Remember Barack Obama during the campaign — full of hope, change, and promises to make a clean break from the disastrous policies of George Bush? 6 months into his Presidency, not only has he failed to live up to the most basic of his promises, but he has embraced many of Bush’s most asinine and destructive positions.
Days before his inauguration, Obama made it clear he would close Guantanamo Bay, begin the process of moving current detainees through US or international legal systems, and stop torture from being committed by Americans. In fact, he blankly stated [via MSNBC]:
“I was clear throughout this campaign and was clear throughout this transition that under my administration the United States does not torture,” Obama said… “We will abide by the Geneva Conventions. We will uphold our highest ideals.”
And now? [via Wall Street Journal]
The Obama administration said Tuesday it could continue to imprison non-U.S. citizens indefinitely even if they have been acquitted of terrorism charges by a U.S. military commission…
Like the Bush administration, the Obama administration argues that the legal basis for indefinite detention of aliens it considers dangerous is separate from war-crimes prosecutions. Officials say that the laws of war allow indefinite detention to prevent aliens from committing warlike acts in future, while prosecution by military commission aims to punish them for war crimes committed in the past.
Yes, you read that right folks! Barack Obama’s administration is using the same legal justification as George Bush’s to detain ’suspected war criminals’, even if they are found innocent by a military tribunal or American court.
Oh, and remember how he was opposed to Bush’s consolidation of powers in the executive branch and the NSA wiretapping program:
This is in late 2007, but Obama’s message is clear: Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program is illegal, against the principle and spirit of the Constitution, and completely unjustifiable, even with ‘terrorist threats’.
Welp, 6 months into his administration, guess what! Obama now wants to protect the warrantless wiretap program [via the Electronic Frontier Foundation]:
The Obama administration formally adopted the Bush administration’s position that the courts cannot judge the legality of the National Security Agency’s (NSA’s) warrantless wiretapping program, filing a motion to dismiss Jewel v. NSA late Friday.
The Obama Justice Department claims in its motion that litigation over the wiretapping program would require the government to disclose privileged “state secrets.” These are essentially the same arguments made by the Bush administration three years ago in Hepting v. AT&T, EFF’s lawsuit against one of the telecom giants complicit in the NSA spying.
Oh, and not to mention that he is now encouraging failed banks and companies receiving government bailouts to hand out large bonuses to their executives, staffed his entire Treasury Department with Goldman Sachs alumni, has refused to prosecute Americans who committed torture, and held private meetings with coal executives and continued to push for mythical ‘clean coal’.
See Also: Judge Suppresses Coerced Confessions and Refuses to Delay Hearing in Gitmo Case, Obama Fails as America’s CEO, Obama Task Force To Delay Report On Detainee Policy, Now even the report on Guantanamo is delayed, Civilian court: first stop for terrorism cases?, and Obama Stalls On Guantanamo Accountability.
Technorati Tags: barack obama, torture, geneva convention, detainees, indefinite detention, warrantless wiretaps, warrantless wiretapping, campaign promises, Guantanamo Bay
/Nelson laugh
Why does power corrupt?
Who knows. Whos controlling obama? IDK why are they trying to ban the Electronic Cigarette?
While I agree that indefinite detention is completely wrong, I take issue with this one statement :”Barack Obama’s administration is using the same legal justification as George Bush’s to detain ’suspected war criminals’, even if they are found innocent by a military tribunal or American court.”
I believe it would be better stated if they were found not guilty. The reason for this is that there might be people who have not committed any crimes but still have had training in camps. It’s just a technical distinction, but an important one: innocent and not guilty aren’t always the same thing.
Yo
HaHA!. That sucks. Really it does. RonPaul 2012!!!
Why are you surprised at Obama. I mean this guy started lying a whole lot sooner than you are admitting to. During the campaign when he said he had been a member of Rev Wright”s congregation for twenty years but he never head any anti American talk from the Rev. With such a bold lie how could you believe any thing that came out of his mouth. He is very bad for the country because what he campaigned for got him elected and now those thoughts are out of sight and mind. The President was right about one thing, jobs are being created. The careers in lobbying have spiked since Obama has taken over.
Great article.. and oh, too sad.. and true.
I’ve been saying and writing the same thing.
Makes you want to sing, Liar Liar, pants on fire while turning in circles.. lol
Not only did I vote for this “message of hope”, I donated money to help get him elected and talked to tons of folks telling them to check out his message and vote for him as well.
I am disappointed to say the least.. Between the Far Right Religious Party of whacks.. and liars.. who do you vote for?
Shaking head,
Donna DeVane
AS I SEE IT, by Mainer Mike Brown.
Is Obama really so awful?
AS I SEE IT, by Mainer Mike Brown.
Is Obama really so awful?
The funniest thing about all of this is that when the rest of the world was watching you yankees elect Obama, we all knew he was lying. You decided to believe him. Congratulations on reaching a new low.
Do we need more proof that Zionists are running US Government?
===============================================================
1. Democracy not equal to Elections
2. Democracy equal to control of Money system
3. Congress should abolish Federal Reserve and take over issue and control of Money system
4. Nationalize top 100 banks, and restrict number of jews working in top 1000 positions in each of these banks to 3% = number of jews among US population.
5. Restrict number of jews in key positions in Education and News media to 3%
6. Jews get to powerful positions through manipulation of education system professors favoring their own tribe students, stop this
7. The above steps will help save jews and avoid Germany repeating again.
… based on the belief that any president calls the shots… not surprised at all… it’s all just the same game with different lead characters.
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It is worth noting that clean coal is legitimate. MIT is performing research on it:
http://web.mit.edu/coal/
As you can see from these reports, clean coal is actually one of the more cost effect ways of decreasing carbon emissions. However, currently, there is not motivation for clean coal plants to be retrofitted, because as always, the less externalization of costs the more expensive things are.
In the long run, clean coal will be replaced by “true” renewables, but in the short run, it is a critical step in the shift to less emissions because it is more economically favorable, so less government intervention is needed to change investment behaviors.
so….you’re saying that maybe W had the right idea after all? or maybe your ’saviour of change’ isn’t really what you thought he would be. Get used to it because it’s only been 6 months! I can’t wait till rhis clown gets ground up
Obama is finding himself in a difficult situation here… tangled in the complexities of IHL and the Geneva Conventions. I’m sure people who have finished law school understand international humanitarian law, but maybe some of the confusion surrounding this issue stems from the fact that very few people actually understand the Geneva Conventions.
There’s a chance to change this– TEACH the Geneva Conventions and IHL in schools. A petition was just released to this effect– Protect the Vulnerable in War: Teach the Geneva Conventions. After all, can you really expect people to know what they are/aren’t allowed to do in war when they don’t understand the rules? Sign Now: http://bit.ly/RCpetition
[...] what he’s saying isn’t meshing with what he said the other day. Indeed, here’s a great article on Prose Before Hos that shows a downright depressing battery of fundamental flip-flops Obama’s made between the [...]