It has become abundantly clear that Barack Obama is a cut off the same block as GW Bush. The killing of Anwar al-Awlaki is just another in a long line of politically disastrous actions approved by Pres. Obama.
The presidential race of 2012 is shaping up to be a selection process for the next conservative/republican president. The order to kill al-Awlaki betrays Obama's progressive and liberal base. The only people who could be impressed with this murder weren't voting for Obama anyway. They belong to the group of fanatics cheering on the pack of lunatics vying for the republican nomination.
How will the White House spin look on this one? Pres. Obama has given orders for the killing of a US citizen. Watch out for the tilted message on this one.
Even more startling is the idea that since the end of WWII the US has had a succession of presidents who could legitimately be tried for war crimes, from Johnson to Nixon to Reagan and Clinton and of course GW. We could already stake a claim on Obama for the terrorist drone attacks, the assassination of bin Laden, and now the murder of an American overseas. It's sounding more and more like a brutal regime currently in power. America's own SAVAK.
The US is engaged in a war on terror but not as a deterrent of it. Instead the US blatantly functions as an active perpetrator of terrorism. Is this the United States that Americans want?
Clearly, electing any of the republican candidates means that our current policies will be continued and perhaps made more drastic. Electing the democratic candidate also means the current policies will continue.
The American people have been essentially, and effectively, eliminated from the electoral process.
Those who argue that there exists the option of a third party candidate, have no basis. Third parties obviously are not competitive. No one can offer any credibility for the argument that third party candidates stand a chance. Third party candidates have not fared well and simply cannot win a general election in the current state of our electoral system.
Much like our economic system, which limits social mobility and raises inequality, our political system is broken. The infrastructure of our political system is severely limited to the two party system. The money that pours into the system behind each candidate of the two major parties makes their influence insurmountable for a third party candidate.
All of this means that we are left with the unenviable 2012 decision between a conservative candidate or a more conservative candidate.
Voter apathy makes a lot of sense.
Is there a reasonable solution? Is there an alternative?
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