2. Learning Goal
CRN BENCHMARK: 14.11.1 R- Identify, compare and
contrast the religious/moral outlook of
American/Western societies and the Muslim world about
―The War on Terror‖
3. Last Minute Clinton Legacies
In his last several months as
president, Clinton tried to
secure a non-Monica legacy.
He named tracts of land as
preservations.
He initiated a ―patients’ bill
of rights.‖
He hired more teachers and
police officers.
On the good side, Clinton proved to be
a largely moderate Democrat. The
economy was strong, the budget was
balanced, and he cautioned people
from expected big-government from
being the do-all and give-all to
everyone.
On the bad side, the Monica Lewinski
situation created great cynicism in
politics, he negotiated a deal with the
Lewinski prosecutor where he’d gave
immunity in exchange for a fine and law
license suspension, and his last-minute
executive pardons gave the appearance
of rewarding political donors.
4. The Bush-Gore Presidential Battle
The 2000 election began to shape
up as a colorful one.
Democrats chose Vice
President Albert Gore. He had to
balance aligned with Clinton’s
prosperity and against his
scandals.
The Green Party (consisting mostly
of liberals and environmentalists)
chose consumer advocate Ralph
Nader.
Republicans chose Texas
governor George W. Bush (son of
George H. W. Bush and known
simply as ―W‖ or, in Texas, as
―Dub-ya‖).
5. Platforms in 2000
A budget surplus beckoned
the question, ―What to do
with the extra money?‖
Bush said to make big cut
taxes for all.
Gore said to make smaller
tax cuts to the middle class
only, then use the rest to
shore up the debt, Social
Security, and Medicare.
Nader, in reality, was little
more than a side-show.
6. The Controversial Election of 2000
A close finish was expected, but not to the degree to which it
actually happened.
The confused finish was reminiscent of the Hayes-Tilden
standoff of 1876.
Controversy surrounded Florida.
Having the nation’s 4th most electoral votes, Florida was the
swing-state.
Florida effectively had a tie, with Bush ahead by the slightest
of margins.
State law required a recount.
7. Drama in 2000
The recount upheld Bush’s narrow win.
Democrats charged there were irregularities in key counties (notably
Palm Beach county that had a large Jewish populace and therefore
would figure to be highly Democratic in support of Gore’s V.P.
candidate Joseph Lieberman, the 1st Jewish candidate for president
or V.P.).
At heart of the matter was the infamous ―butterfly ballot‖ which
supposedly confused the easily-confounded elderly of Palm Beach
county—supposedly to Bush’s advantage.
As the confusion wore on and America needed a president A.S.A.P.,
Florida eventually validated the Bush vote.
Additionally, George W.’s brother Jeb Bush was the Florida governor;
and, the Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who officially
validated the Bush-vote, had been appointed by Jeb.
For conspiracy theorists, it was like a field-day on Christmas
morning.
8. Bring in the Court
Bush v. Gore, (2000)- the United
States Supreme Court decision
that effectively resolved the
dispute surrounding the 2000
presidential election in favor of
George W. Bush.
Holding: In the circumstances of
this case, any manual recount of
votes seeking to meet the
December 12 ―safe harbor‖
deadline would be
unconstitutional under the Equal
Protection Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment. Florida
Supreme Court reversed and
remanded.
10. President W
Bush took office talking up his
Texas upbringing (true) and
talking down his family’s Back-
East privilege (also true).
Beginning in the fall of 1973,
Bush attended the Harvard
Business School, where he
earned a Master of Business
Administration.
He is the only U.S. President to
have earned an M.B.A.
Former Texas Air National Guard
whose flight status was revoked
Former Gov. of Texas
11. Bush Begins
Bush took on hot topics and fired up both
sides of the political spectrum.
He withdrew U.S. support from
international programs that okayed
abortion.
He advocated faith-based social welfare
programs.
He opposed stem-cell research, which had
great medical possibilities, on the grounds
that the embryo in reality was a small
person and doing tests on it was nothing
other than abortion.
