Ari: "With some minor changes, Obama really is following the same path Bush pursued"

[Bluebear]

"Obama is walking a tightrope with his liberal supporters." Discuss.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Suddenly, President Barack Obama is getting criticism from his friends and praise from his opponents -- evidence of how hard it has become to move past George W. Bush's legacy on detainee policy.

Instead of focusing exclusively on Obama's efforts to fix the U.S. economy this week, Washington instead has been fixated on dramas involving interrogation procedures and detainees.

* Obama's decision on Friday to continue for now using the Bush policy of setting up Guantanamo military tribunals to try terrorism suspects drew fire from his allies on the left.

"No amount of tinkering with their rules can fix this discredited system. The commissions -- which President Obama has himself described as an 'enormous failure' -- should be scrapped," said Rob Freer, U.S. researcher at Amnesty International.

On the other hand, Obama was getting praise from people who are usually highly skeptical.

"I am pleased that President Obama has now adopted this view," said Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee last year, who lost the election to Obama.

Ari Fleischer, who was Bush's first press secretary, said Obama "should acknowledge his campaign criticisms were wrong. With some minor changes, he really is following the same path President Bush pursued," he said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-BarackObama/idUSTRE54E5JT20090515

[Lex]

1. ouch

[emulatorloo]

2. actually no. More like BULLSHIT. Consider the source. Ari. A known liar and part of the

"Bush Legacy Project" - which is a bunch of liars lying about how great Bush was.

[frylock]

7. using the bush policy of setting up guantanamo military tribunals to try terrorism suspects..

is that a lie too?

[emulatorloo]

21. Bush didn't allow due process. Obama will restore that. That is a huge difference. EOM

Yes Ari is a liar. Don't be so gullible.

[tridim]

3. Fuck you Ari.

That's all I have to say.

[jaxx]

4. With "friends" like these.......

Is DU turning purple?

[Bluebear]

9. What does this have to do with DU?

[jaxx]

15. The article was a slam.

[frylock]

5. that's gonna leave a mark..

read the article and prove him wrong, folks.

[KittyWampus]

24. How about you defend his comment and still pretend you really support Dems. But then there's a lot

of uniformed, hyperbolic reactionary screaming on DU.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. Big fan of Ari Fleischer, are you?

Yeah, I sorta figured.

[girl gone mad]

10. Can you dipute the claims or are you just going to attack the messenger?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. The Obama policy changes for military tribunals...

make the tribunals completely different then the war crimes they were under Bush.

This is really the lamest, most transparent piece of propaganda bullshit around, and anybody falling for it shouldn't expect to be taken seriously.

[NYCGirl]

8. How nice of you to believe what Ari Fleischer says. He's always been the beacon

of truth.

You must believe that or you wouldn't be posting his words.

[frylock]

12. is ari lying about the military tribunals?

please, dispute that.

[emulatorloo]

23. Yes. See my post above. n/t

[KittyWampus]

25. did you take the time to investigate the changes to how they are being done? Apparently not.

Cause you'd know there are significant changes.

Oh, and one more thing- if Obama was really following Bush's path, there wouldn't be any trials at all.

[frylock]

13. dupe

[Bluebear]

20. That's a pretty foolish thing to say: 'You must believe that or you wouldn't be posting his words.'

[NYCGirl]

34. Pretty silly to post right wing sources and then dare someone to prove it

wrong.

[Bluebear]

41. Could you please read the article?

It is a Reuters piece, not a "right wing source". Amnesty International is also cited. Nice blog by the way.

[lamp_shade]

11. He says that every single chance he gets. He loves saying it.

[Mari333]

14. Republicans rallying around Obama's decisions

Lieberman, Liz Cheney, and now Ari. this is like being in an alternate universe.

[FrenchieCat]

17. "Minor Changes" my ass! Sounds like Ari's opinion to me.....

and I don't need to debate Ari Fleitcher's stinking ass opinions.

[Bluebear]

28. OK how about Rob Freer's opinion?

[FrenchieCat]

35. Is Rob Freer supposed to be the boss of me?

I have my own opinion....

and at some point, others will awaken as well.

Till then, go ahead with the pile on.
I'm outta of your way.

[stray cat]

18. Difference number 1 - Obama has a brain and is trying to do the right and smart thing

[readmoreoften]

29. So what Bush did in this instance is the right and smart thing?

When Obama's policy continues Bush policy, I'd rather admit Obama is wrong than agree that Bush was right.

[mitchum]

19. All of these fucking cockroaches are crawling back out of the woodwork

[butterfly77]

22. I hope his ass gets caught up ...

in some of the bush crimes as well as a lot of the other Republicons...

[Bluebear]

26. You said it!

Whenever he said "people need to watch what they say now", it gave me chills.

[TwilightZone]

27. Never mind

[ConcernedCanuk]

30. I see what I see - Iraqi and Afghan civilians dying at the hands of the USA's aggression

.
.
.

USA still occupies Iraq after an illegal invasion

USA intends to increase it's military presence in Afghanistan

USA still frigging around with Canada's beef/pork/lumber/steel industries.

USA still stealing off of the taxpayers to feed the banks/elite/rich

USA still making a low priority of its homeless and uninsured(health)

OK

SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT HAS CHANGED???

[soothsayer]

38. still holding military tribunals, prolly still torturing and renditioning, still not holding people

accountable, still letting the banks take over the gov and steal our money

[Swamp Rat]

31. HAHAHA!!! Ari is a lying sack of green goo!!

:rofl:

[Mike 03]

32. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, and he's right.

"Consider the source" argument is pitiful bullshit.

He is right. Look at the posts here at DU about how Obama has failed to wave a magic wand and make all of these social fantasies come true in the first 100 days of his presidency.

There are people here who have pet issues they want Obama to respond to instantly, even before he deals with the crises. And that is simply what this jackass is saying, and he's right.

EDIT:

The criticism I have with this post is just the quotation, which suggests this is Obama's mistake, when it's really the mistake of many of his "supporters."

That is the issue. His supporters are oblivious to the order in which Obama must tackle the priorities that face him.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Spazito]

36. Now I have seen everything...

Up until this, even with all the overblown hyperbole regarding Pelosi being an accomplice, the CIA being more likely truthtellers than the Dems, etc, I never thought I would see an OP showcasing Ari Fleischer's article saying Obama=Bush and DUers defending this crap as being the truth.

Ari Fleischer! Really???? It has come to this? Wow, just wow!

[Bluebear]

42. Please. It is not "Fleischer's article" and he is not being "showcased"

Fleischer is a POS. Does this mean the article can't be discussed? Amnesty International is also cited in the piece, for instance.

[Hekate]

37. And why should we believe a single syllable that issues from the Mouth of Sauron?

It's not like he's ever led us astray before.

Hekate

[spanone]

39. wrong ari

[Vidar]

40. Unfortunately, he seems to be right.