Imperial Presidency

NDAA Indefinite Detention Opponents File Supreme Court Emergency Motion

"Opponents of the post-9/11 use of indefinite military detention have filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking to block a law they say allows innocent American citizens to be locked away without trial. The motion, submitted on Wednesday, asks the Supreme Court to reinstate an injunction against a key portion of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012. Unless the court does so, the motion argues, Americans are 'in actual and imminent danger of losing their core First Amendment rights and fundamental Equal Protection liberties.'" Continue reading →

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Indefinite Detention and the NDAA: The rise of America’s imperial presidency

"In the eleven years since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, America has effectively lived under a perpetual state of emergency. Last year, President Barack Obama while vacationing in Hawaii signed the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act which included an embedded provision allowing the presidency what some have termed as indefinite detention powers. The political firestorm and continuing controversy over both the Global War on Terror and the NDAA has led many American citizens to wonder just what all of this means for their individual freedom." Continue reading →

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Family of American subjected to indefinite detention pleads for international human rights review

"The family of Jose Padilla, an American citizen captured on U.S. soil and held without charge by the military as an enemy combatant, filed a petition with the Organization of American States (OAS) on Tuesday seeking a human rights review of Padilla’s treatment. Padilla and his mother have maintained for years that he was tortured while in U.S. custody, including being forced into stress positions, being kept awake for days at a time and being fed LSD and PCP against his will. The Bush administration ultimately claimed he was engaged in a plot to blow up a so-called 'dirty bomb,' but he was never charged with such a conspiracy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFamily of American subjected to indefinite detention pleads for international human rights review

Obama recognizes Syrian rebels as ‘legitimate representative’ of the people

"President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the Syrian opposition was now 'the legitimate representative' of the Syrian people, in the most significant US intervention yet in the brutal civil war. Though a minority, the Al-Qaeda-linked rebel group Al-Nusra has been one of the most effective rebel groups fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, raising concerns that hardline extremists are hijacking the 21-month-old revolt. Senior officials however said that despite the move on recognizing the opposition, Washington sticks by its policy of not directly arming the rebels." Continue reading →

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Obama’s inauguration committee to accept corporate cash

"President Obama’s inauguration in January will be funded in part by corporate cash, a reversal from 2008 when he declined corporate donations and capped individual donations to $50,000. Donations from both corporate donors and individuals to the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee will not have an upper limit, although the committee will not take funds from PACs or lobbyists. President of Public Citizen, Robert Weissman, told the Post, 'It’s not a bribe' but 'they’re going to expect access and the ability to have their views heard more favorably than they otherwise would be. And that’s not how the system should work.'" Continue reading →

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NSA Refuses To Release Secret Obama Directive On Cybersecurity

"An article in the Washington Post cited several US officials saying that Obama signed off on the secret cybersecurity order, believed to widely expand NSA’s spying authorities, in mid-October. In response to the move, lawyers with the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request (PDF) demanding that the Obama administration make public the text of the directive. The NSA responded to the FOIA request this week with a statement arguing that it does not have to release the document because it is a confidential presidential communication and it is classified." Continue reading →

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Rand Paul Slaps Hold on ‘Defense’ Bill

"Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul is holding up consideration of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill over an amendment he plans to offer that would require a jury trial for Americans detained in terrorism investigations. Paul’s demand for a vote comes as Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Arizona Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the panel, are working behind the scenes to limit debate on the sprawling policy measure (S 3254) to ensure it receives floor time during the lame-duck session." Continue reading →

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Obama’s Hammer and the Progress of The Daily Bell

"If both the political and economic legs of the US republic's three-legged 'stool' are eroding, that leaves one sturdy leg, the US military. There's no doubt in my mind that as political consensus continues to erode and the US economy continues to grow worse in many ways that the powers-that-be will lean more and more on US civil and military policing to provide 'social glue.' The US, under Obama's next four years, may become increasingly militarized and even more aggressive, if that's possible, from an interventionist standpoint. It is possible in four years time we may not recognize what the US has become." Continue reading →

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Tenn. techie denies being hacker in Romney tax returns case

"A couple of weeks later, the Secret Service, acting on a search warrant, smashed through his front door and spent the next 18 hours pulling laptops, hard drives and all manner of digital storage devices from his Franklin home. Now, almost two months since his home was searched, Brown has not been charged with a crime. Brown said he could not explain why the Secret Service is targeting him, but he noted that in 2009 the same agency came to his house looking for evidence tying him to the alleged theft of thousands of Social Security numbers held by an insurance company. He was never charged." Continue reading →

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