Don't Be TemptedTo give the far-left bloggers credit for
continuing to oppose Obama on the wiretapping issues.
In the last week alone, the Obama DOJ (a) attempted to shield Bush's illegal spying programs from judicial review by (yet again) invoking the very "state secrets" argument that Democrats spent years condemning and by inventing a brand new "sovereign immunity" claim that not even the Bush administration espoused, and (b) argued that individuals abducted outside of Afghanistan by the U.S. and then "rendered" to and imprisoned in Bagram have no rights of any kind -- not even to have a hearing to contest the accusations against them -- even if they are not Afghans and were captured far away from any "battlefield." These were merely the latest -- and among the most disturbing -- in a string of episodes in which the Obama administration has explicitly claimed to possess the very presidential powers that Bush critics spent years condemning as radical, lawless and authoritarian.
It may seem like they're being consistent in opposing wiretapping and invasions of privacy whether it's under Obama or Bush. But that's not really the issue. What the left is pushing for is diclosure of information on wiretapping during the Bush era, in the hopes that there will be something in there that will result in jail for top administration officials. That's really what Greenwald wants and what Obama (quite sensibly) is opposing.
