American Way: upside down world as Barack Obama under fire over civil liberties

[The Straight Story]

This revelation has provoked a sudden realignment of concern about executive branch overreach in what was once called "the war on terror".

In this upside down world Republicans are suddenly citing civil liberty concerns, while Democrats rationalise that such extraordinary powers are needed to keep America safe.

It's a complete reversal of the debates that raged during the Bush administration. And it's enough, on the surface, to make you think that situational ethics – the absence of any absolute moral rules – drive every debate in Washington DC.

But on a deeper level, the memo shows that presidential responsibilities are so important that they override partisan concerns and campaign promises.

As Stephen Carter, Yale University professor of law, wrote in his essential book about the Obama War Doctrine, The Violence of Peace: "On matters of national security, at least, the Oval Office evidently changes the outlook of its occupant far more than the occupant changes the outlook of the Oval Office."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-politics/9859314/American-Way-upside-down-world-as-Barack-Obama-under-fire-over-civil-liberties.html

[xchrom]

2. du rec. nt

[Bradical79]

3. It's very frustrating

In our polarized two party system it feels impossible to talk about real civil libertties issues without getting lumped in with Republicans fake concerns or making easier for someone worse to gain power.

Sorry about grammar issues mynKindle is being a pain.

[LWolf]

4. The real travesty here

is that it's taken this long to manufacture some mainstream concern about ANYTHING having to do the "the war on terror."

[EastKYLiberal]

5. Liberals jumping on this bandwagon are fools...

There are far more important issues to talk about without getting bogged down with such minuscule issues.

I am more concerned about job creation in America, than who or who not may be in a shack 10,000 miles away.

People need to climb off their moral high horse and realize that politics is about slicing off a bigger piece of the pie and preserving life and liberty for those of us here in America... not in the hills of Pakistan or Uzbekistan or wherever the hell we deploy drones these days.

[TheKentuckian]

6. The major parties have proven to be detrimental to civil liberties

Both are willing to use such concerns to attack the opposition but when the rubber meets the road they seem far closer to acting in concert. The attacks just partisan gamesmanship.

It isn't upside down but an ongoing farce. Nobody should take these TeaPubliKlans concerns seriously, they started this shit and nobody should take these corporate owned Democrats seriously either, they have proven they will flip as soon as they have power.

If we are going to save our party from its self then we'll have to weed relentlessly and systematically run almost all of our higher level politicians, reforming them seems unlikely and they are tricky and false, far closer to the TeaPubliKlans than the people who donate, work, and vote for them to oppose the enemy rather than to emulate them.