To my alleged progressive friends: What are you cheering for?

By Frank Moher

Since Tuesday evening, alleged progressives in both the U.S. and Canada have been celebrating the re-election of an American president who, in his first term:

– Signed the National Defense Authorization Act, the most damaging piece of legislation to US civil liberties since Roosevelt interned Asian-Americans. (During the campaign, a very confused George Takei used the fact that his family had been interned during the Second World War as a reason to support Obama. He is typical of the left’s mush-mindedness when it comes to this President.)

– Maintains a kill list, enforced by predator drones, the many victims of which have, since Obama’s 2008 election,  included hundreds of civilians (killed, that is; hundreds more have been injured). The victims also include over 60 children, as well as over 50 would-be rescuers murdered in follow-up strikes, a practise known as “double-tapping.”

– Exponentially increased the use of warrantless wiretapping.

– Prosecuted more whistleblowers than all previous presidents combined. What’s more, he’s proud of it.

Yay, Obama won! Yay!

Grotesque.

Yes, we all understand the “lesser of two evils” argument. Were I an American living in one of the swing states, I would have held my nose, voted for Obama, and then felt really, really bad about it. That would be the appropriate response to being forced, by realpolitik, to vote for a president with the record above. I would certainly not have celebrated his victory. Anywhere else, I would have voted for Jill Stein (or, in California, perhaps for Roseanne Barr, just as a satirical swipe at a political culture that offered me Mitt Romney and Barack Obama as my prime choices).

Meantime, Obama was back to his soaring oratory in his victory speech on Tuesday night. It is to the everlasting discredit of left-wingers that they have, most of them, fallen for it again. Hope. Change. The Best is Yet to Come.

Try Spying. Indefinite Detention. Death by Drone. I don’t blame my allegedly progressive friends in the States who voted for Obama (unless they did so mindlessly, because he was the Democratic candidate, which I suppose most of them did). Nor do I blame my allegedly progressive friends in Canada who were so inflated with vestigial victory on Tuesday night.

I just want them to acknowledge what they supported, and still do today. All of it. Including this:

He’s not asleep.