Civil Liberties, Obama and Bush

Torture, detainees w/o trials, Guantanamo, the PATRIOT act, the alarming (and unconstitutional) expansion of executive power--to me, these were among the most insulting offenses of the Bush administration.  I remember very clearly listening, during the 2008 election cycle, analysis (perhaps on This American Life? Perhaps Glenn Greenwald?) of Obama's positions on the expansion of executive power.  The commentator said, "We should not feel comfortable that Obama will reverse these breaches".

If I remember correctly, this analysis was only about executive power, not civil liberties abuses.  But as the Obama administration has failed to reverse Bush policies on detentions, or close Gitmo, or speak out strongly against the overreach of the PATRIOT act, I have thought of that bit of radio again and again.

• It started out good, though: 2009: Obama Orders Secret Prisons and Detention Camps Closed - NYTimes.com (1/22/2009) 
• Senate bill authorizes feds to revoke citizenship of Americans | Western Journalism.com - this is a critique of what appears to be a Scott Brown amendment on a bill, and the critique is couched in terms that I completely agree with (with the suspicious political terms removed)--and that I RARELY hear from conservatives who always seem to want to jail Moooslums: 
• "To be sure, most of us would be in favor of revoking American citizenship if it has been improperly, perhaps surreptitiously attained by Muslim terrorists who have entered the United States only to commit acts of violence and murder. // But it’s necessary to remember who we are dealing with in Washington, DC. To Janet Napolitano and her Department of Homeland Security, it is Libertarians, soldiers returning from combat, gun owners, militia members, devout believers in the Constitution and those who loudly mistrust and criticize the federal government who are the true threats of “engaging in hostilities against the United States.” Perhaps not coincidentally it is also members of these groups who are the most vocal critics of the Obama Administration!And as the Obama Regime considers each of these individuals a potential domestic terrorist, how long will it be until a member of one of these “highly suspect” groups is conveniently accused of “materially supporting hostilities against the United States?”
• Bob Hebert - Who Are We? - NYTimes.com  3/2011
• It was thought by many that a President Obama would put a stop to the madness, put an end to the Bush administration’s nightmarish approach to national security. But Mr. Obama has shown no inclination to bring even the worst offenders of the Bush years to account, and seems perfectly willing to move ahead in lockstep with the excessive secrecy and some of the most egregious activities of the Bush era.
• OpenCongress: PATRIOT Act extension fails for now--but will become now and Obama Admin "Strongly supports" extension. Good overview of the provisions in question (2/2011)
• Greenwald analysis of Teaparty "NO" votes on Patriot (plus some history of Libertarian/Liberal alliances contra Patriot in past: Paul, Kucinich +ACLU; and Cato, religious groups) (2/9/11)
• 8 Tea Party freshmen vote NO (but Michelle Bachman, Allen West not among them) (2/8/2011)
• WSJ: "Teaparty unlikely to derail patriot act" (2/2011)
• A Boston "libertarian's" defense of Tea Party silence on Patriot Act (2/2011)
• BEST teaparty / patriot piece: TNR, Chait: "The Patriot Act and Understanding the Tea Party" (2/2011)
• Heritage defends patriot act (2/2011)
• tea party express frames a pro-Patriot Act argument (2/9/11)
• ACLU: "House to vote on PATRIOT tomorrow" (2/7/2011)
• "Justice Dept Strengthens focus on Civil Rights" (NPR 2/2011)
• "Who is Worse Obama or Bush?" Dark Politricks (1/2011) (Dark Politricks self describes as "exploring the dark side of politics and war on terror--I haven't looked at it too carefully to see if it's particularly extreme/conspiracist or not, just FYI (as of 2/6/2011))
• Critique of Bush's expansion of Exec Powers--and Dems' cowardice in calling it out (2007)
• George Bush calls off trip to Switzerland [for fear of arrest!] | Law | The Guardian (2/6/2011) 

OTHER

• WTF, Middleborough? | ACLU of Massachusetts (6/13/2012) http://goo.gl/WakKV