{"id":272097,"date":"2016-10-10T05:08:21","date_gmt":"2016-10-10T05:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/yes-obama-the-next-president-will-drone-people\/"},"modified":"2016-10-10T05:08:21","modified_gmt":"2016-10-10T05:08:21","slug":"yes-obama-the-next-president-will-drone-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/yes-obama-the-next-president-will-drone-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Yes, Obama, the Next President Will\u00a0Drone\u00a0People"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It seems like an easy thing to remember, but then, so does don\u2019t kill people.
\n In America, the two party system dominates. And on nearly every issue, the number
\n two is a bit generous. Usually, one party pushes hard for an excess of privilege,
\n and other side (and its supporters) either yields, or fights against it tepidly,
\n only to justify it the next time they are in power.<\/p>\n

Drone warfare is a perfect example of this. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (the term
\n the industry preferred, in vain, over the more sinister-sounding “drones”)
\n were not invented during the Obama presidency. George W. Bush used drones a
\n handful of times, mostly in Pakistan. However, their use as a common tool of
\n war was pioneered under President Barack Obama. Or, as Jonathan Chait noted
\n in
\n a recent interview with Obama<\/a> “When you hear critics on the left express
\n what they don\u2019t like about your presidency, the word drone<\/i> might come
\n up more than anything.”<\/p>\n

The piece is a fascinating look into the mind of the most powerful man in the
\n world. And the man knows how to make himself sound good \u2013 sound thoughtful,
\n self-reflective, and aware. He tells Chait. “I don\u2019t ever want to get to
\n the point where we\u2019re that comfortable with killing. It\u2019s not why I wanted to
\n be president, to kill people.”<\/p>\n

You did, though. <\/p>\n

Obama also talks a great deal about his frustration with the Republican opposition
\n on various issues. He is certainly not wrong about the partisanship in their
\n squabbles, or even their utter hypocrisy about statecraft and foreign policy
\n in particular. And yet, if morality is in any way consistent, who cares? Their
\n badness doesn\u2019t erase what Obama has done.<\/p>\n

President Obama is one of the most perfect examples of the liberal who believes
\n that solemnity and a furrowed, concerned brow makes up for a loss of life. If
\n he just shows he cares \u2013 maybe even really does in some way \u2013 then nothing the
\n US does counts as mass murder, theft, invasion, and terrorizing. He even professes
\n to be pleased when “the left” scolds him and “pushes” him
\n on drones and such. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to know what it\u2019s like to be president. But it shouldn\u2019t be so difficult
\n to realize what is downplayed and ignored both by Obama, his supporters, and
\n anyone who puts partisan victories over morality and justice. Firstly, that
\n dead is dead. Everyone who has died via drone, and everyone who has lost family
\n suffered just as much an American would (to, uh, say nothing of the American
\n citizens killed by drone). Everyone who has feared to congregate for a wedding
\n or a funeral because a drone might be silently passing overhead is just as psychologically
\n tortured as an American would be. No matter how much Obama tells himself that
\n he minimized casualties \u2013 even while the White House\u2019s number of civilians killed
\n is not to be trusted \u2013 he still…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It seems like an easy thing to remember, but then, so does don\u2019t kill people. In America, the two party system dominates. And on nearly every issue, the number two is a bit generous. Usually, one party pushes hard for an excess of privilege, and other side (and its supporters) either yields, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-272097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272097\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}