Comments on: Obama’s Selective Application of “Change” http://capitolcommentary.com/2009/05/26/obama%e2%80%99s-selective-application-of-%e2%80%9cchange%e2%80%9d/ A smaller government is a better government. Thu, 17 May 2012 15:18:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Harrison http://capitolcommentary.com/2009/05/26/obama%e2%80%99s-selective-application-of-%e2%80%9cchange%e2%80%9d/#comment-515 Harrison Wed, 27 May 2009 21:34:25 +0000 http://harrisonprice.com/?p=1173#comment-515 Bill Clinton tried to allow openly gay people to serve in the military. When this went down in flames he came up with "don't ask, don't tell" which really made nobody happy. My issue with Obama is that when he campaigned he made so many issues "moral" issues but has since gone back on much of it. If it is a "moral" issue you can't say one policy is immoral but adopt another policy and say "well... we compromised on that." It's like saying murder is immoral unless it's on a Tuesday. Bill Clinton tried to allow openly gay people to serve in the military. When this went down in flames he came up with “don’t ask, don’t tell” which really made nobody happy.

My issue with Obama is that when he campaigned he made so many issues “moral” issues but has since gone back on much of it. If it is a “moral” issue you can’t say one policy is immoral but adopt another policy and say “well… we compromised on that.” It’s like saying murder is immoral unless it’s on a Tuesday.

]]> By: Joe Markowitz http://capitolcommentary.com/2009/05/26/obama%e2%80%99s-selective-application-of-%e2%80%9cchange%e2%80%9d/#comment-514 Joe Markowitz Wed, 27 May 2009 17:19:33 +0000 http://harrisonprice.com/?p=1173#comment-514 You can call it confusion if you want, but I think Obama knows exactly what he is doing, and he is continually focused on the future and the big picture. He compromises when necessary; he does not always advance the most liberal agenda; but he is intent on changing direction in a few key areas. He will get some kind of health reform passed, but it won't go as far as his most liberal supporters want. He will also get some kind of energy bill passed, but again it probably won't be as strict as the most strident environmentalists want. He will also get us out of Iraq, but he will maintain a strong military. Obama is a pragmatist, but that does not mean he doesn't know what he is doing. By contrast, if Hillary Clinton or John McCain had been elected, I'm sure they would be pushing a very coherent agenda, but I doubt they would be getting it passed by all of the disparate interests in the Congress. By the way, Clinton did not try to overturn "don't ask, don't tell." In fact, Clinton was the president who created the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Before that the policy was that homosexuals were disqualified from serving in the military period. Now they are not automatically disqualified, and the military is not supposed to hunt for them. They are only disqualified if they are open about their sexual preference. <abbr><em>Joe Markowitz’s last blog post..<a href="http://www.hopeandchange.net/2009/05/just-dont-call-it-marriage.html" rel="nofollow">Just Don't Call it Marriage</a></abbr></em> You can call it confusion if you want, but I think Obama knows exactly what he is doing, and he is continually focused on the future and the big picture. He compromises when necessary; he does not always advance the most liberal agenda; but he is intent on changing direction in a few key areas. He will get some kind of health reform passed, but it won’t go as far as his most liberal supporters want. He will also get some kind of energy bill passed, but again it probably won’t be as strict as the most strident environmentalists want. He will also get us out of Iraq, but he will maintain a strong military. Obama is a pragmatist, but that does not mean he doesn’t know what he is doing. By contrast, if Hillary Clinton or John McCain had been elected, I’m sure they would be pushing a very coherent agenda, but I doubt they would be getting it passed by all of the disparate interests in the Congress.

By the way, Clinton did not try to overturn “don’t ask, don’t tell.” In fact, Clinton was the president who created the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Before that the policy was that homosexuals were disqualified from serving in the military period. Now they are not automatically disqualified, and the military is not supposed to hunt for them. They are only disqualified if they are open about their sexual preference.

Joe Markowitz’s last blog post..Just Don’t Call it Marriage

]]>