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Will Obama Restore Constitutional Government?
While most of us have had our attention fixed on the economic firestorm engulfing the planet, President Obama is failing to meet his only sworn responsibility as our chief executive—to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Americans understand that George W. Bush defiled the Constitution. The Patriot Acts. Military commissions. Torture. Rendition. Warrantless wiretapping. Now, less than a month into the Obama era, we are seeing that little has changed in terms of extraconstitutional prosecution of the so-called War on Terror. So far, he has signed an order banning “harsh interrogation techniques” but may be keeping other reprehensible policies in place, and perhaps adding a few of his own.
Ironically, it was in our liberal bastion of San Francisco that Department of Justice attorney Douglas N. Letter argued before a “startled” Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that extraordinary rendition and torture shall remain unpunished under the watch of Barack Obama.
The case (Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc.) involved five “detainees” who have filed suit against a subsidiary of Boeing for flying them to CIA “black sites” where they were brutally and repulsively tortured. Invoking the same “state-secrets” argument employed by George W. Bush, Letter maintained that the “no change” position he advocated in the courtroom had been “thoroughly vetted with the appropriate officials within the new administration.”
“This is not change,” opined Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “This is definitely more of the same.”
A few days after the debacle in the Ninth Circuit, the Christian Science Monitor reported that, in seeming contradiction to the recent Obama executive order closing Guantanamo, nearly three times as many prisoners are currently being held without due process at a massive US military prison in Bagram, Afghanistan. Last month, DC District Court Judge John Bates gave the Obama administration until February 20 to “refine” its position on “open-ended detention.”
Meanwhile, plans for detention at home are being expanded under Democratic Party leadership. On January 22, Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL), a former judge who was impeached and removed from the bench before being elected to Congress, introduced H.R. 645, the National Emergency Centers Establishment Act. This bill calls for the establishment of six “centers” to be constructed on military installations across the US. Previous centers contracted to Halliburton subsidiary KBR were for the purpose of addressing an “emergency influx of immigrants” or to support “the rapid development of new programs." These new FEMA centers are “to provide temporary housing, medical and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster.”
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) is to date the sole member of Congress willing to raise a public stink. “Apparently, the fusion centers, militarized police, surveillance cameras and a domestic military command is not enough,” blogged Rep. Paul. “Even though we know that detention facilities are already in place, they now want to legalize the construction of FEMA camps on military installations using the ever popular excuse that the facilities are for the purposes of a national emergency. With the phony debt-based economy getting worse and worse by the day, the possibility of civil unrest is becoming a greater threat to the establishment. One need only look at Iceland, Greece and other nations for what might happen in the United States next.”
Why, asks Paul, are these centers are being constructed on military bases if they’re not for the purpose of rounding up and detaining large groups of people? Obama should explain exactly what is going on. So far, he has not.
Last fall, we learned who would be doing the rounding up when, for the first time since Reconstruction, US troops were deployed within US borders. The Third Infantry Division’s 1st Combat Team, trained during multiple tours in Iraq, will “help with civil unrest and crowd control.” According to Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, commander of the US Northern Command, at least two more brigades will be deployed by 2010. The doctrine of posse comitatus, under which US troops shall not be used against US citizens, prohibits detaining us, and Obama needs to explain why letting this program continue, is not a violation of that doctrine.
In his Inaugural Address, Barack Obama “rejected as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.” His actions in the first month of his presidency belie his rhetoric. While he uses his popularity to avert economic disaster, he must not lose sight of his other goals. Obama will need to command the trust of the American people in order to quell the quaking economy and regain the respect of the international community. His actions over the coming weeks will speak more authoritatively than lofty words in showing whether he will be able to achieve these goals.
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37 Comments so far
Show AllRelated question: will Obama reaffirm the Nuremberg Principles?
No.
good points, esp. about the FEMA centers, but why expect the executive to restore the constitutionality of.....the executive? and what good does it do, when another executive can just come along and undermine it all?
fat chance of this happening, but it's the duty of congress to right the ship of state. and to do that, they must investigate, prosecute, and punish the abuses of the previous admin. not gonna happen.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of
patriots and tyrants. ....Thomas Jefferson
Obama's FIRST move should have been to call a joint session of congress to reaffirm our constitution, restore habeas corpus along with condemning torture and issuing an apology to the international community. Simple move that could have been tremendously effective in restoring faith in this country. Then, the trials could have begun.
Sioux Rose
O: You mentioned what Obama should have done, and what an ethical Constitutionally astute lawyer/teacher would have done. This brings up the question why has it not been done, and because I am seeing terribly ominous parallels between what the neocons did to Chile and all of the SAME moves on our own homeland, what appears to be next IS locking up "the dissidents," and those in the way (or capable of leadership) of the rabid capitalist state that has as its goal, a turning back of the clock on mankind's promise to the times of serfs and landowners.
