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Fein on Iraq: Obama should unilaterally limit Presidential discretion by rejecting the AUMF

November 26th, 2008 No comments

Good idea, Bruce, but do you really expect Obama to bite, and thereby drastically reduce his own discretion? 

Obama already has George W. Bush and Congress to blame for the war – what important advantage does he gain by claiming the AUMF was an unconstitutional delegation of authority to the President?  We all know that Presidents of all political stripes have traditionally looked for ways in which they could unilaterally use military force abroad in order to “wag the dog” at home and there by gain domestic political advantages.  It seems a bit much to expect Obama to unilaterally cut off the tail that he now has considerable discretion to wag.

I tend to agree with Fein’s arguments that the system has gone wrong; I just don’t think we can realistically expect a President to unilaterally offer up a check on his own power.  But if Obama proves me wrong, I’ll certainly rejoice.

Categories: AUMF, Bruce Fein, Congress, Iraq, obama, war Tags:

Greased by Telecom $$$, Obama & spineless Dems act with Republicans to shred the 4th Amendment and to play dumb to and sanction illegal domestic spying by Bush and Telecoms

July 9th, 2008 No comments

More by Glenn Greenwald.

Obama shows his true colors regarding his supposed desire for change, transparency and rule of law.  As likely future Spy-in-Chief, why would he be interested in anything that might limit his own power?

In the 70s, Nixon was impeached and forced to resign because of illegal domestic spying; this time, Congress provides retroactive immunity, without even having investigated how and why the law was broken.  Money talks; principles and the rule of law walks.

Those Senators who voted for the “new and improved” FISA:

All Republicans (those lovers of limited government!) and the following Democrats:

Bayh – Carper – Casey – Conrad – Feinstein – Inouye – Kohl – Landrieu – Lieberman – Lincoln – McCaskill – Mukulski – Nelson (Neb.) – Nelson (Fla.) – Obama – Pryor – Rockefeller – Salazar – Webb – Whitehouse.

The following Dems OPPOSED the amendments:

Akaka – Biden – Bingaman – Boxer – Brown – Byrd – Cantwell – Cardin – Clinton – Dodd – Dorgan – Durbin – Feingold – Harkin – Kerry – Klobachur – Lautenberg – Leahy – Levin – Menendez – Murray – Reed – Reid – Sanders – Schumer – Stabenow – Tester – Wyden

It’s no wonder that our Congresscritters are even less respected than Bush, at levels lower than ever recorded for any institution over the past 30 years.

Categories: 4th Amendment, bush, Congress, FISA, obama Tags:

Mr. Lessig goes to Washington?

February 19th, 2008 No comments
Categories: Congress, copyright, Lessig Tags: