Or would you lefties call him a chicken hawk? Isn’t that what you guys call hawks who haven’t served in the military? Evidently, the anti-war lefties are miffed that Obama’s filling his cabinet with…er…neo-cons?

When is Obama going to appoint someone who reflects the progressive base that brought him to the White House?
He won the crucial Iowa caucuses on the strength of his anti-Iraq War stance, and many progressive peace and justice activists worked hard for him against John McCain.
[…]
And if Obama really wanted change, if he really wanted to honor progressives who backed him early on and then did the grunt work against McCain, he’d nominate Dennis Kucinich as Secretary of State.
That sure would indicate a welcome departure from empire as usual.

Kuchinich for Secretary of State? Really? You think that’s a good idea? Um…it’s good that Obama’s a little more savvy than his supporters. He understands that the world expects someone a little more serious than Kucinich.

But there’s really not too much they can do about it and they realize it
:

Martin said that his group was concerned about Gates and Clinton as well as Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s choice for White House chief of staff. He also said his group was trying to mobilize its grass-roots supporters with e-mail alerts, but recognized that it must approach the subject delicately because of public euphoria over Obama’s historic victory.
“There’s so much Obama hero worship, we’re having to walk this line where we can’t directly criticize him,” he said. “But we are expressing concern.”

Well, if it turns out to be true and Obama does govern as a hawk, I’ll be relieved. I think the pressure is on and Obama realizes it. He doesn’t want to mess up now that the Democrats are in charge, better to govern from the center when it comes to foreign policy than on your lunatic fringe.

More from Beliefnet and our partners
Close Ad