President Obama Achieves First Victories

No, silly rabbit, I am not talking about him being allowed to keep his Blackberry (although I am happy for him.)

I am talking about two good policy decisions President Obama has made since taking office. One is regarding closing down Guantanamo Bay.

From CNN Wire

In one of his first acts in office, President Obama has ordered the U.S. government to suspend prosecutions and review all cases of suspected terrorists at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, military officials announced late Tuesday.

Papers filed at the U.S. prison camp said the request is made “in the interest of justice and at the direction of the president of the United States.” It seeks a 120-day continuance in all cases to carry out a “thorough review of both pending cases and the military commission process generally.”

“The judges will receive the requests and review them, and we anticipate a ruling soon,” said Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, a Defense Department spokesman.

Also, on the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, President Obama is expected to overturn the Mexico City Policy.

From New York Times

There was also speculation about whether President Obama would use today’s anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision to reverse the so-called “Mexico City policy,” which forbids the flow of federal money to international family planning organizations that provide abortions or related services and counseling.

The policy, which President Ronald Reagan put in place in 1984, was repealed by President Clinton early in his term. President Bush’s reinstated the ban in his first executive order on Jan. 22, 2001.

Inspite of these positive agenda items, I guess my overall beliefs of Obama's long term vision is on the same line of thinking as Aaron MacGruder's, who understands the reality of American Empire.

But you know, I have pledged to make sure I will hold the Obama administration accountable whenever necessary and possible.

It was a good thing I looked at my email a few minutes because I got a notice about a really cool project the National Black Programming Consortium is doing these days.

The Virtual Open Letter project was conceived and produced as part of the New Media Institute 2008. The project was conceived as community record of voices to the new President Barack Obama and his administration. Here are the voices of all Americans eager to give the president their honest opinions on what he should prioritize as his administration deals with a tall order of crises.

To write a letter to President Obama: http://tothepresident.com/

Or give him a call at 866-927-1216

Who knows? Maybe Obama will see some of these comments on his Blackberry!