Obama argues his assassination program is a "state secret"
In response to the lawsuit filed by Anwar Awlaki's father asking a court to enjoin the President from assassinating his son, a U.S. citizen, without any due process, the administration late last night, according to The Washington Post, filed a brief asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit without hearing the merits of the claims.
That's not surprising: both the Bush and Obama administrations have repeatedly insisted that their secret conduct is legal but nonetheless urge courts not to even rule on its legality. But what's most notable here is that one of the arguments the Obama DOJ raises to demand dismissal of this lawsuit is "state secrets": in other words, not only does the President have the right to sentence Americans to death with no due process or charges of any kind, but his decisions as to who will be killed and why he wants them dead are "state secrets," and thus no court may adjudicate their legality.
The link is certainly worth clicking over to read, as it contains much more detail than the brief quote above.
Believe me, in many respects I am the embodiment of the classic left-wing liberal. I was pleased to cast what I hoped would be a historic vote for President Obama, but after almost 2 years I'm coming away disillusioned and cynical, based largely upon things like this.
Some folks would shake their heads at me, thinking that I'm a tree-hugging trail-running idealist, who just can't see that this is a grown-up's world where the bad guys don't play nice. Sometimes we have to play hardball 'cause the bad guys are just waiting to crap all over our WAY OF LIFE, they're going to TAKE AWAY OUR FREEDOMS, and Gary just DOESN'T GET IT.
Well, we are better than that. Our legal and judicial institutions can function in the light of day. I for one want to know what is being done in the name of the United States of America...and thus in my name. I want to be able to run my beloved trails with an easy conscience, that we are still the good guys, that we believe in due process and the right of habeas corpus, but that's no longer the case.
President Obama had--and still has--the opportunity to restore our global moral leadership, but has chosen to continue in the dark ways of the preceding administration. I prefer right to expediency and had hoped he would do better, but sadly, I am mistaken.
No comments:
Post a Comment