Why I like Obama

Needless to say, I disagree with President Obama on some major issues. I strongly oppose his policies on abortion and embryonic stem cell research, and I also do not believe he has been nearly assertive enough in addressing the problem of genocide in the modern world. With that said, the conclusion of his speech today on the attempted Christmas Day attack highlighted what I believe to be one of his greatest virtues, particularly when it comes to issues of foreign policy and national security: his levelheadedness. An excerpt from the speech:

Here at home, we will strengthen our defenses, but we will not succumb to a siege mentality that sacrifices the open society and liberties and values that we cherish as Americans, because great and proud nations don’t hunker down and hide behind walls of suspicion and mistrust.  That is exactly what our adversaries want, and so long as I am President, we will never hand them that victory.  We will define the character of our country, not some band of small men intent on killing innocent men, women and children.

This is a direct (albeit nicely-worded) rebuff to Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, et al. For days now, we’ve seen them asserting nonstop that “What Would Jack Bauer Do” should be our national mantra, that treating the underwear bomber like the criminal that he is is a sign of weakness, that we should allow fear to transform us into a nation that has no qualms about torturing its prisoners and wiretapping its citizens. What they don’t realize is that if they had their way, it would be a victory for the terrorists. When we torture our prisoners, Al-Qaeda gains a potent recruiting tool (a fact confirmed by intelligence officers on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq). When we put washed-up ex-generals on Fox News to scream about the need to strip-search all young Muslim men, we reinforce the notion that America is the “Great Satan,” that our war against terrorism is actually a war against Islam. In short (and this should be a no-brainer), when we live in terror, the terrorists win. When we let the terrorists decide who we are as a people, the terrorists win. It should be amply clear that Dick Cheney and friends just don’t get it. Thanks be to God, the current President of the United States, for all his other faults, gets it. And that’s why Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, just like Richard Reid (the “shoe bomber”), will rot in prison as a common criminal rather than a glorious martyr.

“[G]reat and proud nations don’t hunker down and hide behind walls of suspicion and mistrust…We will define the character of our country, not some band of small men intent on killing innocent men, women, and children.”

Predictions for 2010

One thing I’ve noticed after years of blog-reading is that a “Predictions for the Year Ahead” post is pretty much obligatory on New Year’s Day. So here goes, in no particular order: