Obama's Moment

Andrew Sullivan on the
torture story:

"This is not a policy difference. It is a foundational element of Western civilization. The way Cheney constructed it, it was not even a mere war-power. Since the war had no geographical boundaries, since an enemy combatant could be an American citizen or resident, since the enemy could never surrender, and since the war could never end, the dictatorial powers, allied with the power to torture, destroyed the balance of the American constitution. Until this is fully accounted for and the law-breakers brought to justice, that constitution remains with a massive breach below its waterline. It may not sink immediately; but its fate is sealed unless this precedent is not just moved on from, but erased.

The best one can say of president Bush is that he is a deeply ignorant man, unaware of the history of the country he was leading and the civilization he probably thought he was defending. But Cheney knew what he was doing."

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I keep thinking--it's eerie how suited Obama is to to this moment, specifically, that of cleaning up Bush's mess. In addition to the racial/multi-cultural aspect which makes him, without any effort, a symbol for the rest of the world, whose good graces we lost during Bush's terms--there's this: put Bush's supreme ignorance of (among MANY other things) the Constitution--a man who genuinely thought the election was the only 'check' he should face--in contrast to Obama's past job as a FUCKING CONSTITUTIONAL LAW PROFESSOR! And, contra Cheney, our most blackest of presidents has the respect for the Constitution that comes with a constitutional law professing pedigree. That we should be so lucky as to have that intellectual background inside the skull of a preternaturally politically talented man is amazing. That the skin around that skull should be black and yet make its way into the White House is ridiculous. Once in a while in history, breathtaking congruences occur.