From the candidate who promised to get rid of Gitmo in a year:

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-signs-defense-bill-despite-reservations-200818531.html

^That One BilllTM is now law. The President expressed severe reservations about it but still signed it into law anyway. To me if he really expressed reservations about it and did not want to object to it becoming law he could simply have refused to sign it or to return it and thus let it become law without his signature. Signing it indicates President Obama's objections to this as a law are a mite bit.....hypocritical. I also think that the practice of including provisions like this in bills where the overall thing includes other, necessary actions is one reason why there should be a constitutional amendment to permit a line-item veto. I also view the further extension of the government's coercive power since the first attempt at a Patriot Act in the 1990s to be a deplorable and worrying trend and hope we can all agree on that much. Your thoughts?

Comments

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Deplorable, worrying and I'm wondering if there's anyone in government who gives a damn about rights or due process anymore.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately I'm wondering the same thing at this point. To choose between this guy and the Republican is like choosing between Jiang Jieshi and Mao Zedong: one's a 5 pound bag of shit and the other's a 25-pound bag.

[mylaptopisevil.livejournal.com]

When a better option comes along that can beat a Republican ticket or the entire voting structure is rebuilt to allow tiered choices.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

1) keep voting for the lesser evil
2) Support legislation that will alter our voting structure to allow more alternatives than the right leaning corporatists and the other party that's even more right wing.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

When his opponents are of a higher quality than he himself is. And when his opponents differ enough in the not-coercive aspects that the vote would make things better, not worse or the same.

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

I predict 2016.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Time to get those Nader/Kusinich 2012 bumper stickers working.

[404.livejournal.com]

I guess voting for your conscience counts for something.

[404.livejournal.com]

Alexander will be lucky to get >1% of a national vote in 2012.

[404.livejournal.com]

As I said, voting your conscience counts for something.

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the vast improvement in international relations, pull out in Iraq, end to "don't ask, don't tell" and death of Bin Laden has totally sucked.

[jerseycajun.livejournal.com]

It's the only thing that counts.

Restated: Is it my fault the lesser evil lost for not voting for him, or is it everyone else who voted for the lesser evil's fault for not voting for my third party candidate?

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

(http://media.photobucket.com/image/jon stewart/nerdtastic1227/jon_stewart.jpg?o=5) (http://media.photobucket.com/image/jason alexander/ajithrockscc/colors/Jason-Alexander.jpg?o=1)

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

The American people electing Jews to the Oval Office? Surely you jest!

[kardashev.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'll vote for a Jew. After all, America hasn't had much success lately with gentiles.

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

Still shifting for the Republicans, I see. ;)

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Do any of Obama's Republican opponents oppose this idea? If none of them do then on this regard it's either the five pound bag of shit or the 25 pound.

[terminator44.livejournal.com]

You-Know-Who does.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Darth Sidious is running for the GOP ticket? I'd vote the Emperor as he couldn't be any *worse* than the people already running the show. ;P

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

Palpatine? Pfft. I got ya beat. http://www.cracked.com/video_18344_a-surprisingly-plausible-republican-candidate.html

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Plus, the new orbital battle station will offer all sorts of employment.

[terminator44.livejournal.com]

For the Emperor!

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Yup (http://talk-politics.livejournal.com/1263590.html).

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

You were right in that OP.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Dude that was mostly a rant. :-)

[musicpsych.livejournal.com]

I was glad to see this quote: "My administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens," Obama said in the signing statement. "Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a nation." Of course, there's talk, and then there's action. We'll see what happens with that...

This is supposed to be the full signing statement: http://blogs.ajc.com/jamie-dupree-washington-insider/2011/12/31/obama-defense-bill-signing-statement/

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

Me, too. Considering that was removed from the bill, I'm not exactly sure why people still have their panties in a twist.

[musicpsych.livejournal.com]

Now that I think about it, I'm not so sure about that. I think it's still part of the bill, but Obama just said that his administration wouldn't do anything with it. That might mean that a future administration can make use of it. I don't know...

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I heard that last night, so that's an 'oops' on my part. He may say that now, but he's said a lot of things that he ended up going against later.

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

And you thought pepper-spraying was bad.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

how does one make the other more or less bad? do you believe in moral relativism?

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

Would you be indifferent between (a) someone lying to you, or (b) someone slitting your throat?

But, yeah, I was just enjoying some gallows humor. The whole situation stinks.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

again one doesn't make another less bad.

[eracerhead.livejournal.com]

I do recall the president trying to close Gitmo, and meeting incredible resistance from congress and paranoid state governors.

There may be parts of the bill that are eventually declared unconstitutional, but he has to sign something to keep the military funded. It's called compromise.

[terminator44.livejournal.com]

That's a pretty big "maybe", since they can detain people in secret. A court can't challenge something if it doesn't know it's going on. The military is overfunded as it is. It can go without a bill for a few weeks if it means maintaining the Bill of Rights. Even if it is overturned, the fact that it was signed into law in the first place is a dark precedent for the country.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

I hope at some point during the campaign, several people hit the President hard with questions about this law. I'm sure he'll just shake his head and say "No, let me tell you what the law really means."

[allhatnocattle.livejournal.com]

Tooo many secrets. An open government is a lot more open.

[ghoststrider.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to figure out when exactly it is when the Implied Corollary to Godwin's Law is repealed and we can safely assume we've crossed into a Nazi state.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

When our politicians start talking about a German Empire extending to Volga-Archangelsk and the death of all Jews in Europe.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

I was discussing the idea of a line-item veto for the president just the other day.

My objection is that it would give the president power to fuck over virtually any member of congress.

"Don't vote against my bill Senator/Representative X. If you do, I'll line-item veto everything you are trying to get for your state/district."

Isn't that sorta a substantial problem with such a kind of veto?