President Obama Suddenly Discovers A Taste for Executive Power
Bush. Obama.
In February, President Obama’s Justice Department quietly argued in a San Francisco court that it was maintaining the same position as President Bush’s Justice Department on a case involving detainees trying to sue a private company for its role in their (allegedly) extraordinary renditions.
The Obama administration pushed the status quo administration argument by invoking the “state secrets” argument, also a Bush-era fave.
“It is the policy of this administration to invoke the state secrets privilege only when necessary and in the most appropriate cases,” said DOJ spox Matt Miller.
Last week, Team Obama did it again.
And why wouldn’t they?
Attorney General Eric Holder recently said he was reviewing the way the Bush administration used the “state secrets” argument, but “on the basis of the two, three cases that we’ve had to review so far — I think that the invocation of the doctrine was correct.”
Hope. Change. Rank hypocrisy.
Again, the gulf between Candidate Obama and President Obama is striking. As a candidate, Obama ran promising a new era of government transparency and accountability, an end to the Bush DOJ’s radical theories of executive power, and reform of the PATRIOT Act. But, this week, Obama’s own Department Of Justice has argued that, under the PATRIOT Act, the government shall be entirely unaccountable for surveilling Americans in violation of its own laws.
This isn’t change we can believe in. This is change for the worse.
I hate to say “I told you so” to the folks who were gulled by the smooth-talking Obamessiah, but…
Hey, who am I kidding? I don’t hate to say it at all. I told you so!
Dupes.
(via my bro)
Other Posts of Interest:
- Suddenly, Comparing the President to Hitler Isn’t Okay
- It’s Looking a Lot Like 1979
- Raise Your Hand if You’re Surprised that the President Stocked His Town Hall with Ringers!
Category: President Barack Obama, President George Bush, The Long War Here At Home
Great post. Honestly, what annoys me more than anything, though, are the lefties who are suddenly shocked and appalled by Obama's second face. Were they sleepwalking through the election? Anybody who's surprised by this should have their voting rights permanently revoked.