I don't think Naomi Klein realized the parallels (from "The Shock Doctrine") that now have become ostensible. I am not sure George Orwell ever saw his cautionary tale (1984) as intended for America, either. Once again I URGE everyone to read Klein's book so you can see the connections for your selves. Detention camps are indeed part of the pre-emptive recipe.
"It" is here. Biden warned us just before the coronation that we weren't going to like "IT".
Sioux Rose
Mister Chips, the "hope" in my nature does not want to believe it is here, or otherwise that the best laid plans can go astray. Also, as I watch the people "come and go and talk of Michelangelo" it almost reminds me of the film "Caberet" where the presence of Nazi officers at social events becomes the norm, kind of like armed police in US subways. I could not believe the announcement on the loud speaker at the Houston airport, right after the one about not letting any stranger have access to your luggage. It had something to do with what you SAY being construed as HATE SPEECH and therefore leading to your possible ARREST. I'm sitting there with "Shock Doctrine" and the parallel hits me, even the language of what constitutes the terrorist and how loosely it can relate to ANY person passionately motivated against unjust government policy. Indeed, it WAS the persons of conscience that the CIA-supported corrupt Pinochet went after, this "model" of falsely branding those who fight for better conditions for workers, or the basic ecology of shared lives, or women's rights, or even the ARTISTS and musicians who can rouse emotions with the TRUTH of their lyrics or images... the creeping parallels are inordinately creepy when eyes are not wide shut.
"Cabaret" is a good example and these days, even easier to relate to. Another film which pops into mind periodically is Fellini's "Satyricon". There is a scene of the Patrician family in their idyllic villa. Parents and children have just committed suicide, most likely because that idyllic life was no longer available to them as darkness and violence spread over the land. I'm thinking in terms of Fellini's films and his understanding of Italian social fabric and fascism. I'm glad for the "hope" in your nature. I know that you get it--that hope is not an inert or static quality and can become hope "transformed" toward action and resistance.
Relating to your reference to artists--I am a visual artist who was perfectly happy and engrossed in my art. As my attention became more involved with what was going on around me in a larger political, social sense, my images became darker and darker. There were long spells of anger and depression. Even though a number of people were put off by the darker aspects, I am grateful to have this outlet. I can still work in my own little world, but it also draws me out into the bigger world as a means of contact and discussion. It's a means of starting conversations that focus on political substance. I'm always pleasantly surprised and grateful when I encounter people that I wouldn't necessarily consider as receptive, but then find out that they are really eager to talk. On the other hand, I also encounter a few who, after 5 minutes, literally throw their hands in the air and practically yell, "I don't believe that!! I don't want to hear any more!!" They're fun, too. These days I'm trying to reinject a little more humor into imagery in juxtaposition with the darker stuff. Maybe that will be more effective in communicating, plus I can make myself laugh a little more.
Very well written. I agree completely.
Obama must mean "I support the status quo" in Kenyan.
The honeymoon was very short indeed.
"Obama will need to command the trust of the American people in order to quell the quaking economy and regain the respect of the international community."
Er, no. Unless a large percentage of the American people STOP trusting Obama and independently advocate for their own interests (economic, civil liberties, etc.), we're in big trouble. Big Brother will not take care of us. Obama, like other politicians, owes his position to moneyed interests, and will continue to act accordingly unless we demand otherwise.
Short answer to the question: No.
Walk in peace.
"With the phony debt-based economy getting worse and worse by the day, the possibility of civil unrest is becoming a greater threat to the establishment. One need only look at Iceland, Greece and other nations for what might happen in the United States next."
How can you not love Ron Paul? This congressman is one of the few who always speaks the truth.
Come on people. Based on one SF judge's opinion and a right wing interpretation of disaster centers turning into detention centers comes the leap to the conclusion that after one month (a very busy month) all Bush's wrongs should be fixed and rosey. Let's ease up on the hysteria.
Hmmm... methinks this is a case of the android calling the human a straw man.
· Yr Obd't Servant
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 was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
I think we're at the next to last stanza now. Check the progress toward totalitarian tyranny by looking at the history of articles on CD. There were recent articles which pointed out assaults on the First Amendment, but weren't about those assaults, and I think most people missed those points.
In case you're interested, here is the poem in its original German:
Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.
Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.
Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich nicht protestiert;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.
Als sie die Juden holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Jude.
Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.
(courtesy of Wikipedia)
Obama didn't support the Constitution BEFORE he was elected, why would you think he would do so after??? Obama voted in favor of granting immunity to the telecos that violated our Constitutional Rights. He thinks that separate can be equal in the case of marriage. These are only two of the very obvious clues as to how O-blah-blah was going to rule. Why is everyone so confused????
dcostello sez: "Obama voted in favor of granting immunity to the telecos that violated our Constitutional Rights."
