It’s not a secret that I enthusiastically voted for candidate Obama back in 2008. I was ready for change, I was ready for a new kind of politics after decades of deceit and lies and most especially after the shambles of a presidency that George W. Bush embodied. Unfortunately, I can’t say that I harbor the same enthusiasm that I did. In fact, my sentiment verges more towards disgust these days. And I want to be clear up front that I am not judging the president on any successes or failures that he may have had with respect to the economy or healthcare or wars so please don’t pull out the: ‘He inherited this that and the other thing from the previous administration’ line of rationalizations. I’m interested strictly in his actions, or lack thereof, that have gone against the basic tenets and principles upon which this county was founded and which he swore to uphold when he (twice) took the oath of office in January 2009. Let’s see if they ring a bell for anyone:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Even though this technically pertains to Congress, I give fault in equal or greater part to President Obama.
- Attempting to censor Wikileaks, which did nothing different than did The New York Times in disseminating leaked, newsworthy information.
- CIOCA: he actively supported the bill that would introduce internet censorship of sites that are considering to be in violation of copyright law with dubious due process, which could easily be extended to censor any additional type of website without our knowledge.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement seized at least 82 website domains, including search engines and including foreign-hosted websites, without court order due to copyright violation accusations.
- There is absolutely no evidence that he ended warrantless wiretapping of American citizens instituted under the Bush Administration.
- Allowed the FBI to track American citizens using their credit cards without court order.
- CALEA: he actively supported the bill that would obligate software makers to add back doors to encrypted communications so that the government can eavesdrop on internet users on a real-time basis.
- Allowed and continues to promote the FBI’s ability to place GPS tracking devices on cars without court order.
- He fully supported the extreme, unnecessary, and ineffective TSA security protocols that included virtual strip searches and enhanced pat downs.
No person shall be held to answer for any capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
- Despite promising to close Guantanamo Bay he continued to hold terror suspects without due process and without convicting them of a crime or putting them before a Grand Jury.
- Even worse, when terrorists were brought to trial (so-called), his administration made it clear that regardless of the verdict reached by the jury the terror suspect would not be released.
- He supported the secret international ACTA treaty that, among other things, would have included a three strikes provision that would have barred users from the internet for having been accused (not tried in court) three times by the music or movie industry of violating copyright.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
- Again, terrorism suspects were not given the right to a trial, let alone a speedy trial, and were often denied the right to counsel or the right to see the evidence against them (the infamous “state secrets” claim, which has been used more times by this president than by any president in history). We cannot say that terrorists should be held to a different standard because how do we know if a person is guilty of terrorism unless he or she is actually tried and convicted?
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
- There’s no evidence that the practice of torture was continued under the Obama Administration. Nevertheless, he flat out refused to prosecute Bush Administration officials who authorized or engaged in torture despite the fact that their actions run contrary not only to American morality but were in flagrant violation of United States and international law.
- His administration has kept Private Bradley Manning (who did knowingly break the law by leaking the State Department cables to Wikileaks) in questionable conditions of imprisonment–without trial–including in solitary confinement for extended periods and forcing him to remain naked for periods of time.
- His administration came out in favor of the RIAA’s case against a twelve year old girl who shared 37 songs on Kazaa ten years ago with the RIAA asking for up to $150,00 per song in damages. In the end she had to pay $27,500.
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
I can certainly have a field day with this one so I’ll just list several without explanation:
- Education reform
- Healthcare reform
- Bailouts
- Threatening to overrule California’s marijuana referendum if it had passed
*I’m sure you caught on fairly quickly that I was enumerating the United States Bill of Rights. You should have also caught on that I skipped a few, namely the 2nd Amendment (it doesn’t matter what side you or I am on, let’s agree that this one’s debatable), the 3rd Amendment (regarding protection from quartering troops, which is irrelevant), and the 7th Amendment (regarding civil trials by jury, which is pretty mundane).
Please note that all the laws and actions cited above came off the top of my head (I have verified their accuracy, of course). I’m sure I could double the size of the list with simple news searches. This article wasn’t intended to be a laundry list, however. It was intended to show how we’ve completely lost any moral high ground that we once enjoyed in the world. We were the country that other nations turned to for guidance. We were the country that citizens all over the world looked to as a beacon of freedom. And while our government lectures everyone else about these very issues it turns out that we’re not trying very hard to lead by example.
More importantly than what the world thinks of us, we as citizens have somehow lost interest or lost sight of the fundamental importance that the Bill of Rights represents to us here and now. Maybe we’re complacent or maybe when rights are taken away a little at a time can’t fully contemplate the gravity of the situation.
There’s no more beating around the bush because the simple fact of the matter is that we’re not longer free as free as we once were. And anyone who can seriously look at what has been taken away from us by our own government not just in the past two years but in the past decade says that we’re free doesn’t know what it means to be free. The Bill of Rights that changed the course of history in 1791 is no longer a bar for which we strive but a piece of paper with words on it that we walk upon.
Our downfall was not caused by President Obama but it was my hope that he would have done everything in his power to reverse it and restore us to our place amongst nations. Instead he only accelerated our downfall. And I cannot take the responsibility for further destroying our principles with the power of my vote.
(As is the case with all posts on this blog, they are written at one time, revised over time, and posted weeks or months later. Nothing should be read into the timing of this post.)
