Things that I’ll try to let go of
Over the next four years, I’m sure president Obama will do things that I don’t agree with.
I thought I’d start early and get some stuff out of my system.
1) FISA. I believe in protecting American’s civil liberties first and foremost. This bill would have made it okay for some telecomm companies to have broken the law on the president’s say-so and would have not rewarded any of the companies who refused, and whose chief executives were indicted as payback. Living under rule of law, not men, is hard, but the only way to build a solid foundation for future generations. Senator Obama had said he would stand with Senator Dodd in opposition to the rewritten FISA bill. Instead, he changed his mind, with little explanation. Perhaps, ten years ago, I would have trusted him, but after this administration, I have no trust in government. He needs to rebuild it, not rule by fiat. So I’m mad he changed his mind, then just told the people who he used to be supporting “I disagree with you” instead of getting them to change their minds too. Why piss people off like that? I suppose there must be national security reasons for changing one’s mind, but one would think that someone with Obama’s rhetorical flair would be able to convince one’s *allies* of a position while dancing around what can’t be said. He chose not to, and just thumbed his nose at people who disagreed. He didn’t have to do that. It was disappointing.
2) Larry Summers’ name is being floated as Treasury Secretary. I first heard the name and then thought ‘Hey, isn’t that the guy who said girls can’t do math and science as well as boys for innate reasons’ ? And it was. It’s disappointing that someone would even consider him as a choice for such a trusted position. Who knows what other bigoted thinking will prevent him from coming up with the best solution. BTW, girls do not have any less of innate abilities for math and science, but it does take a great upbringing (thanks mom and dad) and some amount of force of will to buck the societal pressures against expressing your brilliance when boys are around. I can’t imagine that Mr. Summers would be able to be unbiased in the hiring of people in his department, seeing as how you have to know some math do do economics, and well, girls obviously can’t. I’d hate to have to be a woman in his department, knowing you were fighting against the prejudices of your boss, and having to be twice as good as any man just to prove yourself.
