Obama taking a leap

There are two interesting things that happened in Obama's presidency this week, which I found to be interesting to what we have been discussing in class.

Firstly, Obama seems to have put his foot down in the ongoing conflict he has found himself in with the 'gridlock' Congress. Whether his bold words to Congress saying 'pass a bill' were necessarily through his desperation to 'allow millions of undocumented immigrants to remain in the country and work legally without threat of deportation' (1) is questionable. Especially after the Republican take-over in the midterm elections it seems as though he is feeling the pressure to leave his footprint, but equally to stick to his promises, which he is so widely criticised for not doing. Such a bold move (finally) enforcing his executive power is well received in the Latino community, and I don't think this goes unnoticed with the polltakers. To put it simply: he has just bought himself a super size economy pack of fresh enthusiastic supporters in the sale. This also relates to this 'footprint' that our imperial presidents were so keen on making, is this move his way of turning the last two years of his presidency into a good and lasting memory, or is intended as a middle finger to his Republican counterparts meaning he will not let the Democratic party back down, not now and not in two years time?

Well, leaving his footprint was all great yesterday, but he sort of threw that out of the window with his proposal 'to authorize a more expansive mission for the military in Afghanistan in 2015'. (2) Of course, like any proposal to let a war go on 'for at least another year' (3), there are a lot of reasons as to why it is no one's fault in particular. A shaky relationship between the executive and the Pentagon has put pressure on Obama to make such a decision. As I cannot put myself in his shoes, I can't fully appreciate what this means. I can however see a recurring theme that we have discussed in class; what seems to be more important is finding a valid and acceptable reason as to why this is needed. Firstly, the rule that applies to pulling off a bandage, does not apply to wars, but to put it metaphorically, putting more bandages on a wound that is trying to heal won't be very beneficial either. Secondly, thankfully we can all take a deep breath because the war now has a different name: Operation Enduring Freedom. The mission has had a game change and it is now a set of 'appropriate measures to keep Americans safe' (4), that does sound a lot nicer I guess. What the real underlying reason is, we probably won't know, but sending more people out there to help and protect the people that are already out there for reasons that are already quite skewed, seems a little dubious, even if it does have a fresh new label.

For someone who got the Nobel peace prize, things don't seem to be going too peacefully.

(1) Michael D. Shear and Ashley Parker. (21.11.2014). Amid Attacks, Obama Presses Congress to Move on Immigration. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/22/us/in-school-visit-obama-urges-congress-to-act-on-immigration.html?ref=politics. [Accessed: 22/11/2014].

(2) Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schitt. (21.11.2014). In a Shift, Obama Extends U.S. Role in Afghan Combat. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/22/us/politics/in-secret-obama-extends-us-role-in-afghan-combat.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news. [Accessed: 22/11/2014].

(3) Ibid.

(4) Ibid.

Pauline