Wednesday, April 8, 2009

I am So Disappointed President Obama

Good Morning Readers! I must once again criticize my favorite new world statesman, President Barack Obama.

As many of you know, I was a major critic of George "the eavesdropper" Bush's warrantless wiretap program. I still consider the phone companies that cooperated with the Bush administration criminally liable, despite their new congressional immunity. Now, sad to say, President Obama has decided to join the dark side on this issue.

Unfortunately, President Obama and his Justice Department have decided to continue the Bush "we're above the law" policies and represent the government in court battles brought by citizens and organizations who felt their privacy was violated. Yes, it's sad but true, the Obama Administration has decided to support the Bush legal arguments for immunizing his Administration and government agencies from lawsuits surrounding the National Security Agency's eavesdropping efforts.

The right to privacy in the United States, enshrined in the US Constitution after the American revolution, should be more important to President Obama. The man was a constitutional professor for God's sake. His desire to continue with the Bush policies is a a serious breach of trust. They were wrong. He is wrong. I am both shocked and disappointed.

We need the right to privacy. The US government should not have the right to listen to our conversations, read our mail/email, or invade our privacy in any way. It's not about whether one administration is benign or more responsible; it's about the people's right to their own privacy.

For heaven's sake, whistleblowers have come out and reported government abuse already. They have reported how American citizens, even politicians, were listened to by the Bush Administration. Who knows how deep the rabbit hole goes? Can you say? If not, the government's ability to listen should be restricted.

We need to protect ourselves against corrupt power in this world. Technology makes us too vulnerable. I don't care if you call me paranoid, for history and precedence are on my side. We need protections against abuse before it's too late and big brother becomes a reality.

Constitutional scholars have universally condemned the government's past, and now present, position on the issue. The American people need to stand up for what is right. I don't care if we do support President Obama, if he's wrong, we need to fight him. We need to fight anybody who tries to take away our right to privacy.

Incredibly, the Obama Administration is going beyond any previous legal claims put forth by former President "the scumbag" Bush. All I can say is WOW! Responding to a lawsuit filed by a civil liberties group, the Justice Department has decided to argue that the government was protected by "sovereign immunity" from lawsuits because of a little-noticed clause in the Patriot Act.

It's OUTRAGEOUS! The Obama Administration is saying that government agencies cannot be sued for wiretapping American citizens even if there was intentional violation of US law. They maintain that the government can only be sued if the wiretaps involve "willful disclosure" -- a higher legal bar. I'm not a lawyer, but I if it smells like crap, it's crap. That is BS!

This is the first sign that the Obama Administration plans to support one of the worst crimes of the Bush Administration. It's also a very serious breach of trust to those of us who supported President Obama, because without a doubt most of us believed he would choose civil rights over government rights. It turns out we were wrong.

This is serious people. In the same way we fought to get President Obama elected, we need to fight against his Administration when it's wrong. Please join me to express your disappointment and work to change his position. I love so much of what the President is doing, but not on this issue. Of course, if anybody can help me understand why he may be choosing this path, please enlighten me. I'm at a loss.

Wednesday's Political Rant - Michael

6 comments:

Werner Patels said...

I love politics, and I regularly choose politicians whom I support, but it doesn't change the fact that government is invariably flawed, no matter who's in power. In other words, every politician, president, prime minister, etc. will mess up and take decisions that considered wrong by at least some constituents.

It is disappointing and frustrating and probably the main reason why I have become extremely jaded and cynical. At this point, all I can say is that if government disappeared tomorrow morning, I wouldn't shed a tear. Power should rest with the people in a more grassroots and bottom-up fashion. Anything short of that is doomed to fail.

Anonymous said...

Very well said Werner, you take people like Boh they get so wrapped up in their party that they cannot see straight, Boh makes accusations against past politicians that he cannot backup, right Boh?

Obama is going beyond what GW done with the Patriot Act, yet he calls Bush a criminal and is only slightly disappointed in Obama, that is the hypocrisy of this clown.

Anonymous said...

"if anybody can help me understand why he may be choosing this path, please enlighten me. I'm at a loss."

He is the fucking President and the Messiah he can do what he damn wells pleases without asking you if it is ok....got it?

Anonymous said...

"the Obama Administration is going beyond any previous legal claims put forth by former President "the scumbag" Bush. All I can say is WOW!"

I believe they should arrest the scumbag Obama and charge him as a criminal for doing the same thing as
Bush.

Michael Boh said...

I knew if I just let you keep going you'd make an ass of yourself, and you did. Btw Anon, I'm not "wrapped up" in my party. Unlike you, I would vote for the other party if it was right. Again, unlike you, I debate real issues by producing real facts. Haven't you noticed that you produce nothing but crap - pretty stupid crap at that. Don't worry, we don't expect it of you anymore. As long as you're out of power, you and your party are just comic relief for the rest of us. MB

Sue said...

He had me laughing, that anon, he's quite funny! I could just see his face getting redder and redder with anger cuz nobody was commenting back to him! LOL!! Happy Easter Michael!