I believe later generations will look back on our current presidential administration and note its aggressiveness, not necessarily in foreign policy (though maybe there, too, given that we are carrying on military operations in three different countries), but in regards to internal issues. Ever since a White House official talked about putting their boots on the throats of Americans involved in the oil catastrophe in the Gulf, the Obama administration seems to be setting a tough tone at times in internal affairs.
The White House has pitted itself against the policies of three different states, and in one instance I might be sympathetic to its position.
Arizona is trying to establish tougher policies on illegal immigration. The Obama White House has tried to argue that this is an usurpation of federal responsibility. I might be sympathetic to the White House here, if the federal government would actually take responsibility for dealing with illegal immigration.
In an effort to get state spending under control, Wisconsin has curtailed to the power of the teachers’ union there. The Obama administration has tried to provide assistance to those seeking to force a change. This troubles me. It’s a state issue. If a majority of the voters are unhappy with what their politicians are doing, they’ll vote them out of office. Rights aren’t being violated here–the system is working.
In Texas a Mexican citizen is facing the death penalty for the brutal murder of a 16-year-old girl several years ago. The President is concerned about how the international community might feel about this. One issue at stake is that the condemned man wasn’t informed that he could legally seek help from the Mexican government when it came to arranging his defense, so there is a concern that the international community might frown on this execution. For what it is worth, the man has lived in the United States since he was a toddler. George W. Bush actually held the same view of this situation as President Obama. Bush wanted a new hearing on the case, but the Supreme Court overruled him, according to an article I read.
While I do believe the guilty should be punished, I think we should definitely follow the letter of the law. We should do this in general and especially when there are international considerations. I would certainly want the rights of Americans to be respected when they are in other countries.