Obama Can Redeem the White House - by Amy Goodman

[kpete]

Published on Thursday, November 13, 2008 by The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin)
Obama Can Redeem the White House

by Amy Goodman

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Melissa Harris-Lacewell, associate professor of politics and African-American studies at Princeton University, reflected on the Obamas' forthcoming move: "There are two African-American girls, little girl children, who are going to grow up with 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as their home address. That's an astonishing difference for our country. It does not mean the end of racial inequality. It does not mean that most little black girls growing up with their residence on the south side of Chicago or in Harlem, or Latino boys and girls growing up at their addresses, that the world is all better for them. But it does mean that there is something possible here."

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Looking forward, Barack Obama can make history in another way. The executive orders he issues will set the tone of his presidency and could usher in a new era. Human rights groups are calling for the closing of the Guantanamo prison camp and CIA "black sites," where torture has been commonplace.

Which brings us back to slavery. When Frederick Douglass, the renowned abolitionist, was young, he was enslaved on a plantation on Maryland's eastern shore, called Mount Misery, owned by Edward Covey, a notorious "slave breaker." There, physical and psychological torture were standard. That property, today, is owned by Donald Rumsfeld, the former secretary of defense who was one of the key architects of the U.S. military's program of torture and detention.

With the stroke of a pen on Inauguration Day, President Obama could outlaw torture. It would be a tribute to those slaves who built his new home, the White House, a tribute to those slaves who built the U.S. Capitol, a tribute to those who were tortured at Mount Misery.

more at:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/11/13-5

[onehandle]

1. Yeah, but can he get the smell out?

Dry drunks have a very distinctive odor.

[groovedaddy]

2. I recommend a thorough smudging, using only the finest sage...n.t

[AtomicKitten]

3. It's going to take more than an air freshener. Obama has his work cut out for him.

The fact that he taught Constitutional law puts this endeavor right up his alley.

Edited for K&R. Thanks for posting this great piece by Amy.