He defended body scans and pat downs at airports.
He signed the Patriot Act extension into law.
He planned $355 billion for a nuclear weapons program.
More than 7,000 people were arrested during the Occupy protests under his watch.
Many people say that the Republican Party is scary and dangerous. We agree, so why has Obama given Bush and Cheney absolute immunity for everything they've done?
Obama keeps pushing the perilous notion of "American Exceptionalism" and the false, jingoistic concept that the US military is a force for good and is "protecting our freedoms." Following the disastrous Bush years, Obama could have easily taken the US down a different path but he has instead pushed the same ideals as Bush, just in a more intelligently spoken, charming way. Manifest Destiny and xenophobia are principles that could have been laid to rest, or at least diffused. Instead, Obama and Democrats have normalized them.
DONN MARTEN: OK but if a Supreme Court Justice retires while Obama is president, you'd have to admit this would be better than a Supreme Court Justice retiring when a Republican were president, right?
CHRIS ERNESTO: The Supreme Court has the final say in the law in the United States, a self-described "country of laws." If the United States were a democracy, the people of the US would get to vote on who becomes a Supreme Court Justice. And the people of the US would be able to throw out of office a person who's on the Supreme Court. But we don't because we don't have anything close to a democracy. Given the recent passage of Citizens United and McCutcheon, the only people who will be elected into Congress or the White House will be those who raise the most money, and the vast majority of that money will come from corporations, not everyday people. Similarly, corporate money, not a particular party will determine who becomes the next Supreme Court Justice, regardless of who's in the Oval Office.
But even if it did matter, can you live with yourself knowing that you voted for a murderer just because you think she or he may possibly appoint someone to the bench who is more aligned with your domestic views? What message does it send to our children if we say it's OK to vote for someone who murders just because you may get something out of it?
DONN MARTEN: What about gay marriage? Obama has done better than a Republican president would have done on this issue, correct?
CHRIS ERNESTO: During his first term, when Obama was opposed to gay marriage, St. Pete for Peace was supporting actions and groups who believe in full equality for everyone. Prior to his re-election, Obama obviously was told he needed the votes of the LGBTQ community, so he changed his position. Of course this is good news, and you see what can happen when the President does the right thing -- being pro-gay marriage is now cool. Wouldn't it be nice if he did the same thing for other issues, like how the FBI uses false sting operations to target Muslims in the US, or how police in this country have become so militarized that young black men and protesters are treated like 2nd class citizens?
DONN MARTEN: But Democrats are better than Republicans on gun rights and a woman's right to choose, doesn't that matter?
CHRIS ERNESTO: If a Republican President tried to overturn Roe v. Wade there would be millions of people on the street. People would stop going to work, the economy would slow down and there would be a near revolution. The same holds true for if a Democratic President tried to overturn the 2nd Amendment.
Both parties know this. So, when the Republicans need to energize their voting base, they start telling people "Obama wants to take away your guns." Democrats do the same with the abortion issue.
On a state level, it is a different story, but when it comes to Congress and the White House, the issues of guns and abortion are simply a way to maintain the Republican vs. Democrat paradigm, and to trick people into plugging their nose and voting for "the lesser of two evils." But it's just a ruse.
DONN MARTEN: OK, regarding your contest, how will the winner of the contest be selected?
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