The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Obama and the NDAA

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Obama and the NDAA

By W. James Antle, III on 1.2.12 @ 4:40PM

Remember when Barack Obama disdained presidential signing statements? As with so much else, there is a difference between candidate Obama and President Obama. The president signed the national defense authorization act while expressing concern about provisions some have argued could lead to the indefinite detention of American citizens.

While signing the bill into law, Obama assured everyone that he would never allow for indefinite detention. To do so, he argued, would violate sacred American traditions. But habeaus corpus for U.S. citizens isn't just a tradition. It is a requirement of the Constitution.

It is understandable that the president would not want to hold up money for our national defense over a disputed provision that supporters insist will not change existing law regarding the detention of Americans. But if the president is truly concerned about its meaning, his promise to interpret it narrowly is hollow -- like many other hollow Obama promises before it.

View all comments (6) | Leave a comment

Oldefarte| 1.2.12 @ 4:58PM

It's a shame that this bill does NOT allow for detention of his ATTORNEY GENERAL!!!!!!!!

albert constantine jr.| 1.2.12 @ 5:21PM

Perhaps the NDAA could be the means through which the birther controversy is laid to rest. If the DOD were to detain the POTUS on charges of waging war against American interests at home or abroad, in order to avail himself of a civilian trial, wouldn’t he have to produce a valid birth certificate in order to prove his standing as a US person?

Richard Baker| 1.2.12 @ 5:45PM

Play acting is all he's about. When I hear that some think he's tired of being President my first thought is that this guy lusts for the office. He believes that his edict is more important than the Constitution and his words and deeds reflect that. If he has to act his way to re-election then so be it.

john dubose| 1.3.12 @ 7:18AM

No matter how much you like your own congressional representatives, if they voted for this outrage, you have to send them down the road. Then when you see them in the street.. Tell then why they are not in congress anymore.