***
Aye, but again, that had nothing to do with accountability for the Telecoms themselves. It was about shutting down testimony that would have illuminated Dick n' Bush crimes.
The U.S. Constitution is functionally dormant. Only The People can re-activate it. I see little evidence they're ready to do so ... yet.
"Will Obama Restore Constitutional Government?"
__________________________________________________
Oh, not right away. But it's quite possible that he'll take steps in that direction during his SECOND term, when he can afford to spend his Political Capital and he's concerned with His Place in History.
That's why we need to keep his cloven hooves to the fire and "make him do" progressive and civil-libertarian things. And support his candidacy in 2012!
· Yr Obd't Servant
Yeah, when pigs fly !
Just remain passive until you enter the one way gate of a strategic hamlet( Fema Center)
I've appreciated Dan Hamburg's articles ever since I first knew of him as a Green Party candidate. I hope he will write one on real grassroots democracy, direct democracy as achieved by binding popular referendum. We need to wake Obama up to this solution as proposed by Senator Mike Gravel.
At the end of the day. I am afraid that the most accurate word to describe Obama with regard to investigating and prosecuting Bush and his cronies for rendition and torture, lying to the people, spying on the people and many other potential crimes (I have lost count now) is COWARD! This Rule of Law and defending the Constitution is the one area he is obliged to deal with and like the Wicked Witch Pelosi and the brainless Scarecrow, Obama will become the Cowardly Lion. It looks like Obama would now fail the course on Constitutional Law he once taught.
If it were up to me, of course I think it would be better if the new Justice Department leadership, or President Obama himself, had stepped up to the plate and emphatically disavowed extraordinary rendition, expansive misuse of the state secret doctrine, and continued use of indefinite detention without trial for all those people swept up and languishing in US military prisons as part of George Bush's approach to waging a so-called global war on terror. But of course it's not all up to me, or you, or only us together.
Each of these three issues have come up in federal court litigation in the last few weeks, in cases pending from the Bush era. In each instance, the new DOJ under Attorney General Eric Holder and/or the solicitor general's office declined to renounce the legal positions previously staked out by the outgoing Republican administration.
Yet for all the tongue wagging in the New York Times, the Washington Times, and other publications predictably gleeful to sport headlines declaring how Obama was now embracing George Bush's GWOT policies, I'd hold off on the hand wringing and hyperbole about the dire need to restore Constitutional government for at least a little while longer.
What the interrelated issues of torture, warrantless NSA wiretapping, and habeas corpus access for detainees have in common (and, to a lesser degree, extraordinary rendition and the scope of state secrets' privilege) is that the Bush regime's unlawful executive actions were arguably authorized, or were subsequently endorsed, by a formal act of Congress - a federal statute still on the books of some sort like the Military Commissions Act, the National Security Act, FISA as revised, or the Patriot Act.
Presidents and new Attorneys General should not lightly declare that the House, the Senate, and the former chief executive all jointly drafted and enacted an unconstitutional piece of legislation. Where Obama has been clearly empowered to unilaterally act by using an executive order (banning torture as redefined, closing down Guantanamo, opening up FOIA standards, lifting funding restrictions on reproductive rights information, and so forth) he has often changed prior policies emphatically. Other complex issues (Afghanistan, financial regulatory reform) the Obama team has kicked down the road for further review. However, postponing the taking of a position is a luxury that lawyers do not always have in the real world, when an already pending case gets called up to the top of a court's docket by the judge.
Regardless, in the Constitutional scheme of things and in prudential political reality, there may be some merit in having Congress take the lead in rectifying bad policies in which Congress itself is complicit. Laws can be repealed. Statutory immunities once retroactively granted can be retroactively revoked.
There are some encouraging rumblings in the House from John Conyers and in the Senate from Patrick Leahy (and among other individual legislators) along these lines. Wouldn't floor debate - and a Republican Senate fillibuster - on restoring the Bill of Rights and the rule of law to its rightful place potentially be a more constructive approach for all concerned than having President Barack Obama act unilaterally, taking all of the risk and all of the heat entirely on his own?
Bill from Saginaw
All I can think of at the moment is the frog in the pan of water as the heat is being turned up.
Will Obama Restore Constitutional Government?
Pay attention, he already is.
Will Obama Restore Constitutional Government?
I have seen no signs that he has any intention of restoring our constitutional Republic. I am greatly disappointed. His popularity is still high, but is dropping.