He angered environmentalists with his
policies, challenging groundwater
contamination and global warning
He even worried conservatives by cutting
taxes $1.3 trillion. The budget surpluses of
the 90s turned into a $400 billion deficit by
2004.
12. Bush and
Conservatism
Bush repudiated the Kyoto
Treaty- limiting greenhouse gas
emissions (negotiated by the
Clinton administration but never
ratified by the Senate)
Advocated new oil exploration
in the Artic National Wildlife
Refuge on Alaska’s ecologically
fragile north coast
Allowed VP Dick Cheney to
hammer out his administration’s
energy policy in behind-closed-
doors meetings with reps of
several giant oil companies
13. Terrorism Comes to America
On September 11, 2001, America’s
centuries-old enjoyment of being
on ―our side of the pond‖ ended
when militant Muslim radicals
attacked America. The radicals
hijacked passenger planes and used
the planes, and hostages, as guided
missiles.
Two planes slammed into the World
Trade Center towers in New York
City. The towers caught afire, then
came down.
A third plane slammed into the
Pentagon.
A fourth plane was aiming for the
White House, but heroic passengers
took back the plane before it
crashed in a Pennsylvania field.
14. The Toll of Terror. Grief
overcame this exhausted
firefighter during the search
for survivors in the wreckage
of New York City’s World
Trade Center.
15. The Attacks Seen Around the World. The attacks of September 11,
2001, became events of international, not just American, significance,
as revealed in the newspapers on display in Sofia, Bulgaria.
16. The War on Terror
America was stunned, to say the
least.
President Bush’s leadership after
the attacks was solemn and
many began to forget the
disputed election of 2000.
He identified the culprits as Al
Qaeda, a religious militant
terrorist group, led by Osama
Bin Laden.
Bin Laden’s hatred toward
America revolved around resent
of America’s economic, military,
and cultural power.
17. bin Laden’s Hatred for America
Bin Laden harbored hatred
for the U.S. mainly
because: • The U.S.
had an economic embargo
against Saddam Hussein in
Iraq • The U.S. had a
military presence in the
Arabian peninsula •
The U.S. supported Israel
18. Economic Woes and Anthrax
Scare
Texas-style, Bush called for Bin
Laden’s head in an unofficial
start to the "War on Terror."
Afghanistan refused to hand him
over so Bush ordered the
military to go on the offensive
and hunt him down.
The hunt proved to be difficult
and Bin Laden proved elusive.
At the same time, the American
economy turned for the worse,
and a few Americans died after
receiving anthrax-laden letters.
Coupled with fear of another
attack, anxiety loomed.
19. Patriot Act & Homeland Security
Terrorism launched a ―new kind of war‖
or a ―war on terror‖ that required tactics
beyond the conventional battlefield.
Congress responded in turn.
The Patriot Act gave the government
extended surveillance rights.
Permitted extensive telephone and e-
mail surveillance and authorized the
detention and deportation of immigrants
suspected of terrorism
Critics charged this was a Big Brother-like
infringement of rights—a reversal of the
freedoms that Americans were fighting
for.
The Department of Homeland Security
was established as the newest cabinet
department. It’s goal was to secure
America.
20. Liberty or Death Critics of the
USA Patriot Act feared the
extinction of cherished civil
liberties, including the right to
protest against the
government’s polices.
21. Guantánamo Bay
Bush administration further
called for trying suspected
terrorists before military
tribunals, where the usual rules
of evidence and procedure did
not apply
Hundreds of Taliban fighters
captured in Afghanistan
languished in legal limbo and
demoralizing isolation in the
Guantánamo Detention Camp,
public opinions sharply divided
on whether the terrorist threat
fully warranted such drastic
encroachments on America’s
venerable tradition of protecting
civil liberties.
