Liberals justify Obama by saying "He's gonna do what he really wants in his second term."

Maybe they're right... The National Defense Authorization Act greatly expands the power and scope of the federal government to fight the War on Terror, including codifying into law the indefinite detention of terrorism suspects without trial. Under the new law the US military has the power to carry out domestic anti-terrorism operations on US soil. Worse, the NDAA authorizes the military to detain even US citizens under the broad new anti-terrorism provisions provided in the bill, once again without trial. [In a nod to civil rights concerns], the detainment of U.S. citizens by the military is optional. The military is not required to detain US citizens. “The legislation could also give future presidents the authority to throw American citizens into prison for life without charges or a trial,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders in a statement. -- On a positive note, the president has expressed reservations. How many people think future presidents will have reservations? How many people think Obama won't use it? Let's count hands.

http%3A//www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/01/02/president-obama-signed-the-national-defense-authorization-act-now-what/



• It's a good thing the oppressive days of George W. Bush are over and we have the great defender of civil liberties ... oh, never mind.

• [quote]"He's gonna do what he really wants..." I remember when all the squealing little "Voices of Reason" said the same about Clarence Thomas.

• Take your "liberals" shit and shove it up your bottom.

  Liberal, and proud of it...

• [quote]Under the new law the US military has the power to carry out domestic anti-terrorism operations on US soil. Oh dear.

• R4: Where's the mistake?

  OP

• "domestic" and "on US soil" are redundant.

• Oh please, OP. Stop making generalizations about "liberals." There's been a slew of threads like this lately. We're never going to have Noam Chomsky for president. I support Obama and so does everyone I know, as preferable to the alternatives, but none of us is happy with his rendition policy, the drone policy, Guantanamo being open, etc. Stop portraying all his supporters as mindless sycophants. I'm all for calling attention to those issues, but don't use them as a cudgel.

• Those are the two choices, right? Either/Or. If we are not happy with Obama, who is governing to the right of Richard Nixon and has been a conservative ever since he entered politics, then our only other choice is someone unelectable. How about we get somebody on the left, at least once every generation. Is that too much too ask?

• Oh please Obama isn't governing to the right of Nixon. Go back to your loser Nader while you chomp on Kale.

  Anonymous

• Frighteningly I think what Obama really wants and has always wanted was to destroy the Big 3. It kills the rich that there is SS money out there that they can't get their hands on. It has killed them since FDR. Obama is one with the rich, pretending to be for the middle class and would rather die than say the words the poor or poverty. At best he'll call the poor "Those trying to get into the middle class." I think he'd sooner say "Fuck" during a speech than say "The poor." Obama has been trying to offer up the Big 3 almost since he's been in office.

• [bold]Don't listen to the Chicken Littles: Obama made smart investments in green tech [/bold] A few falling acorns (Solyndra and A123) don't mean the sky is falling on clean technology. Far from it. The federal government’s track record on supporting green energy tech is an enviable one. And this investment is improving America’s energy, economic, and environmental fortunes.

  http%3A//www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2013/0104/Don-t-listen-to-the-Chicken-Littles-Obama-made-smart-investments-in-green-tech

• [bold]On the Fiscal Cliff, Obama Does What He Can Against 200 Years of Bad Faith[/bold] The fiscal-cliff impasse had its roots in—where else?—the old South, with its lunatic blend of obstructionism and greed at the public trough...

  http%3A//www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/01/on-the-fiscal-cliff-obama-does-what-he-can-against-200-years-of-bad-faith.html

• The only time r9 can get an erection is when his knee jerks.

• Very clever, in a smug, asinine way.

• Actually, it's perfectly arguable that Obama is slightly to the right of Nixon, at least on a few issues. Nixon pushed health care reform (HMOs were created under his watch). Nixon created the EPA, and was very pro-environment. Nixon looks like a goddamned commie next to Today's modern Republican party.

• When Wall Street, the banks, and the major corporations have a Democrat in the White House, this is to their advantage: The opposition, the liberals, the progressives, the peace activists, the environmental activists, the single payer groups, and labor shut down for four years. That lets the rich push their agenda. They say to us, "How can you complain, he is one of yours!" R9 is a prime example of the Quislings who demand allegiance and stifle dissent no matter how far to the right the Democrats go. So each year the Democrats go further right. -- Here are Nixon's accomplishments on domestic issues: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Clean Air Act of 1970 and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); The National Environmental Policy Act requiring environmental impact statements The Philadelphia Plan in 1970—the first significant federal affirmative action program.[175] He endorsed the Equal Rights Amendment. -- Here are some of Obama's domestic policies Pushes NAFTA Seeks protection for banks that participated in mortgage fraud. Protects banks from protection from the 2008 economic collapse Expands Domestic Surveillance Powers.  The F.B.I. is giving its agents new leeway to infiltrate organizations, search household trash, use surveillance teams and search databases in domestic investigations. FBI agents will now be able investigate people and organizations “proactively” without firm evidence for suspecting criminal or terrorist activity Arrests over 2,600 Activists Arrested in US. Signed Patriot Act extension without reforms. Approved Fourth Gulf Deepwater Drilling Permit  Defends Detention Conditions for Bradley Manning Approves Indefinite Detention Without Trial. Worked with GOPers to Kill Bush Torture Probe  Launched a full-bloodied assault on Wikileaks. Prosecutes whistle blowers instead of rewarding the, Proposes salary freeze for 2 million federal workers - excluding those in the military. Reaches out to the Republicans to slash Social Security. Claims Unchecked Authority to Kill Americans Outside Combat Zones  Endorses new film "Waiting for Superman" which attacks teacher's unions and promotes charter schools (read). Bush's Rendition Program Remains Unchecked Deports record numbers of illegal immigrants and auditing hundreds of businesses that hire undocumented workers The Pentagon’s spy unit has begun rebuilding a controversial database that was shut down three years ago after it was found to have been used to monitor US peace activists. Signs law allowing weapons in National Parks. Backs Keystone Pipeline. Shields from prosecution CIA operatives who inflicted waterboarding and other extreme interrogation techniques against terror suspects during the Bush years. There isn't a arms dealer, a bank, a Wall Street firm, or a CEO that Obama doesn't adore.

• No, R16, Obama does NOT back Keystone Pipeline. It's clear Obama is to the right of Nixon in many ways, but let's not go overboard or exaggerate. Leave that shit to FOX News.

• bump for liberal ideals!

• R17 Obama opposed the Keystone Pipeline initially in the sense that he didn't want it done as planned. He has now approved the southern section of it. Liza Jackson, head of the EPA resigned abruptly and unexpectedly. She is telling anyone who will listen that Obama is going to announce approval of the pipeline, and she could not continue to serve in that situation. An enormous gift to corporations and a slap in the face to environmentalist who supported him.

  http%3A//www.climatesciencewatch.org/2012/12/29/lisa-jackson-epa-resignation-a-refusal-to-support-keystone-xl/

• R15, Nixon was the last liberal president we had

• R4 and R6 No, the way it was worded in OP was precise and not redundant. This is what you objected to, claiming that "domestic" and "U.S. soil" say the same thing: "Under the new law the US military has the power to carry out domestic anti-terrorism operations on US soil." There is a crucial difference between U.S. terrorists committing acts of terror on U.S. soil as opposed to committing them abroad. The U.S. military has always been precluded from law enforcement on U.S. soil. That's with good reason. The step from law enforcement to martial law to put down dissent and/or to commit a coup is a fine one. The author is saying that the military is now permitted to do law enforcement on U.S. soil against domestic terrorists. That is an expansion of the previous situation in which the military could, in certain situations, pursue our domestic terrorists committing acts abroad.

• Ron Paultards: Piss off. You lost.

• When I fly in an airplane I want the pilot with the most experience, not the one who can inspire hope in me that I get to where I am going. When I pay my taxes, I want the person filing them to be experienced, not the new person who inspires hope in me that he can do the job. When I hire someone to fix my washing machine, I want the tried and true experienced person, not the one who inspires me to hope that he can fix it. When I go to the doctor I do not want to get the one who inspires hope in me that s/he can cure what's wrong, but the one who knows what the hell to do the minute I call. It's not really the job of a public servant to inspire, but to get the job that the people demand done. The democrats think that if they have hope and are inspired things will get better, but they actually won't. When Oprah makes her employees sign her fifty page non-disclosure statement, she doesn't "hope" they can't break it, she pays teams of experienced lawyers to MAKE SURE they can't break it, or be sued in an experienced court by an experienced judge. - Roseanne Barr, February 2008

• No, R22, we ALL lose.

