The need to question authority...
I am a staunch supporter of President Obama. But he has made some regrettable decisions of late. Instead of ending the domestic spying program directed at the American people as a whole it seems reports say the abuses in the program have been worse since he took office. His decision not to prosecute people who possibly/probably committed crimes while working for the government, or contracted with the government to work on its behalf, by torturing detainees in our custody further damages the Rule of Law, and what our country stands for, as we know it.
It strengthens the Bush/Cheney Administration's misguided idea of a 'Unitary Executive'. It allows the government to continue to operate above the law even if President Obama chooses not to have the government operate that way. Nothing has been changed if the wrongs of the past are not addressed. We therefore have not learned from history and will be condemned to repeat it in the future.
These decisions need to be questioned in the harsh light of the implications they have on the Rule of Law and not have the queries be dismissed in some sort of noble, but wholly misguided, attempt to move forward politically.
It strengthens the Bush/Cheney Administration's misguided idea of a 'Unitary Executive'. It allows the government to continue to operate above the law even if President Obama chooses not to have the government operate that way. Nothing has been changed if the wrongs of the past are not addressed. We therefore have not learned from history and will be condemned to repeat it in the future.
These decisions need to be questioned in the harsh light of the implications they have on the Rule of Law and not have the queries be dismissed in some sort of noble, but wholly misguided, attempt to move forward politically.
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I wonder.
Do you suppose that being a Harvard Law dude of all dudes, Obama is telling us the Executive doesn't demand the investigation/prosecution of the Executive? That the Legislative and the Judicial should hold the Executive accountable? Should initiate the checks and balances?
After all, the cat's out of the bag on a host of issues that should call our Congress to immediate and rigid attention. They should call for a special prosecutor to investigate the Executive. The Judicial backs them up like the rules say, and the Executive complies with subpoenas.
The cat is then fully out of the bag, scratching and bawling. The current Executive, having nothing to do with the previous Executive, shrugs at W and says "The Legislative and Judicial just smoked all your sorry asses like our Constitution calls on them to do.
I feel like you do, and wish Obama would take the lead. But I'm not the Executive Harvard Law Dude of all Law Dudes.
I give him the break for now, thankful for the gains we've made. I've got my fingers crossed it will all come out in the end, and move along towards the recovery Obama is promoting...walking away having never attacked the Executive.
April 17, 2009 4:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
Beyond the fact that the justice department has the power to investigate crimes, the president could surely inspire congress to act in support of the Constitution.
He could support legislation that would restore the proper checks and balances, even if he can't write the bills himself. I am Russ Feingold and Dennis Kucinich have something waiting in the wings. The fact that he is a Harvard Law grad of such distinction as well as a Consitutional law professor at the University of Chicago actually makes me more disappointed and not less.
I will agree that it is early in the game and perhaps he has slated those battles to take place at a future date. I am a big fan of strategy dictating tactics and not the other way around. I will reserve judgment for now on this and a host of other issues, but vigilance by American citizens is required if we want to actually have a different country in four years. We need to put the right Congress in place to bring innovative and sustainable solutions.
I am afraid that the same old players running the same all script, but from stage left instead of stage right, won't get us where we need to go.
April 17, 2009 12:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
You are Russ Feingold? ;-)
Obama has told us that he believes the best changes come from the bottom up. So if he seems to be in the Sargasso, his Executive sails drooping empty of wind, perhaps it's only that he's looking for us, and Congress, to blow harder. He's only the captain of this democratic republic, not king.
April 17, 2009 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Typos R Us
April 17, 2009 6:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Libertine:
Are you familiar with the lawsuit over Callie Moore? Her doctor prescribed one thing but the state of Georgia said the government knows better, so they ordered a reduction in medical care. Now Florida, Georgia and Alabama insist in court that Government should override prescription made by a medical professional.
Are you familiar with school vouchers for black kids in DC, where they could pick any school they want, public or private, the best one? Government decided to stop vouchers in DC and send these kids back to public schools, based on school districts? Now they have no choice but to return to the worst schools in the country.
April 17, 2009 9:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
You are talking about partisan political issues Lalo. Some each of us may agree with others won't. The point of this post is about accountability. The ability to know what our government is doing and having some input about it.
I'd rather stay focused on that core issue rather than getting sidetracked on individual political issues, which on some level may be personally troublesome to an individual, that are tangential to the discussion as a whole. We cannot tolerate a government that is willing out of comity to allow laws to be broken. And justifications of it being for the public good and/or to protect our safety are not valid.
April 17, 2009 9:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm surprised that you don't see anything to do with accountability in my comment. It has everything to do with accountability - to "we the people".
April 17, 2009 9:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
I have to head to work...I am already late. It is good to be you own boss though, lol.
But I wanted to make a quick reply to this before I left. I agree and we should be able to question those decisions. I am just saying this is more important than any specific divisive issue we might disagree on. I think the political left and right can agree on this...
April 17, 2009 9:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Then we're on the same page.
April 17, 2009 9:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Know what our government is doing? Are you expecting that while they fight in Iraq, Afghanistan and other terror states that they're going to be telegraphing to us what they're up to?
