Obamas policy on civil liberties bush lite?
Obama’s Policy on Civil Liberties: Bush Lite?
by Ivan Eland
"Politicians love symbolic acts and Obama’s rapid pledge to shutter the high profile prison at Guantanamo and secret CIA prisons was widely praised. But if civil liberties continue to be violated elsewhere, have we made much progress?"
Barack Obama entered the presidency as one of the most rhetorically pro-civil liberties politicians in recent memory. And shortly after taking office, he drew applause from friends of liberty for promulgating executive orders closing Guantanamo and CIA secret prisons, ending CIA torture, suspending kangaroo proceedings at military tribunals, and pledging more openness than the secretive Bush administration. Unfortunately, instead of prosecuting Bush administration officials, including George W. Bush, for violating criminal statutes against torture, illegal wiretapping of Americans, and other misdeeds–thus avoiding the bad precedent of giving a president a free pass on illegal acts–Obama appears ready to vindicate the prior administration’s anti-terrorism program by adopting Bush Lite.
