instead recognize that these are some very tricky issues when you get to the mechanics of the thing. I mean if not Bagram or an equivalent, where the hell should we put these guys?