He must get a capitalist liberal into HHS but not a free market democrat or republican. If he tries to put in a nationalized market based healthcare system he will lose millions of supporters. LaHood is already pushing his corporate market based supremacy ideology with his drive tax.
Obama has made no effort to disband the second government we are subsidizing-the huge corporate run mrket based government. I don't know if he just lied to us or if he has no testicular fortitude. So, many ofhis appointees are brilliant but no common sense. I am so upset that I could spit.
He better not go after social security without first exposing the billions of fraud and racketeering by the private sector. privatized medicaid and corporate fraud and racketeering in Medicare by corporations runs into the billions. One company in Medicare committed one billion in racketeering. No wonder it is going broke.
"How the Current Financial Rescue Schemes are Following the Failed Model of the Hoover Administration"
http://www.counterpunch.com/zadeh02202009.html
If you have a few minutes, you may like to read this article by an economics professor at Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa.
I guess we are under Bush-Obama martial law?
It makes you wish that Republicans had a civil libertarian streak left in them. But if Repugs won't budge, will Obamamaniacs finally turn against their candidate? There needs to be massive revolt against this administration.
-TIA
in simple terms:
NO. Power never abdicates. it has a tendency to gather more unto itself..until of course it explodes or implodes. or is forced to break it up....this gathering of power.
The question should be will congress restore constitutional government. That's never going to happen. We live in a warped, failed system that can't even support those it was supposed to--that is, wealthy land and slave owners and their descendants. Can a country built on slavery and land grab ever succeed as a democracy?
Is the copy of The Constitution in Dennis Kucinich's pocket the only copy left in Washington?
Ron Paul has the other copy.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of
patriots and tyrants. ....Thomas Jefferson
A joint session of congress to reaffirm constitutional rights and restore habeas corpus should have been move # 1. Not going to happen!
From CD's own article today:
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration, siding with the Bush White House, contended Friday that detainees in Afghanistan have no constitutional rights.
Here's another inspired writing! In the scriptures it does say "woe to the judges of the earth". Soon all of the injustices that have ever taken place will not come up into our heart and minds, for God Almighty knows of the millions if not billions of crimes that have been committed against humanity throughout the centuries. Now fast pace to modern-day America, the record of injustices is horrendous. You could probably re-open 9 out of 10 cases in every state in the union involving African-American men and discover a systematic ethic with double standards applied to them and only them to insure their guiltiness and subsequent incarcerations or death. Before you folks start over-reacting to my comment, open your eyes, try to help repair your hearts by mediatating on how it feels to have your sons ripped from your families almost like a decree that was mentioned in the "Old Testament'" in Egypt involving the decree to kill off all of the firstborn males in Egypt. When you think about it, its deep isn't it? Its similar to GENOCIDE, but the state only isolates the men and boys, not totally kill them. You see, some sinister forces have been invisibly controlling matters for a long long time and we are living in the "day of recokoning". The prophetic words in the scriptures, also says, that "God will soon wipe away every tear from their eyes" and the former things will not be recalled any longer, meaning thought about or rememembered. Today, a separation work is taking place, the wicked are being marked for destruction and the righteous are being marked for survival and soon those who love God with their, whole heart and soul and vital force will be granted the inheritance of the earth and a chance to gain everlasting life. Its time to bow down to God Almighty folks and finally live and treat others as we would all want to be treated, with love, respect, dignity and honor while knowing that Christ died for us all. We are witnessing all across the earth the sounding of an alarm to warn those who practice such inhumane behaviors that they now have a chance to abandon their wicked practices and repent from their evil ways or get ready to "suffer the consequences" for engaging in hatred, bigotry and greedy corrupt governmental crime and all forms of disgusting filth; including pornagraphic display, "from God Almighty", or whatever you choose to call him. His power and authority will be used to save those who call upon his name out of a clean heart. Mark my words friends, hold yourselves erect, because our deliverance is finally near at hand. God said, everyone from the least to the greatest will have to know that I am Jehovah and before me there was no other God formed and after me there will be none. May his Kingdom Come! Then we will not have to experience the above mentioned way of life, "justice for a bribe", that has resulted in so much harm to mankind, because we cannot rule ourselves successfully apart from God. Theocracy is the only form of government that will solve all of the worlds problems! The Democratic experiment is soon to expire! Matthew 6:9,10; Daniel 2:44; Revelation 13:8; Revelation 14:1 -Sounder
Jesus ya'all are really pumping up the G-D propaganda. This is yet another of four or five, ill-sourced, exaggerated, hyperbolic Op-Eds today. I've enjoyed this site for years.
You are officially worthless and NO DIFFERENT from the G-D Cato Institute or Daughters of the American Revolution.
Instead of storming the gates you are condemning yourselves to the political margins.
Well, you can watch and wail while other people get the work done.
I'm done listening.