Civil libertarians everywhere are up in arms about the way in which the Obama administration has continued to extend and expand the ability to prosecute American citizens who are variously described as terrorists. The PATRIOT act has not been sunsetted, the TSA is still practicing its security theatre unabated, drone attacks continue without boots on the ground and even the law about how secrets are classified was almost classified.
Throughout all of this, hawks on the Right like me are mystified at the lack of continuity by Obama to speak about dealing with the enemies of America forthrightly as his predecessor did. And most recently I've heard that the DOD has termed the deadly attack at Fort Hood as 'workplace violence'.
My conclusion is that Obama wants America to have all the powers GWBush did, except he wants none of the political flack that comes with justifying those powers for the sake of Bush's Long War. The effect is simply worse for democracy, and for me it takes on Orwellian sinister overtones.
GWBush was a cowboy. Obama is a spy.
He is as slippery now as he was back then. It is his worst fault. He is the Situational President.
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