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Barack Obama Celebrates Bill of Rights Day With Support for Indefinite Detention Bill
Happy Bill of Rights Day! I don't know about you, but the White House celebrated in glorious, hypocritical style by issuing a proclamation exalting the "fundamental liberties [that] have shaped our national character and stirred the souls of all who dream of a freer, more just world," right after reversing its position on the National Defense Authorization Act…Barack Obama has abandoned a commitment to veto a new security law that allows the military to indefinitely detain without trial American terrorism suspects arrested on US soil who could then be shipped to Guantanamo Bay.
Human rights groups accused the president of deserting his principles and disregarding the long-established principle that the military is not used in domestic policing. The legislation has also been strongly criticised by libertarians on the right angered at the stripping of individual rights for the duration of "a war that appears to have no end".
The law, contained in the defence authorisation bill that funds the US military, effectively extends the battlefield in the "war on terror" to the US and applies the established principle that combatants in any war are subject to military detention.
The Obama administration does have a checkered record on civil liberties, but it's important to acknowledge the progress that has been made. For example, when you hear that knock on your door in the middle of the night, it's quite possible that an openly-serving gay soldier will be the one to drape a black hood over your head (kinky!) and haul your terror suspect ass to Guantanamo.
Secondly, while the Bush administration just assumed that the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force empowered them to imprison people without charges, the Obama administration will have these provisions formally codified. Rule of law, baby!
Finally, it's probably only a matter of time before SOPA, PROTECT IP and various other "Internet kill switch" bills shut down whole swathes of the Web where whiny civil libertarians talk about these issues, and then we'll finally be spared the embarrassing knowledge of just how far we done fell.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images
Tags: Barack Obama, Civil Rights, Guantanamo Bay, Military, Terrorism -
Jon Stewart on the Senate's New "Go to Jail with No Trial Forever" Bill
The way I see it, being locked up indefinitely for reasons that are never fully explained to be is a small price to pay for protecting my freedom.
Coverage continues after the jump.
The Daily Show airs Monday through Thursday at 11/10c.
Tags: Barack Obama, Bill of Rights, Carl Levin, Constitution, Guantanamo Bay, John McCain, Jon Stewart, Lindsey Graham, Prison, Rand Paul, Senate, The Daily Show, Video -
Quote Unquote: Obama 2012 App
User comment on the Obama 2012 iPad app…
"Obama 2012 just doesn't work! When I click *close gitmo* it starts a war in Libya. When I click *Nobel Peace Prize* it errors out and increases unmanned drone attacks in Pakistan!"
And I'll tell you what else, this app is pretty awful at protecting personal information.
(via Reddit)
Tags: Barack Obama, Guantanamo Bay, Libya, Military, Nobel Prize, Pakistan, Quote Unquote, Science & Technology -
The Onion: Obama Orders Guantanamo Prisoners Transferred to Next President
It's nice to see Obama finally taking some action on this matter…After two years of false starts and protracted legal wrangling, President Barack Obama signed an executive order Tuesday authorizing the transfer of all 172 Guantánamo detainees to the next chief executive of the United States of America.
"The president's bold decision to move these enemy combatants to the subsequent administration should finally quiet critics who have accused him of inaction and impotence concerning this issue," White House press secretary Jay Carney said…
With the Guantánamo issue finally resolved, President Obama has reportedly already begun efforts to address another of his 2008 campaign promises by calling for the removal of the Bush-era tax cuts from the current political dialogue.
Tags: Barack Obama, Guantanamo Bay, Taxes, The Onion, Third Party -
Liberals Take Two Shots Right in Their Bleeding Hearts
With the President's announcement that he has given up on the idea of ever shutting down Guantanamo Bay ever and James O'Keefe's pimp slap of NPR, things can feel pretty grim in liberal circles.
But, hey, if liberals didn't want to feel bad about the world around them constantly for their whole lives, they never would have become liberals…
More liberal bad news after the jump.
The Daily Show airs Monday through Thursday at 11/10c.
Tags: Barack Obama, Guantanamo Bay, James O'Keefe, Jon Stewart, NPR, Terrorism, The Daily Show, Video