22. Bush Takes the Offensive Against Iraq
Saddam Hussein had been a long
time menace to many people. With
Bush, his time had run out. Bush
stated he’d not tolerate Hussein’s
defiance of the U.N.’s weapons
inspectors.
At heart of problems: intelligence at
the time suggested that Hussein had
and was actively making weapons of
mass destruction (―WMDs‖).
Hussein continually thumbed his
nose at the weapon’s inspectors who
tried to validate or disprove the
threat. Hussein continued to defy
the weapons inspections mandated
after the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
Bush decided it was time for action.
23. Iraq War
Bush sought the U.N.’s approval for taking military action, but
some nations, notably France with its Security Council veto, had
cold feet.
So, Bush decided to go it alone. Heavy majorities of Congress in
October of 2002 approved armed force against Iraq.
The U.N. tried one last time to inspect, Hussein blocked the
inspectors again. The U.N. and inspectors asked for more time
still.
For Bush, time was up. He launched an attack and Baghdad fell
within a month. Saddam went on the run, then was found nine
months later hiding in a hole in the ground.
Taking Iraq, though not easy, was swift and successful; securing
and rebuilding Iraq would prove tougher.
24. On the Fiery Ground in Basra, Iraq, 2004. These British soldiers are running from a
gasoline bomb detonated during a protest by Iraqi job seekers who claimed that they
had been promised employment in the security services. The British, who had invaded
Iraq alongside the U.S., oversaw the southern Iraq city of Basra, a role that proved so
unpopular with British voters that Prime Minister Tony Blair was eventually forced to
resign.
25. Execution of Saddam Hussein
The execution of Saddam
Hussein took place on
Saturday 30 December 2006.
Hussein was sentenced to
death by hanging, after
being found guilty and
convicted of crimes against
humanity by the Iraqi Special
Tribunal for the murder of
148 Iraqi Shi'ite in the town
of Dujail in 1982, in
retaliation for an
assassination attempt
against him
26. NO WMDs
WASHINGTON — In his final
word, the CIA’s top
weapons inspector in Iraq
said that the hunt for
weapons of mass
destruction has ―gone as
far as feasible‖ and has
found nothing, closing an
investigation into the
purported programs of
Saddam Hussein that were
used to justify the 2003
invasion.
27. Owning Iraq
Most Iraqi people welcomed
the Americans, but
certainly not all.
Factions broke out. Iraqi
insurgents attacked
American G.I.’s and
casualties mounted to
nearly 1,200 by 2004.
Americans soon began to
wonder, ―How long will we
be there?‖
28. Abu Ghraib Prison
Hatred for Americans only
worsened with revelations in
April 2004 that Iraqi prisoners in
Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison
had been tortured and
humiliated by their American
captors
Jihadist terrorists from around
the region flooded into Iraq,
often fueling the intra-Iraqi
conflicts to further their own
radical Islamist vision
Although Al Qaeda had no link
to Iraq under Saddam, as Bush
had falsely alleged, the
organization certainly moved in
afterwards
29. Torture at Abu Ghraib Prison, Baghdad, 2003. Revelations that American
soldiers had brutally tortured Iraqi prisoners contributed to condemnation
of the nation’s disregard for human rights and growing disquiet about
America’s unilateral policing of the world.
30. Divisive Issue
The new goals were to (1) establish security
in Iraq, hopefully by Iraqi troops, and (2)
create and turn over control to a new
democratically elected Iraqi government.
Training Iraqi troops proved pitifully slow.
A new government was created and limited
power handed over on June 28, 2004.
Iraq became a divisive issue in America.
Conservatives generally supported the war
and post-war efforts.
Liberals charged that Bush was on some ego-
tripping battle charge to hunt down phantom
weapons of mass destruction.
31. A Country in Conflict
Other issues divided America:
Democrats continually grumbled about the ―stolen‖ 2000 election.
Civil libertarians fumed over the Patriot Act.
Pacifists said the WMD reasoning was made up from the get-go to start a
war.
