100 Days

Ever since FDR’s New Deal, all new presidents have been cursed with the “100 days” evaluation. Today President Obama has hit this somewhat infamous benchmark, and he is doing surprisingly well. The latest polls show his job approval rating at 69% (wouldn’t Bush have killed for that!), 90% feel he is a competent Commander in Chief, the Right Track/Wrong Track numbers have gone from 20/80% to 60/40% since Obama took office, and a poll this week in the Wall Street Journal (hardly a bastion of the "liberal media") ranked Obama's personal likability at 91%. The GOB pundits are crying foul at the levels of spending and his friendliness toward certain world leaders, but considering that only 21% of Americans label themselves Republicans according to their values it seems a safe bet we can ignore such chatter.

Obama promised to close Gitmo and reduce troop levels in Iraq, and prudent steps have been taken to make that so. He planned to inject roughly 800 billion into the economy, and Congress signed through approximately 787 billion. It’s been a good 100 days. He also signed off on absolutely banning torture his very first day, though some dislike that policy…

Torture

After the economy, the torture issue has been getting a lot of press recently (fueled in part by Dick Cheney’s incessant babbling on FOX News). What I want to know is, when did the use of torture ever become a debate? If you or your parents had been asked in grade school, “Do Americans torture?” the instant, authoritative answer would be “No, they don’t.”

So what has changed? Torture is still not an effective means of getting information (as saying what people want to hear and providing actionable intelligence are not the same). I’m also getting tired of the “we live in different times” or “this is a different kind of war” argument. Yeah, so? Were the days after Pearl Harbor a relaxing time for the country? All wars are different. Was Korea not different from Viet Nam ? Was Viet Nam not different from World War II? World War II different from the Civil War?

If we are going to yield our moral fiber, what exactly are we defending? There are those who would gladly permit secret government wiretapping of our own citizens and torture, yet they say we must defend ourselves against “evil” states. If we stoop to that level, we’ve already joined those states; the war is already over.

A Specter of Change?

Arlen Specter joined the ranks of the Democrats this week, bringing us closer to that filibuster-proof majority of yore. I knew I liked that tough old sage. Now if Al Franken’s lawyers come through, we’re off to the races.

Here’s to the next 100 days.