The domestic wiretapping is a perfect example where FISA confirmed the government's Constitutional authority to collect national-security intelligence without judicial approval.
But it just goes to prove that the wiretapping point was never about anything but staging an ideological war against a President's war powers.
April 17, 2009 10:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ya know Bill...our country has been kept in a perpetual 'state of war' since WWII (WWII, Korea, Cold War, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Afghanistan, Iraq). Therefore our government has operated in secret for well over a half a century. We as a people have been culturally trained to having our government operate in secrecy and it no longer has to. We are not at war with any other sovereign nation as of now. There is no reason for any president to have 'War Powers' anymore and therefore our government should operate in a more transparent way instead of a police state acting like it is under siege.
Pray tell Bill what country are we officially at war with right now that would warrant our government conducting the people's business with such extraordinary secrecy and without oversight? A loose band of terrorists who would like to do us harm doesn't cut it...
April 17, 2009 10:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
You complain about the secrecy and lack of oversight.
I don't see what it's so bad that we the public aren't told about the wiretapping that the government performs to try to protect our country from terrorists. It wouldn't be a very effective counter-terrorism program if we were told all the things that they're doing.
April 18, 2009 10:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
One thing that bothers me is that there's a potential for a real escalation of domestic tensions here. We're starting to see weird stories about people stocking up on assault rifles in anticipation of an Obama ban. We've got teabagging tax protestors, some of whom are using militia style rhetoric, we've got a recession, growing unemployment and Homeland Security now warning about domestic terrorism from the homegrown right.
Then you have our president, a guy from our side, who inherited vast powers from his predecessor and... well...
You see where this is going. Obama (really the national security apparatus around him) decides it's a good idea to keep the surveilance powers because there is a real threat out there and the target of that surveillance is a bunch of people that us Obama supporters think are dangerous right wing nutjobs, so we give the president a pass and the left loses sight of the fact that we should oppose any use of these powers on principal.
Oh and the paranoid rightwing nutjobs get even crazier because they find out they actually are being spied on and some one will accuse Michelle Obama of killing Vince Foster. We know where this all leads.
April 17, 2009 9:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
I have no problem with people being watched if the assessment is made that they pose a serious and credible risk destor. And I agree that anger is high in America over a number of issues. No reason to infringe on everyone's rights to keep us safe. Our laws, and respect for them, had worked just fine for well over 200 years and helped make us the great country we are. We need to return to basics in that area.
April 17, 2009 9:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think we're in total agreement I just hope that some of the folks on our side don't complacently let the government spy on "them" now that it's Obama behind the spyglass.
April 17, 2009 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's a catch-22.
Any group of people (government, business, social group) that is focused on something has a vested interest in pursuing the objectives to the end.
CIA has a vested interest in spying, because it helps them with their mission. They are prone to overreaching, just like a driver who's running late is prone to speeding.
That's why government must be distrusted, watched and critized. OLC/CIA is just the most extreme example of overreach.
But everyone is so caught up in the concept of the world after Bush and the different role of government, so instead of rolling its powers back we're giving it more.
April 17, 2009 9:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Harsh light of the implications?
Okay, you want black and white answers to nuanced foggy situations. The NSA collects a lot of raw data, ignores the vast majority of it, and occasionally goes a bit overboard in the fog of the front lines. A request to tap the phone of a Congressperson who was apparently not in the USA, was blocked. Where's the beef here?
Questioning authority, the title, seems a bit out of order based on the content. Challenging power by speaking the truth is something slightly different but it's hard to put the difference in black and white terms!
I'm questioning your authority, dude. :-)
It's clear that Obama has been relaxing some things/attitudes from Bush era (release of OLC memos finally) and cleaning up others. I wouldn't call for blind faith in secular matters but isn't there room for some trust and support too?
April 17, 2009 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't argue the facts eds. And I am questioning their authority to violate the 4th amendment of the Constitution and spy on American citizens who are not suspected of committing any crime(s)...and on that front nothing has changed from Bush to Obama. I am fully and forcefully questioning their authority...
April 17, 2009 11:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
What we have lost sight of is that the FISA Court still exists. It needs to be used, if for no other reason ten to remind the NSA or whoever that they are accountable for their actions. The request to spy made to the FISA Court is more of a ceremony then an actual request. But it is a gentle reminder, we have standards and freedom to consider before we get all KGB about the way we treat the citizens of a democracy.
April 17, 2009 2:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nobody has yet to convince me that there is such a grave existential threat to our country as we know it that we should render moot the 4th amendment and allow the government to spy on all Americans, Gregor. Al-Qaeda certainly isn't that threat and even our greatest nemesis, the USSR, didn't cause the government to feel that it had to spy on all Americans. It is time to put an end to police state tactics of our government one it seems that it would like us to believe we are in a constant state of war with the gravest of enemies. What's next the War on Drugs being used as the rationale? Pick an issue, call the effort a 'war' and then get to have 'war powers'? Is this what our country is all about now?
April 17, 2009 11:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Right you are! It is time to put an end to the police state tactics!
April 17, 2009 11:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
And imho post haste oleeb. We need to keep on keeping on about this issue...which has been lost sight of in the fog of the current economic crisis.
April 17, 2009 11:52 PM | Reply | Permalink