Big business (like Enron and WorldCom that monkeyed with their books)
supposedly fattened the rich and gleaned the poor.
Social warfare continued over abortion and homosexuality.
Affirmative action still boiled, and the Supreme Court came up with
mathematical formulae for minority admittance to undergrads. The
Court also stated that in 25 years racial preferences would likely be
unnecessary.
32. No Child Left Behind
Bush claimed his tax cuts
had spurred economic
growth and targeting what
he called ―the soft bigotry
of low expectations‖, he
championed the No Child
Left Behind Act of 2002.
An education bill created
and signed by the W. Bush
administration, designed to
increase accountability and
standards for primary and
secondary schools.
The law authorized several
federal programs to
monitor those standards
and increased choices for
parents in selecting schools
for their children
The program was highly
controversial, in large part
because it linked results on
standardized tests to
federal funding for schools
and school districts
33.
34. Reelecting George W. Bush
Republicans put Bush up for reelection in 2004.
Democrats selected Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.
Despite the usual litany of issues (education, health care,
etc.) the key issue of the 2004 election was national security.
At the heart of the security issue, was the question of the war
in Iraq.
Bush said to ―stay the course‖; Kerry took an anti-war
position. However, Kerry’s position and image was somewhat
confounding:
Kerry was a Vietnam war hero, but then a Vietnam war protestor.
Kerry voted for military action in Iraq, but then voted against
a bill for military spending for the war.
35. Election of 2004
Kerry gained much support by
criticizing Bush’s management
(or mismanagement) of the Iraq
situation. Kerry charged that
Bush had no plan for Iraq after
the initial take-over.
However, Kerry focused only on
Bush’s failure and failed to
effectively present voters with
his own alternative course of
action.
In the election, and despite polls
to the contrary, Bush won with a
surprisingly strong showing (a
popular vote of 60,639,281 to
Kerry’s 57,355,978) of 286
electoral votes to Kerry’s 252.
36.
37. 2 New Conservatives to the Bench
George W. Bush believed
reelection gave him
―political capital‖, which
he intended to spend on an
aggressive domestic agenda
Appointed 2 new
conservative Supreme
Court Justices [John G.
Roberts and Samuel A. Alito
Jr.] upon the retirement of
Sandra Day O’Conner and
the death of Chief Justice
William Rehnquist.
38. Bush Attacks Social Security
Bush soon overplayed his hand
Attacking the core of New Deal
liberalism, he proposed a
radical program to privatize
much of Social Security
A massive outcry led by the
American Association of
Retired Persons [AARP] and
other liberal groups reminded
Americans how much they
loved Social Security
Bush’s proposal faded away
within 6 months of his
reelection
39. Attacking Gays and Immigrants
Bush also proposed a constitutional
amendment to ban same-sex
marriage, which had been a major
―values‖ issue in the 2004 election,
but lost this as well
He took (faulty) aim at immigration
reform
Parting ways with the conservative
wing of his party, many of whom
wanted to deport nearly 12 million
undocumented people in the U.S.
His compromise established a guest-
workers program and ―a path to
citizenship‖ but it was rejected by
Congress in the summer of 2007
40. Political Scandal
Fall of 2005- VP Dick Cheney’s
chief of staff was convicted of
perjury in an investigation into
the source of a leak that had
exposed the identity of an
undercover CIA Agent [Valerie
Plame] as political retaliation
against her antiwar husband.
Than in December of
conducting illegal wiretapping
surveillance on American
citizens inside the United
States in violation of Federal
law
41. Hurricane Katrina
Bush’s tragic missteps in the
botched response to Hurricane
Katrina, which devastated New
Orleans and much of the Gulf
Coast in 2005 led to the flooding
of 80% of the historic city,
causing 1,300 deaths and $150
billion in damages
The Federal Emergency
Management Agency [FEMA]
proved pathetically inept to deal
with New Orleans, and Bush
received criticism for his
impetuous, unreflective, and
frequently feckless leadership
style.
