Obama's second term

By Zhao Jinglun
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, January 25, 2013
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 [By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn]

 [By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn]

For two centuries or more, Americans have been trying to bridge the gap between reality and the American dream: equal opportunity, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. There have been ups and downs; and these days, mostly downs. Barack Obama summed this situation up in own words: "A shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it."

Obama himself contributed to that sorry state of affairs by pursuing a policy of Robin Hood in reverse, robbing American tax payers to help Wall Street banker-financiers. The Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz called this "the Great American Robbery".

The greatest failure of Obama's first term, which some critics term "Bush's third" because Obama continued and even expanded Bush's failed policies, included trampling on the constitutional rights of American citizens by surveillance without warrant, and perpetuating endless wars. He escalated the war in Afghanistan and intervened in Libya, and now in Mali. He greatly expanded the much-criticized drone war. His "great innovation" was, of course, the U.S.'s pivot to Asia and the Pacific, threatening China.

Will a second Obama term be different?

Obama spoke of a fundamental American duty to provide "hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice." He specifically mentioned Seneca Falls (women's rights), Selma (black rights) and Stonewall (gay rights). He also mentioned immigrant rights. The fight for the rights of the disadvantaged has been ongoing. Will he be successful in doing more? That remains to be seen.

His domestic agenda also includes gun control (a hard fight ahead), pay equity, and increasing voting rights. And he wants to address climate change (some in America still deny the glaring fact of global warming) and a renewed commitment to education. A muscular agenda indeed.

Some American liberals remain optimistic. Harold Meyerson, writing in the Washington Post, talked about an Obama majority in American politics, symbolized by a "throng on the Mall" at Obama's inauguration. He forgot the size of that throng was only about half that at the first inauguration.

Kathleen Parker's essay "Obama: No Patsy now" claims "Obama has become fully himself" and that his inaugural address "informed the nation that things are about to change, royally," because, "by a second term, [Obama will be] free to take risks that he hopes will make his legacy great." Parker forgets that Obama is still operating under the constraints of what Andrew Bacevich has called "Washington rules" -- i.e., big money rules.

In his second inaugural speech Obama declared that "a decade of war is now ending." Really? The drone war has and will continue to grow. In spite of this, he seems to have realized that "ensuring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war." Is that a slap in the face to George W. Bush and the neocons? That remains to be seen.

He promises to "resolve our differences with other nations peacefully," saying that "no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation." Is he going to take that one step further and "turn sworn enemies into the surest of friends?" We hope he will keep his words, but a little skepticism is healthy. The basics have not changed. Obama still wants to "defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms" -- he says "America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe." That, of course, includes the resurgence of militarist Japan.

There is a glimmer of hope. John Kerry as Secretary of State and especially Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense have been called the best possible mainstream nominees for their respective jobs. They are more thoughtful and prudent than the outgoing hardliner Hillary R. Clinton. Some analysts believe that this signals a veering away from interventionism. But they don't make policy, Obama does. And they have yet to be confirmed by the Senate. Hagel, in particular is under fierce attack by the neocons and the Jewish lobby.

I mentioned Hagel because the maverick Republican does not want war with Iran. In an interview with Robert Nolan on PBS, he said: "China is going to emerge and grow. It should, we shall welcome that." He continued to say: "I'm not worried about this country (China) if we continue to do the wise things, the smart things. We lead the world. We don't dictate the world, we don't impose to the world. We don't intervene everywhere, and we don't occupy and invade." Let us hope he means what he says and that Obama will listen to him. But we entertain no illusions. As the Chinese saying goes: "Listen to what a person says and watch what he does."

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/zhaojinglun.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

 

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