The Obama Administration continues its retention and expansion of abusive Bush policies — now clearly Obama policies on indefinite detention and blocking the investigation of war crimes. Jeh Johnson, the Defense Department’s chief lawyer, has stated that it is a “policy question” whether acquitted individuals will be released or held indefinitely.
In May, President Obama announced that he supported indefinite detention of individual in violation of both domestic and international law. He has even found his detention policies to be a subject of jokes.
Liberals continue to be largely silent in the face of policies that they once denounced and protested. It is rare to hear any coverage or questions of the Administration’s refusal to investigate war crimes of torture, for example. Liberals seem to be quickly developing a cult of personality that has supplanted the most basic principles of human rights and international law. As with the Republicans under Bush, the Democrats are refusing to push the Administration to investigate torture or comply with international law. Before the inauguration, various generals and senators claimed that Obama and Holder assured them privately that no one would be investigated for torture. It now appears that these stories were likely true. Democrats must choose between their principles and their politicians — and they appear to be making the same choice as their Republican counterparts.
“Liberals continue to be largely silent in the face of policies that they once denounced and protested. It is rare to hear any coverage or questions of the Administration’s refusal to investigate war crimes of torture,”
Prof. Turley, This is completely disturbing (& the topic which originally led me to you blog). What is being done? Are there legal actions (domestic or international) being taken to prosecute those responsible for these torture, detention & surveillance programs/policies?
“Liar is such a harsh word”…. but accurate!
Bdaman…so sad & so not surprising.
a politician is a politician is a politician!
When you start telling lie’s you have to continue to tell them to cover the last one. Do you really want another lier in the Whitehouse, we just got rid of one that was in it for eight freakin years.
Obama says yesterday he met his wife in class (00:39)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDIPcfrFVUo&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Etheobamafile%2Ecom%2FObamaLatest%2Ehtm&feature=player_embedded
Barack Obama joined the Chicago law firm, Sidley Austin, as a summer intern in 1989. That’s where he met his future wife, Michelle Robinson, who was his adviser.
Michelle obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1988. Obama began Harvard Law School in in the fall of the same year. They were never at law school at the same time. This is just another senseless Obama lie to add to the ever-growing list.
“Wednesday July 8, 2009 08:09 EDT
The Obama justice system”
Glenn Greenwald:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/07/08/obama/
Constitutional Scholar, another fabrication by the media or is it.
During his April 14, 2009 press briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had an exchange with Helen Thomas about detainees being held at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. During this exchange, Gibbs denied that Obama “taught on constitutional law.”
In a December 2007 KJFK radio interview with Christiane Brown, the same interview during which Obama promised to have his Attorney General to investigate the Bush administration — a promise he has now kept, Obama stated that he “taught constitutional law for ten years.”
Q Why is the President blocking habeas corpus from prisoners at Bagram? I thought he taught constitutional law. And these prisoners have been there —
MR. GIBBS: You’re incorrect that he taught on constitutional law.
Q — for many years with no due process.
I just got back from the store and bought my daily pack of smokes. I told the clerk I hope to quit soon as I handed him my money. I kept standing there and the clerk asked if I needed something else. I said no, just my change. He started laughing and said there is no change.
A single term will be more than enough for our “Constitutional Scholar.”
No prosecution = No second term.
In fact, a general strike comes to mind to tame our anti-Republic president.
When I mentioned a Constitutional Convention, I was serious. The only way left to citizens to correct the abuse of the law by Mr.Obama, the Neo Cons, and Corporate, may in fact be a total rebuild.
Let us set a deadline for prosecution of say, December 2010. If that deadline is not met, we can assume Mr. Obama can not be recognized any longer as a viable president. Instead of the dead process of impeachment, we should begin finding our own delegates and begin appointing them.
Get serious, lawyers. This ain’t Kansas no more. While the People still have unfettered access to the Internet, we ought to begin thinking seriously about a system rebuild.
http://www.light-to-dark.com/neo_con_trifecta.html
Procrastinate at your own peril.
Several months ago I had an interview for a top government position. I am very qualified for the position and meet all but one requirement. In the short Q and A portion of that interview I was asked this question. I answered No, and the interview was immediately terminated.
Q: Can you lie and how good are you at doing so.
I later found out that Obama was awarded the job.
A lie is a untruth told or intimated with intent to mislead.
This is precisely what Barack Hussein Obama has done.
We just celebrated the 4th of July. If that has any real meaning to the people of this nation, then we must oppose Obama.
I read with interest the comments about Sara Palin supporters and how they refuse to see her for who she is and how THEY are so stupid. I am asking people who feel that way to question if this is how they are reacting to Obama. Obama has made his choices very clear. His choices/actions are anti-Constitutional and they are evil (and I will use that word). Perhaps we like to think we cannot be fooled or manipulated but everyone of us is vunerable, depending on the pitch and our life circumstances. This is the liberal Milgram experiment and we are failing it.
We are allowing Obama to torture (see Harper’s magazine for this month). We are allowing Obama to engage in surveillance against our citizens without warrant or oversight. We are allowing him to take people off the street anywhere in the world, take them to Bagram and deny them any rights to challenge Obama’s actions. We are allowing one man to have the power of imprisonment, life and death over whomever he chooses. This is the power of a dictator, not a president. If Obama suceeds at becoming our dictator, in large part it will be the result of citizens who remain silent in the face of crimes by this govt.
