President Obama could have sent a message to advocates of civil liberties that he was not going to stand idly by and allow the Constitution to be castrated by a wayward Congress today. He could have vetoed NDAA, come what may, and disallowed the indefinite imprisonment of terror “suspects,” up to and including American citizens, without the due process of hearing and trial.
The message he sent was entirely different. The message he sent was that he is abdicating power. The message he sent was that he was too afraid of losing face to a veto override, and losing the shreds of dignity his powerless and impotent White House has left, to stand up and do the right thing.
Not even when the military told him it was a bad law. Not when law enforcement told him it was bad law. Not when Homeland Security told him it was a bad law. Not when the American people told him it was a bad law.
Who now is to defend the rights of the individual? The Supreme Court? Dominated by some of the most cowardly legal minds in living memory?
Res ipsa loquitur. The word that comes to mind when I think of my elected representatives is “tyranny.”
