For Barack, it's high time for a distraction

Stealth Motives

By Jeannie DeAngelis
Saturday, December 5, 2009

At this time last year, Barack Obama won the election and was riding high. With the sweet taste of victory on his lips, a recent election setback sent Obama reeling in disgrace, a type of political humiliation clearly demanding political counter strategy. So presently, a wear down, undercut approach is actively underway.

Two gubernatorial races and a close House seat left Democrats roundly trounced. In the interest of offsetting that pummeling, the Obama administration emerged willing to compensate for injuries the Democrats sustained by purposely politicizing a dangerous war.

The controversy over the decision to bring terrorists to a Manhattan federal courtroom, bestow Constitutional rights on enemy combatants and prosecute murderers who should face a military tribunal is purely a means to an end. The hope appears to be that a circus-like trial on American soil has potential to create enough collateral damage to accomplish the left’s primary goal, which is squelching the Republican resurgence by criminalizing the character of a former Republican President.

President Obama’s standing in the polls is declining daily and he is losing miserably on health care, Afghanistan, jobs and the economy. For Barack, it’s high time for a distraction. Respite from public disapproval could provide the break needed to gain back popularity and his lost credibility. A terrorist trial is tailor made to provide a weighty diversion to take America’s disenchanted eyes off Obama-disappointment, and redirect attention elsewhere.

Americans have been convinced that Obama is eager to see long overdue justice meted out to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo detainees. However, the President’s philosophy requires that he retain full power and control. Chances are Obama is likely more threatened by political challengers than a band of religious fanatics who occasionally murder Americans and cause temporary chaos. Thereby, by maintaining distance from anything that could be misconstrued as dirty politics Obama can achieve a sinister goal by seeming concerned merely about evenhanded justice.

More than once Obama has intimated personal desire to prosecute the Bush administration for war crimes. After releasing the CIA from culpability, he left open a wide berth for prosecution of Bush officials referring to them only as, “...those who formulated those legal decisions.â€