There is no secret plan. Obama has been clear and consistent in his actions concerning human rights and civil liberties. It is not plausible to say that he is working under cover to achieve the exact opposite of what he is actually doing. If he did not want indefinite detention based on his say so, he would not be asking for it. Again, this is a liberal Milgram experiment. We must not fail it.
Following is testimony concerning torture in Gitmo, right now, under Obama, (from Harpers): “In February, Lt. Colonel Yvonne Bradley..described a now familiar situation…’Binyam {Mohamed, her client} has witnessed people being forcibly extracted from their cell…SWAT teams in police gear come in and take the person out; if they resist, they are force-fed and then beaten…It is so bad that there are not enough chairs to strp them down and force-feed them for a two-or three-hour period to digest food through a feeding tube. Because theyre are not enough chais the guards are having to force-feed them in shifts…Every U.S. institution that could prevent force-feeding has failed to do so. Congress has failed to act, as hve the courst, as has the president”
If this treatment of detainees is acceptable to you. If it is acceptable to you that Obama has the power to imprison people on his say so, then I ask you, “why do you believe this is so?”.
eniobob said; “The one who made many reasonable campaign promises and the one that we have now.”
BuelahMan responded; “Down here in Tennessee they call folks like that “liars”.”
‘Round these parts, we call ’em politicians. The started to crop up all over the place when we stopped spraying that there accountability. First there were red ones, then blue ones, then black ones. I can even see a yeller one startin’ to sprout. It seems they come in all colors, and they don’t care what direction they lean.
One day farmer Brandeis thought he figured out a way to stop ’em from growin’. -He was usin’ sunshine. -Them politicians don’t like sunshine. At times, they’ll even threaten each other with a little sunshine.–Don’t ya worry none…it’s just a threat. Them politicians is pretty good at protectin’ one another.
Now we been hearin’ tales of some seye-n-teriffic people, (we call ’em patriots) cummin’ up with a way to stop ’em from growin’. -They plan to use sumptin called a “Constitution”. Only problem is…them patriots can’t seem to agree on how to ‘terpret some of the words. -They’re spending all their time arguin’ over the how to apply it.
I think it’s time to take the “conservative” approach. -We should apply it “liberally”. -And repeat daily until all the politicians are gone. -When we do, a new crop will begin to grow.
We can call them Representatives
“Liberals continue to be largely silent in the face of policies that they once denounced and protested…Liberals seem to be quickly developing a cult of personality that has supplanted the most basic principles of human rights and international law.”
The worst thing that happened after 9/11 was that good men and women placed politics over principal. That mentality destroyed the Republican Party. Drones would not or could not criticize their leadership for appalling actions and policies. Now it appears that Democrats are prepared to go down the same road. I will never understand why.
Liar is such a harsh word. He is merely being flexible regarding his position on specific topics. Just as “enhanced interrogation” means it is not torture, being flexible on facts is not the same as lying.
Yes, Sir.
I just don’t believe it is any mental condition, but downright lying thru his teeth.
Political expediency has been the man’s mantra from way back in his “community organizer” days. I was saying during the campaign (over and over) that he was lying. Not just misleading, but outright lying to Progressives to get their vote.
he lied continuously about where his money came from.
Yes, he could come back and say, “Technically, I didn’t say this or that”. And that is the secret to Barack Obama. He is a smart liar… one that can elude to certain things and make his audience “assume” things he never “technically” meant.
This is all sideshow politics from the one who said he wanted to change politics.
He is a liar and a cheat.
But worse are the fools who fell for it and got us in to this position of dealing with yet another POS politician intent on enriching himself and his coffers.
BuelahMan:
Point well taken.I just wonder am I the only one seeing that “two person ” in one that I was talking about?
The one who made many reasonable campaign promises and the one that we have now.
Well?
Down here in Tennessee they call folks like that “liars”.
I seem like we have two different people in one president,Thats the best way I can put what I am seeing.
The one who made many reasonable campaign promises and the one that we have now.
Well?
Of course it is somebody’s policy, but to use the word like that is a propaganda smokescreen which is being used to obliterate accountability:
http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2009/07/when-accountability-is-plague.html
And that in turn is being used to obliterate one of the reasons for the declaration of independence:
http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2009/07/independence-from-what.html
John W. Dean wrote all about this phenomena, i.e. between lock-step authoritarians and the task of organizing liberals being as difficult as herding cats, in “Conservatives Without Conscience”
Nonetheless, the dialogue about Obama being no better than Bush needs to expand to the 4th Amendment issues; which are the clearest and least disputable examples of the Executive trashing the Constitution.
I’m liberal and I couldn’t be any more outspoken about this or anything else the man has tainted with a Bush-like taint.
As a matter of fact, I am the Biggest Redneck Liberal You Will Ever Meet:
http://buelahman.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/who-is-the-biggest-liberal-redneck-you-ever-met/
The guy in the video is not me, but its my voice (I was manning the camera).
AY,
Well said.
Brings to mind Martin Niemöller He was an anti-Communist and supported Hitler’s rise to power at first. He became the leader of a group of German clergymen opposed to Hitler. Unlike Niemöller, they gave in to the Nazis’ threats. Hitler personally detested Niemöller and had him arrested and eventually confined in the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps.
His poem is well-known, frequently quoted, and is a popular model for describing the dangers of political apathy, as it often begins with specific and targeted fear and hatred which soon escalates out of control.
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn’t a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
link: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Niem%C3%B6ller