That next president would be free to make his own mistakes but Obama was elected on a platform that had as one of its cornerstones the closing of Guantanamo.
That a campaign promise of such magnitude is broken with a 'my hands are tied' is a clear indication that something is seriously borked.
That's true, but in my years of following US politics from high school onward and becoming more discouraged with the results, I relate political promises (without reading too far into the analogy) to a somewhat naive, enthusiastic developer overestimating their skills and time management.
Most of us have probably witnessed some developers (or have been that developer at one point) that thinks they can do anything and everything and then they start on the project and realize it's not as easy as they thought it would be and have to start (embarrassingly) wriggling out of some of those promises or end up working themselves to death. Some developers seem to also never get over this either from just being dishonest or simply having poor time management skills (resulting in angry clients and employers). Other times, there are developers that start out working for a company thinking they can change the entire culture and way of thinking, only to get burned out by the system.
Though at least in development one can always quit and find a better company or work for themselves. The alternative to contributing in a positive way to the political system in a government after leaving politics is less defined and more difficult. There's a lot of bad politicians and I am not one to commiserate with them for their shortcomings or lack of ethics (as it was their choice to run for office and should be held to a higher standard). I just imagine the political machine as being like any other established, complex system in life. In those sorts of systems, anyone with unrealistic expectations of fixing it quickly from the inside versus being a small part of a long-term change tends be in for a shock.
> That next president would be free to make his own mistakes but Obama was elected on a platform that had as one of its cornerstones the closing of Guantanamo.
A former coworker has this funny sweat-shirt. It shows a jar of pills, with a sticker on it. The sticker features a skull and the legend "Electoral promises. Do not swallow".
It seems to me that Liberal America is fine with de facto concentration camp being run within its borders as long as it is run by a black liberal. The same goes with all the wars. Bush would promise that, you'd be all over him and you know it. Democrats are hypocrites as fascist as war mongering right. Talk the talk and then never walk the walk. Why to have a president then? Just to listen to lies?
> Democrats are hypocrites as fascist as war mongering right
Pretty much every politician in any country is a hypocrite as they bend with the current interests that keep them in (what shouldn't be) a lifetime job. That and their secondary obligation to generally switch views if the other party ends up agreeing with something mutual (more so if the opposing party controls the executive position in the country). There's a saying that one should be worried if all parties and outside interests agree on something, as it's likely to not be beneficial to anyone else or end up costing taxpayers a ton of money wasted on things that don't benefit them.
It would however be a disservice to point out the many flaws of Democrats in times of conflict and having control of the presidency without also mentioning that many Republicans have not all sudden decided renounce war and request the president "give peace a chance" in regards to Syria out of caring. At least a few of them were proponents of the conflicts carried out under Bush.
Next up on Fox News; we'll relabel public healthcare programs as "entitlements" and explain why drug addicts and lazy poors don't deserve them. And is your child in danger of a non-traditional marriage? Find out at 11.
Next up on CNN; why more wars are wanted by a Peace Nobel Prize winner busy destroying constitutional rights, war mongering and keeping concentration camp open Obama. If you think what the President does keeps America civil rights stronger than ever call us. If, opposite, you think that forcing everybody to buy health insurance whatever the hell want or not, is good for the economy call us too!
That Western liberal academia decided to give nobel prize to Obama just shows their real intellectual prowess. Maybe next time liberal art guys from the left will give him an Oscar prize. What for? Like with Nobel Prize! To encourage him!
CNN is so pathetic nowadays that I take russian kgb propaganda tube Russia Today over it any time.
That a campaign promise of such magnitude is broken with a 'my hands are tied' is a clear indication that something is seriously borked.