Ethics

Obama adopts yet another Bush/Cheney position

By Ed Brayton

Okay folks, we've gone way past the time when one could hold out any hope for serious change from Obama when it comes to a whole range of constitutional issues. Time and time again, the Obama administration has adopted the same positions that Bush and Cheney advocated in court cases involving issues that are absolutely vital to our system of constitutional safeguards -- government secrecy, executive power and the right of people to challenge the government in court.

I wrote in January about Judge Vaughn Walker, a Republican appointee, smacking down the Bush administration's position in a case involving an Islamic organization that believes they were subjected to warrantless wiretaps. The Bush/Cheney position was that the state secrets privilege prevents the plaintiffs from having their day in court because they could not prove they were wiretapped unless the government releases classified information on who was wiretapped. The perfect catch-22.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on March 05, 2009 (boomark / email).