Obama continues Bush power grab

"Obama's new Department of Justice has come out in defense of Bush-era ideologies elevating Presidential authority beyond legal and Constitutional restraints. Under this on-going power grab lies a desire to maintain for the Executive branch powers that were claimed in the aftermath of 9/11.

"Even if Congress passes a new law specifically limiting Presidential authority, the President can claim national security concerns, that it's his job to 'protect the American people.' Thus the urgency of the Presidential mandate exceeds that of Congress or the Courts. National security concerns, enshrined the DC consensus 'war on terror,' allow for much more expediency in the use of Presidential authority than pre-9/11.

"We've become imperial, with more of our political sphere revolving around the President, our Emperor-equivalent, and less about our institutions, history, or the rule of law and pre-9/11 precedents. It's as if Caesar has brought down his throne to the floor of the Roman Senate, to show his magnificence. It's downright un-American to put at the center of our government the omnipotence of one man and his agents, and probably un-Constitutional as well.

"The current civil liberties issues are made poignant by the fact Obama was a professor of Constitutional law. As an outsider, he protested Bush's seize of authority from Congress. Now, as the incumbent, Obama has flip-flopped. Just like Bush, he's using the war on terror as a rationale to expand spying and limit accountability for acts constituting torture."