42. After the Levees Broke in New Orleans, August 2005. When ferocious Hurricane
Katrina hammered the Gulf Coast, it overtaxed a deficient levee system and
unleashed floodwaters into New Orleans, submerging 80% of the city and destroying
more than a quarter-million of its homes. Many families unable to flee the city sought
refuge in the Superdome, where water, food, and other supplies were soon in very
short supply. Experts predicted that it would be years before the city fully recovered,
43. Midterm Elections of
2006
As charges of dictatorial power-
grabbing, cronyism, and
incompetence mounted during
Bush’s second term, Republicans
fell victim in the midterm
elections of 2006 to the same
anti-incumbency sentiment they
had ridden to power 12 years
earlier
Democrats narrowly regained
control of both houses for the
first time they lost them to the
Gingrich revolution in 1994
California Democrat, Nancy
Pelosi, became the first woman
to serve as Speaker of the House.
Sec. of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld
resigned over the
badly
mismanaged war
in Irawq
44. Gearing to 2008…
Bush’s approval rating sank
below 30% when he
asserted greater control
and a ―surge‖ of 20,000
additional troops to Iraq.
In the election of
2008, Candidate Barack
Obama’s promise to
conclude the war in a
timely fashion gave him a
powerful lift in the
upcoming election
45. Summarizer
How do you think history will portray George W. Bush’s
legacy?
Consider his:
Foreign policies
War of Iraq
Domestic policies
European Disapproval of the Iraq War, 2007.
47. Learning Goal
CRN BENCHMARK: 14.11.3S- Identify the details and
evaluate the proposed resolutions in the contemporary
debate over the critical social issues of today:
Gay rights
Government ―Safety Net‖ Programs – health care,
welfare
Urban renewal
Immigration
48. The Presidential Primary of 2008
46 yr. old, first-term Illinois
senator Barack Obama vs former
First Lady and sitting NY senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton for the
Democratic primary
Son of a black Kenyan father and
a white Kansan mother, and
raised in Hawaii and Indonesia,
Obama had a cosmopolitan
background well suited for the
age of globalization
He promised ―postpartisan‖
politics that would end the
divisive battle of the Bush years
and picked foreign-policy-savvy
Delaware senator Joseph Biden as
his running mate
49. Republican Primary
Long-time Arizona senator John McCain, 72, a self-styled
―maverick‖ and a Vietnam War hero who had endured years
of torture as a prisoner of war
Supported bipartisan legislation on normalizing relations with
North Vietnam, campaign finance and immigration reform
Picked Sarah Palin as his running mate, former beauty queen,
small-town mayor, self-proclaimed ―Hockey Mom‖, Gov. of
Alaska [for 21 months] and staunch abortion rights opponent
Palin galvanized the conservative Republican base, but when
interview gaffes exposed her weak grasp on the issues, she
became fodder for late-night television comedians and a
liability for the Republican ticket
50.
51. Yes We Can!... Uh oh
Armed with an unprecedented
war chest of nearly $700
million, mostly raised from
small donors via the Internet,
Obama seized the advantage in
both the ―air war‖ [television‖
and the ―ground war‖ [door-to-
door campaigning by his legions
of volunteers]
Slogan: ―Yes we can‖
Then just six weeks before the
election day, a sudden economic
maelstrom gave his campaign a
boost
The American housing price
bubble, fed by years of the Fed.’s
easy-money policies and the
private banking system’s lax
lending practices burst.
