Havana, Thursday, May 16, 2013. Year 17 / Number 137 Blocking the sun with a finger Dalia González Delgado A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann. All eyes are on Barack Obama, forced to cope with a few scandals before he can again take up his agenda, thick with promises as it is. Neither immigration reform, nor the economic crisis, nor the gun control proposals, nor the implementation of his health care program, are hitting the front page this week. The President of the United States is facing charges of violating “civil liberties,” a true capital sin in that country. Word of the federal seizure of phone records from the Associated Press news agency has added fuel to a fire already simmering over the hunger strike at Guantanamo prison camp and fresh evidence of the attack against the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on September 11, 2012 that left behind four dead officials, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya. There is every indication that about twenty phone lines used by the AP were intercepted between April and May last year. “I’m proud of what we have done,” said Attorney General Eric Holder, who has been on tenterhooks ever since Operation Fast and Furious, a tactic of the U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives which allowed 2,000 guns into Mexico, came to light in 2009. How much did the President know about AP’s tapped phones and when did he find out about it? The New York Times editorialized that “the Obama administration has failed to offer a credible justification”, whereas The Washington Post underscored that the scandal “casts doubt” on the Democratic government. In statements to Reuters, University of Virginia Center for Politics executive Larry Sabato referred to other scandals, including Watergate under Richard Nixon and the Iran-contra controversy during Ronald Reagan’s years, this way: “Compared to prior presidents, we’re still in the minor-abuse league”. Harvard University law professor Laurence Tribe, mentor and longtime supporter of Obama, said that his former student was facing the realities of being president. The black clouds could dissipate in a matter of days or weeks, or else hang over the White House for the remainder of Obama’s term. But as the flames of criticism spread, the deportation of Latinos continues, Congress keeps failing to find a way to stop the massacres, and some 50 million Americans live below the poverty line. Hopefully, the recent spate of scandals won’t be used to distract public opinion and try to block the sun with a finger. |
||||
Dalia González Delgado
Todos
los ojos apuntan a Barack Obama, quien tendrá que lidiar con algunos
escándalos antes de retomar su agenda llena de promesas. Ni la reforma
migratoria, ni la crisis económica, ni el control de armas ni la
implementación de la reforma de salud ocupan los principales titulares
esta semana. El presidente de Estados Unidos está siendo acusado de
violar las "libertades civiles", algo que, en ese país, es considerado
un pecado capital.
|