Has Our Long, Civil Libertarian Nightmare Just Begun? May 21, 2009
Posted by Jehuda in Uncategorized.Tags: Law, News, Politics, Security
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I hope Sullivan and Greenwald are sitting down.
NYT: Obama Considering Preventive Detention Plan:
President Obama told human rights advocates at the White House on Wednesday that he was mulling the need for a “preventive detention” system that would establish a legal basis for the United States to incarcerate terrorism suspects who are deemed a threat to national security but cannot be tried, two participants in the private session said.
Doesn’t that sound just like police state type stuff? And I’m not being facetious here (although I certainly was before). Doesn’t it boggle the mind that the federal government would even conceive to claim such powers? And if you voted for Obama to undo the “war crimes” of the Bush administration, don’t you feel like you got punked and are living a nightmare at the same time?
Judging by the reaction of the two participants, the answer to all of the above is a big fat “yes”: “The two participants…who spoke on the condition of anonymity…said they left the meeting dismayed.”
But far from me to put words in their mouth:
“We’ve known this is on the horizon for many years, but we were able to hold it off with George Bush. The idea that we might find ourselves fighting with the Obama administration over these powers is really stunning.”
It’s ok. You’ll get over it. After all, it’s Obama. So hope must be around the corner, just after the dismay and stunning realizations. But it’s not a done deal yet. Keep your fingers crossed.
One thing’s for sure. Can’t refer to Obama as “Bush Lite” if this goes through. This is heavy. And it’s all Obama.