Long era of cheap and abundant
credit, when bankers had stuffed
their balance sheets with
complex and risky loans abruptly
halted
52. The Economy Implodes
By 2008 the collapse in real estate values led to a tsunami of
mortgage defaults
Bankers and other lenders watched in horror as countless
homeowners defaulted and the worth of mortgage-backed
securities sank precipitously
Aggressive deleveraging [businesses increase their financial
power by borrowing money (debt) in addition to their own
assets (equity)] set in worldwide, as Tokyo, NY, and London
scrambled to reduce their debt loads by selling assets
Credit markets froze everywhere and following the collapse
of Lehman Brothers in Sept. 2008, stocks fell into a deep
swoon
53. Bush and Allocative Efficiency
The federal government nationalized the country’s 2 biggest
mortgage companies, Fannie Maw and Freddie Max, and took
over the world’s biggest insurance company, AIG.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson persuaded Congress to
create the Trouble Assets Relief Program [TARP], authorizing a
whopping $700 billion go buy ―toxic‖ assets and inject cash
directly into the nation’s biggest banks and corporations
(despite public outrage over TARP’s initial cost, estimates are
that after loans are repaid it will have cost taxpayers about
$30 billion, arguably a bargain price to pay for rescuing the
nation’s financial and business system)
54. Election of 2008
Obama seized the political
opportunity presenting the
election of McCain as a
―third Bush term‖
Obama called for reviving
the faltering economy with
bold public investments in
alternative energy and
infrastructure repair
McCain derided such ideas
as ―socialism‖
Obama won 53% of the
popular vote, prevailing in
such traditional Republican
strongholds as VA, Nevada
and Colorado, and won the
Electoral College 265 to
173
55.
56. The New First Family. President-elect Barack
Obama, with wife Michelle, and daughters Sacha
and Malia, on election night 2008 in Chicago’s
Grant Park.
57. Hell to Overcome
The 1st African American
president had a country
embroiled in 2 wars, and
the worst economic abyss
since the 1930s.
―Black Man Given Nation’s
Worst Job‖ jibed the
satirical magazine the
Onion
58. Obama as President
On inauguration day, Obama
struck a cord by calling on
Americans to ―put away childish
things‖ and embrace ―a new era
of responsibility‖
The economy was shedding a
sickening 700,000 jobs a month
Unemployment rose to 10%, the
highest since the early 1980s
Obama counterpunched against the
deepening crisis, in his first 100
days, he pushed through a series of
major initiatives that included a
new round of help for troubled
banks, tax and mortgage relief,
and a huge ―stimulus‖ bill- The
American Relief and Recovery Act
Contained nearly a trillion dollars
of tax cuts, as well as new
spending for jobs, infrastructure
projects, and relief to state and
local governments
Also shored up bankrupt
automakers GM and Chrysler as
well as threatened banks and
insurance companies
59. Summer of 2009
The worst of the panic was
over and the economy
began to expand once more
Hopes for rapid recovery
proved false, and the first
steps toward growth were
feeble and faltering
Unemployment rate stayed
stuck above 9%
Millions of Americans lost
jobs, and homes leading to
anxiety
Psychology and economics
intersected as newly
anxious consumers cut back
on spending promoting a a
sluggish recovery
60. Patient Protection and
Affordable Health Care Act
Obama sought to achieve the long-sought liberal goal of health-care
reform
When attempts to enlist Republican support bogged down in
congressional haggling, he had to rely on Democrats alone to pass the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) aka ―Obamacare‖,
the Act extended health care insurance to some 30 million Americans,
marking a major step toward achieving the century-old goal of
universal health care coverage for all citizens.
Individuals and small-businesses could purchase health-care insurance
at competitive rates, prohibited insurers from denying coverage to
anyone with preexisting health conditions and allowed children up to
the age of 26 to stay covered by their parent’s health plan
Price of the bill was est. at $940 billion over ten years, but experts
predicted that the bill’s cost-cutting measures would reduce the
federal deficit by more than $1 trillion over 20 years.
61.
62. 2010 Wall Street Reform and
Consumer Protection Act
Pointed the way to a major
overhaul of the nation’s
financial regulatory system
Act aimed to curb the risky,
high-flying practices that
had contributed to the
debacle of 2008 with new
controls on banks,
investment houses, and
stock markets, and with
new truth-in-lending rules
to protect consumers.
63.
