4 ms·
Would it be a bit too crass to say "Thanks, Obama!" for this one? It's a bit more shocking when you realize a Constitutional Law professor is the one who opene
by mieseratte 8y ago
Would it be a bit too crass to say "Thanks, Obama!" for this one?
It's a bit more shocking when you realize a Constitutional Law professor is the one who opened up this can of worms.
- nerdponx 8y agoNot at all. He was no saint.
- boomboomsubban 8y agoObama's "Disposition Matrix" was a furthering of Bush era policies. It's not really fair to say he opened this can of worms, though that doesn't make his actions any less terrible.
- mieseratte 8y ago> It's not really fair to say he opened this can of worms He was the sitting President and personally authorized the first extrajudicial assassination of an American Citizen in the GWOT. As the Executive Chief, "The buck stops (t)here."
- StavrosK 8y ago> the first extrajudicial assassination of an American Citizen As in, there were extrajudicial assassinations of people before, but this one was too far because this time it was an American Citizen Capital A Capital C?
- dmurray 8y agoWell, yes. It's equally evil for the government to murder a Syrian as an American, but more legal under American law. The American has more legal protections under the American Constitution. That's what a large part of the article is about. So moving into killing Americans was a step further and a new legal precedent.
- mieseratte 8y agoI know for the non-American reader it might come off a bit... wrong, but yes. To be clear, I'd rather we didn't go around droning folks or sending JSOC on an FFF mission unless they're, say, directly engaging troops. It is incredibly unnerving to see one's own government explicitly authorize the death of a fellow citizen without due process of law.
- boomboomsubban 8y agoWhen you read the Bill of Rights, "due process" is not a right reserved for US citizens. No person should have that right infringed, so it's just as unnerving to see the government explicitly authorize the death of a fellow person without due process of law.
- dsfyu404ed 8y agoHe didn't open it but once the lid was off he didn't take long to dump it out.
- samsa 8y agoAwlaki’s assassination (really the underlying hit list and lack of due process) is why I did not vote for Obama in 2012. I remain amazed that more people weren’t up in arms about it. I remember Ron Paul being vocal in his opposition at the time but few others that got headlines at least.