Obama: Another Bush?

It's apparent now that the new American administration will be continuing - if not expanding - many of the Bush administration's worst policies regarding the claims of the president to withhold information that they alone deem to be a state secret as well as the denial of habeas corpus to prisoners picked up in the formerly known War on Terror. Greenwald today has a thorough rundown.

People must understand that this is not saying Obama is Bush. False equivalency is an extremely common problem in today's political environment (While many may not agree with Micheal Moore, to equate him with the racist, lying cretin Limbaugh or the seriously insane Beck is beyond nonsensical). Nevertheless being unbiased means holding everyone to the same standard and it is clear Obama in this respect is failing to meet even the most basic demands of those who were vehemently opposed to the Bush policies of illegal rendition and the denial of habeas corpus. I wrote the following a couple of years ago. To me it's a fundamental problem of American politics and liberalism. It is simply not sufficiently understood the degree to which the Democratic Party is a party of the status quo and establishment.

 As mendacious, incompetent, and immoral as the Bush administration is, the absolute most dangerous thing for progressives and those who value human rights, democracy and peace can do is treat them and their policies as anomalies. They are part of a systemic problem.

Too many people in American politics and media don't view it this way.