64. A Sea of Troubles
Because his measures merely halted, but did not reverse, the
economy’s decline, critics on the left condemned him of
being to timid
Because federal budget deficits ballooned dramatically on his
watch (thanks to not only his initiatives but also to the Bush-
era tax cuts combined with declining tax revenues in the
midst of the downturn) critics on the rights excoriated him as
a big government spendthrift
Starting with vehement attacks on the health-care bill, angry
protesters accused Obama’s administration of promoting
―socialism‖ and ―unconstitutional‖ controls over individual
lives
65. The Tea Party
After the American
Revolutionary Patriots,
these citizens combined a
knack for street-theater
demonstrations with
nonstop Internet and media
fulminations against the
president and his policies
Republican in congress
determined to fight the
administration, repudiated
Obama’s promise of post-
partisan politics
66. Supreme Changes
Obama appointed 2 new
Justices, Sonia Sotomayor
[the Court’s 1st Latina] in
2009, and Elena Kagan in
2010, leaving 3 women on
the court
Midterm elections in 2010
led to Republicans gaining
seats in the Senate [6] and
a whopping 63 seats in the
House, giving them
majority control and a new
Speaker- John Boehner.
67. More Change
Obama used the lame duck
Congress to write several major
accomplishments: $858 billion
package that extended
unemployment benefits as well as
the Bush-era tax cuts
Repealed ―Don’t Ask Don’t Tell‖
(2011)
Renewed nuclear arms reductions
treaties with New START with
Russia
Fell short on passing the DREAM
Act [Development Relief and
Education for Alien Minor Act]
which would have created a path
to citizenship for undocumented
youths who either graduated from
college or served in the U.S.
forces
68. Iraq and Afghanistan
Obama also inherited the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
Obama announced American combat operations in Iraq would
end in Summer 2010, all American troops would be withdrawn
by 2011
Despite continuing violence and the agonizingly slow birth of
a viable Iraqi government, the deadline was met, still 50,000
troops remained to protect U.S. bases and support Iraqi
security efforts
Afghanistan proved harder to grasp
Obama declared the Afghan war necessary to defeat Al Qaeda
and prevent future terrorism
69. Afghanistan
Dec 2009- declared
American troops would
begin withdrawing by 2011,
but that in order to achieve
that goal, additional 30,000
U.S. soldiers were sent in
Appointed a new U.S.
commander- Gen. David
Petraeus
Causalities increased,
frustration grew
70. Oil Spill
April 20th, 2010, the BP
platform in the Gulf of Mexico
exploded killing 17 workers
and spewing oil from its deep
well, nearly 2 miles below the
ocean floor
Over the next 4 months,
American public watched as
nearly 5 billion gallons of oil
poured into the Gulf of Mexico,
fouling beaches and killing
wildlife from LA to FL
It was finally capped in Aug.
2010 and had become the
worst oil disaster in U.S.
history
71. Operation: Neptune Spear
American forces
dramatically concluded a
10-year manhunt and killed
Osama bin Laden in May,
2011.
President’s poll rating got a
brief upward bump
72. The End of Osama bin Laden. President Obama and his national security team huddle in the
White House Situation Room to watch live updates on the mission to kill Osama bin Laden,
May 2, 2011. Nearly 10 years after the murderous attacks of September 11, 2001, rough
justice was meted out to the terrorist mastermind. Much commentary on this photograph has
focused on the presence of women in the room and on the President’s lack of macho swagger,
even as American forces closed in on the nation’s most hated foe.
73. Presently
April 2010- Arizona enacted a harsh statue requiring state and local
police to help enforce federal immigration laws
A federal judge put the statue on hold, Arizona’s action was applauded
in many other places, especially those with a substantial amount of
Latinos
Latinos replaced African Americans as the country’s largest minority
The battle for Gay Marriage rights continues
As of May 2013, twelve states— Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maine,
Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode
Island, Vermont as well as the District of Columbia have legalized
same-sex marriage
Obama won the reelection of 2012 due to a large voter turnout of
women, young Americans, Latinos and African Americans showing a
shifting change in the political dialogue.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78. 2012 Benghazi Attack
An American diplomatic mission at
Benghazi, in Libya, was attacked on
September 11, 2012 by a heavily armed
group.
