03.03.09
How Free America?
In the New York Times today, a chilling article revealing that the previous president and his administration sought — and got — the power they wanted to turn the nation’s military on its own people. The president and his team also obtained the power to conduct raids without search warrants.
The legal rulings have now been made public as part of the Obama administration’s steps toward removing secrecy and skulduggery from the highest office — and restore the nation’s rights as set out in our constitution and bill of rights. Moreover,
The opinions reflected a broad interpretation of presidential authority, asserting as well that the president could unilaterally abrogate foreign treaties, ignore any guidance from Congress in dealing with detainees suspected of terrorism, and conduct a program of domestic eavesdropping without warrants.
One official, Steven G. Bradbury, who headed the Office of Legal Counsel, said it was important to acknowledge in writing “the doubtful nature of these propositions,??? and he used the memo to repudiate them formally, the Times says.
Even after the events of September 11, 2001, it was critical for us to retain our identity as the city on the hill, a beacon for humankind. Instead, we threw our dignity to the wind, ran for cover and cheerfully relinquished everything we care about out of fear.
Now that those dark days are behind us, we can evaluate where we were, what we became and how we managed to survive — and reclaim our values. These values are what separate us from the entire course of human history. They are our strength.
Freedom of speech, freedom from religion, freedom to choose our leaders openly, right of accountability for them — these are precious and even in times of danger and darkness, we cannot give them up to anyone. Especially not a president whose unstated goal even before Nine-Eleven was to expand the executive branch and create a new order in the Middle East.
