Hi there, Joe and everyone at the Iguana.
As one of the ex-pat Gainesvillians, I want to thank you for the “now what?” editorial, but also to encourage you to double down on criticism of President Obama’s policies. He’s been re-elected, he doesn’t have to pander to the warmongers and the fuddy-duddies any more. Now he needs to be held accountable, not only for the drone war, as you point out, but the NDAA, the Patriot Act which is still in place, Gitmo ditto, the incarceration of Bradley Manning, the expanding invasion of our privacy and individual liberties. Will he finally put an end to the insane drug war, or is it too convenient a cover for police militarization, here in the U.S. and abroad? Is he going to continue cheerleading for “clean coal,” fracking (including here in Florida) and oil drilling even as the Arctic melts, or will he finally stand up for science and seriously confront climate change? And now that he no longer needs to court AIPAC, will he now acknowledge international law (and human decency) and express outrage over what’s happening in Gaza even as I write this?
I was so disgusted with his administration’s failure to prosecute war criminals Bush, Cheney & Co. in the first term, along with all the abuses detailed above, that I couldn’t even bring myself to vote for the man, despite all the pressure from “liberal” friends and my own revulsion for Republican social and economic policies; I went for Jill Stein. But now that the right-wing threat has been pushed back, Obama needs to stand up and lead–in the right direction, which is NOT the direction his first term has been taking us. These wars of aggression we’ve been fighting (all of them–including the war against our rights at home) need to end, now–and talk of dealing with a “fiscal cliff” is ludicrous when military (and “homeland security”) spending is not on the table. If Obama won’t do it, he needs to receive the same treatment LBJ got over Vietnam. I hope the Iguana will be a voice for the opposition!
Best regards,
Ronnie Hawkins