Obama Inherits and Normalizes the Arrogance and Impunity of Nixon, Reagan and Both Bushes

BAR-presidents_compared

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Bruce A. Dixon

When Republican presidents Nixon, Reagan and Bush waged secret wars based on mountains of lies and deceit, they were nearly impeached, but in each case Democrats in control of Congress could not pull the trigger. As a result, the Obama White House basks in a presidential culture of murderous arrogance and lawless impunity.


George W. Bush too was widely reviled as a murderous fraud for his lies about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and more, with millions of Americans and millions more around the world protesting his invasion of Iraq before it even began.

This White House openly brags about its “Terror Tuesday” meetings in which US special forces and drones have been dispatched to and from dozens of undisclosed countries to kidnap, torture or murder thousands of people, in the case of drone strikes mostly innocents, to the cheers and jokes of cruise missile liberals like Ed Schulz and Bill Maher, who calls Obama the “black ninja president.” The potent symbol of a black face in that high place has normalized the conduct of lawless aggressive war and secretive state murder among parts of the population which had no trouble calling a crime a crime when committed by a white Republican. In that sense, the First Black President is a little bit unlike, but mostly very much like his nefarious predecessors.

Davey D notes [4], try to shut criticism of this president down in the misguided name of black unity, and some white activists stay home because they don’t want to be seen as racist whites hating on the black president.

A Facebook friend in Atlanta remarked last week that whenever George Bush was rumored coming to town, his inbox would be full of emergency mobilization notices. But with the current War President about to visit, he said, it looked like his only correspondent might be the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

For Black Agenda Radio, I‘m Bruce Dixon. Find us on the web at www.blackagendareport.com [5].

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[1] http://www.blackagendareport.com/sites/www.blackagendareport.com/files/presidents_compared.jpg
[2] http://www.narconews.com/darkalliance/
[3] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/irancontra/contra1.htm
[4] http://hiphopandpolitics.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/have-we-sold-our-souls-by-turning-a-blind-eye-to-obamas-drones/
[5] http://www.blackagendareport.com/