Imperial Presidency

Former President Bush praises President Obama on counterterrorism and immigration reform

"'I think the President got into the Oval Office and realized the dangers to the United States, and he's acted in a way that he thinks is necessary to protect the country,' Bush said. 'Protecting the country is the most important job of the presidency,' Bush added, in response to a question about whether he felt surprised that Obama had kept many of the counterterrorism programs put in place during his own administration. Obama has come under criticism following the disclosure that the National Security Agency has continued to implement cellphone and Internet data surveillance programs created by Bush." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer President Bush praises President Obama on counterterrorism and immigration reform

Daniel Ellsberg: Snowden made the right call when he fled the U.S.

"Many people compare Edward Snowden to me unfavorably for leaving the country and seeking asylum, rather than facing trial as I did. I don’t agree. The country I stayed in was a different America, a long time ago. I hope Snowden’s revelations will spark a movement to rescue our democracy, but he could not be part of that movement had he stayed here. There is zero chance that he would be allowed out on bail if he returned now and close to no chance that, had he not left the country, he would have been granted bail. Instead, he would be in a prison cell like Bradley Manning, incommunicado." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDaniel Ellsberg: Snowden made the right call when he fled the U.S.

Obama: No warrantless wiretaps if you elect me [2008]

"For one thing, under an Obama presidency, Americans will be able to leave behind the era of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and 'wiretaps without warrants,' he said. (He was referring to the lingering legal fallout over reports that the National Security Agency scooped up Americans' phone and Internet activities without court orders, ostensibly to monitor terrorist plots, in the years after the September 11 attacks.) In our own Technology Voters' Guide, when asked whether he supports shielding telecommunications and Internet companies from lawsuits accusing them of illegal spying, Obama gave us a one-word response: 'No.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama: No warrantless wiretaps if you elect me [2008]

Obama, Former Civil Rights Attorney, Shreds Constitution

"The train of civil rights abridgments which picked up steam under Bush just keeps rollin’ with the Obama administration at the throttle. Just because you don’t think the state will persecute you today, remember that Japanese Internment wasn’t so long ago, or that according to Noam Chomsky 'The most civilised part of the world, with the highest cultural standards 70 years ago was Germany. No more need be said.' Just because the government appears less psychopathic or genocidal today does not mean it will be this way tomorrow." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama, Former Civil Rights Attorney, Shreds Constitution

Obama Throwing Medical Marijuana Patients Into Federal Prison At Unprecedented Rate

"Fallout from the Obama Administration’s aggressive federal enforcement in medical marijuana states has reached a fever pitch this month with three people being sentenced, two others due to surrender to federal authorities to serve out sentences of up to five years in prison, and one federal trial in Montana currently scheduled for January 14th. Two of the three people being sentenced in the coming month face five and ten years to life, respectively. Far surpassing his predecessor George W. Bush, President Obama has conducted more than 200 SWAT-style raids on state-compliant medical marijuana businesses and has indicted more than 80 people since he took office." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama Throwing Medical Marijuana Patients Into Federal Prison At Unprecedented Rate

Russia chides France, Spain and Portugal over Morales aircraft incident

"Russia has blasted the European countries which barred the Bolivian presidential aircraft from entering their airspace as unfriendly action, adding that such moves could compromise passengers’ safety. Russian diplomats added that they will continue to press for unconditional observation of international rules that guarantee the personal immunity of heads of state that prevent any attempts on their life, freedom and dignity. The Bolivian presidential aircraft had to land in Vienna, Austria, and remain grounded for 12 hours as France, Spain and Portugal closed their airspace for transit over a suspicion it could have been carrying NSA leaker Edward Snowden." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRussia chides France, Spain and Portugal over Morales aircraft incident

Mexican police chief killed with rifle lost in ATF ‘Fast and Furious’ program

"A high-powered rifle lost in the ATF’s Fast and Furious controversy was used to kill a Mexican police chief in the state of Jalisco earlier this year, according to internal Department of Justice records, suggesting that weapons from the failed gun-tracking operation have now made it into the hands of violent drug cartels deep inside Mexico. Luis Lucio Rosales Astorga, the police chief in the city of Hostotipaquillo, was shot to death Jan. 29 when gunmen intercepted his patrol car and opened fire. Also killed was one of his bodyguards. His wife and a second bodyguard were wounded." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMexican police chief killed with rifle lost in ATF ‘Fast and Furious’ program

Is the lawlessness of Obama’s drone policy coming home?

"Global powers have an antisocial habit of bringing their work back home. The British government imported some of the methods it used against its colonial subjects to suppress domestic protests and strikes. Once an administrative class becomes accustomed to treating foreigners as if they have no rights, and once the domestic population broadly accepts their justifications, it is almost inevitable that the habit migrates from one arena into another. If hundreds of people living abroad can be executed by American agents on no more than suspicion, should we be surprised if residents of the United States began to be treated the same way?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs the lawlessness of Obama’s drone policy coming home?

Thank you for your service, Mr. Snowden

"Tellingly, the tools of Big Media and big government are not apprising you of these facts. Like a tortoise in its shell, they’ve retreated from the watersheds that are the AP, the IRS and the NSA scandals, informing you only of what New York and Northeast elites think is important: 'Most of you still like Obama.' Come every Memorial Day – more aptly called 'Dying For Nothing Day' – we direct a commonplace saying at members of a military that has not defended authentic American liberties for decades. It is, however, to a young man such as this that we should say 'Thank you for your service, Mr. Snowden.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThank you for your service, Mr. Snowden

Jimmy Carter: U.S. Has ‘A Cruel and Unusual Record’

“Recent legislation has made legal the president’s right to detain a person indefinitely on suspicion of affiliation with terrorist organizations or ‘associated forces,’ a broad, vague power that can be abused without meaningful oversight from the courts or Congress. In addition to American citizens’ being targeted for assassination or indefinite detention, recent laws have canceled the restraints in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to allow unprecedented violations of our rights to privacy through warrantless wiretapping and government mining of our electronic communications.” Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJimmy Carter: U.S. Has ‘A Cruel and Unusual Record’