The attack began during the night at a
compound that is meant to protect the
main diplomatic building.
A 2nd assault in the early morning the
next day targeted a nearby CIA annex in
a different compound. 4 people were
killed, including U.S. Ambassador J.
Christopher Stevens.
10 others were injured.
The attack was strongly condemned by
the governments of Libya, the United
States, and many other countries
throughout the world.
79. Controversy
Initially, there was speculation
that the attacks were a
spontaneous response to a
video, Innocence of Muslims,
but a U.S. State Department
investigation found that it was
a premeditated attack by
Islamist militants.
The Obama administration was
accused of over-emphasizing
the role of the video, and took
issue with the investigation and
the response of Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton.
80. PRISM (surveillance program)
PRISM is a clandestine national security electronic
surveillance program operated by the United States National
Security Agency (NSA) since 2007.
PRISM is a government codename for a data collection
effort.
The program is operated under the supervision of the United
States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court pursuant to
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Its existence was leaked by NSA contractor Edward
Snowden, who claimed the extent of mass data collection
was far greater than the public knew, and included
"dangerous" and "criminal" activities in law.
The disclosures were published by The Guardian and The
Washington Post on June 6, 2013.
81.
82. Snowden
Following the initial disclosures, the US
sought Snowden's arrest and extradition
from Hong Kong on charges related to theft
of government property and violation of
secrecy and communications laws related
to NSA activities.
Snowden left Hong Kong prior to any formal
action by local authorities, and reportedly
flew to Moscow, however Russia denied
that he had entered the country.
He was reported to be assisted by a
colleague of whistleblower and Wikileaks
founder Julian Assange, and in hiding; it is
widely speculated that he will seek
diplomatic asylum in a neutral country.
84. Shelby County v. Holder 6/25/2013
The Court struck down Section
4(b) [VRA 65] in its June 25,
2013, ruling by a 5-to-4 vote.
The majority opinion was
delivered by Chief Justice John
G. Roberts; he was joined by the
other four conservative judges,
with African American Justice
Clarence Thomas writing a
concurring opinion saying he
would invalidate Section 5 as well
as 4(b).
Roberts conveyed that the
current coverage system is
"...based on 40 year-old facts
having no logical relationship to
the present day."
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote a
dissent, which was joined by the
other three liberal judges.
Quotes from her rebuttal include
"Throwing out preclearance when it
has worked and is continuing to
work to stop discriminatory changes
is like throwing away your umbrella
in a rainstorm because you are not
getting wet.",
"Congress approached the 2006
reauthorization of the VRA with
great care and seriousness. The
same cannot be said of the Court's
opinion today." and ―..., the court
errs egregiously by overriding
Congress's decision.‖
85.
86. United States v. Windsor 6/26/2013
United States v. Windsor,
2013), is a landmark United
States Supreme Court case
in which the Court held
that Section 3 of the
Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA) is unconstitutional.
The Court ruled in a
majority of 5-4
Majority: Kennedy, joined
by Ginsburg, Breyer,
Sotomayor, Kagan
Kennedy: "By seeking to
displace this protection and
treating those persons as
living in marriages less
respected than others, the
federal statute is in
violation of the Fifth
Amendment. This opinion
and its holding are confined
to those lawful marriages."
87. MAJORITY
DISSENT
Supporters of DOMA seemed to
want ―two types of marriage,‖
likening same-sex unions to the
―skim milk‖ version of marriage.
-Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The Constitution ―neither requires nor
forbids our society to approve of same-
sex marriage, much as it neither requires
nor forbids us to approve of no-fault
divorce, polygamy, or the consumption of
alcohol.‖
-Antonin Scalia