• even worse his fiscal cliff deal has saddled the American economy with a 2% deficit in the GDP that can only be addressed by cutting domestic spending on things like infrastructure and the social safety net. There is no long term financial plan for the United States only these political fights that are leading to alarmingly bad long term consequences.

• No, just you and your fellow deluded, R24.

• If he gets re-elected, he's going to take us to Sugar Candy Mountain.

• R2, not that anyone ever said that, but that's what he's doing. His opposition was due to his questionable competence. He's now sitting on his ass, collecting a nice income, while helping his wife violate ethics requirements left and right.

• Agreed, R8, but they can't win elections. I've been amazed as I get older, how many selfish,greedy people I come across. They can't stand it if they think someone is getting something they don't have. They also don't seem to understand that holding the rich to the same standards that the rest of us operate under would be a good thing.

• [quote]even worse his fiscal cliff deal has saddled the American economy with a 2% deficit in the GDP that can only be addressed by cutting domestic spending on things like infrastructure and the social safety net. Oh, bullshit. What is your alternative? Austerity? We've seen how that works; it's failing miserably everywhere in the world it has been tried. Most of our deficit problems, 60% or more of the current deficit, I believe, go away by putting people back to work. Overall, the fiscal cliff deal wasn't bad at all.

• -- Take a Flight Somewhere? Go to Vegas? Host an Exchange Student? -- Our Government Is Watching You. "The rules now allow the little-known National Counterterrorism Center to examine the government files of U.S. citizens for possible criminal behavior, even if there is no reason to suspect them. That is a departure from past practice, which barred the agency from storing information about ordinary Americans unless a person was a terror suspect or related to an investigation. "Now, NCTC can copy entire government databases—flight records, casino-employee lists, the names of Americans hosting foreign-exchange students and many others. "The agency has new authority to keep data about innocent U.S. citizens for up to five years, and to analyze it for suspicious patterns of behavior. Previously, both were prohibited. Data about Americans "reasonably believed to constitute terrorism information" may be permanently retained. "The changes also allow databases of U.S. civilian information to be given to foreign governments for analysis of their own. In effect, U.S. and foreign governments would be using the information to look for clues that people might commit future crimes." -- If Bush had done this imagine the outrage. Liberals and progressives would be outraged, marching in the streets, demonstrating, and picketing the White House. Under a Democrat, silence. "He is one of ours, don't rock the boat."

  http%3A//online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324478304578171623040640006.html

• -- “I suspect that on Social Security, we’ve got a somewhat similar position.” President Obama, October 3, 2012 According to inside-Washington gossip, Congress and the president are going to do exactly what voters elected them to do: they are going to cut Social Security by 3 percent. You don't remember anyone running on that platform? Yeah, well, they probably forgot to mention it. They don't care that we are still down more than 9 million jobs from our growth trend; deficit reduction must take priority. These whiz kids apparently also don't care that the cuts that have already been made are slowing growth and costing us jobs. If we actually did have to reduce the deficit, it's hard to see why Social Security would be at the top of the list. After all, the vast majority of seniors are not doing especially well right now. Our defined benefit pension system is disappearing and 401(k)s have not come close to filling the gap. Retirees and near retirees have lost much of the wealth they had managed to accumulate when the collapse of the housing bubble destroyed much of their home equity. From a policy standpoint, it would make far more sense to tax Wall Street speculation. Congress' Joint Tax Committee estimated that a 0.03 percent tax on each trade could raise almost $40 billion a year. Such a tax would also make the financial sector more efficient by eliminating a huge volume of wasteful trading. It also is bizarre that Social Security would even be considered in the context of the deficit. In law and in practice, it is a separate program, financed by its own designated stream of revenue. Cutting benefits as part of a deficit deal means that we will be making cuts to Social Security with zero quid pro quo in the form of increased revenue. That hardly makes sense if the point is to protect the program. The bottom line is that President Obama and many leading Democrats are prepared to give seniors a larger hit to their income than they gave to the over-$250,000 crowd. And the whole reason it is necessary is that the Wall Street types who wrecked the economy say so. Is everybody happy?

  http%3A//truth-out.org/news/item/13889-the-3-percent-cut-to-social-security-a-k-a-the-chained-cpi