Obama’s program to assassinate citizens continues to progress
From a very good Greenwald column:
U.S. District Court Judge John Bates yesterday held a three-hour hearing over the request by the ACLU and CCR for an injunction ordering President Obama not to assassinate Anwar Awlaki without due process. The fact that the Bush-43-appointed Bates spent so much time on this hearing, demonstrates — along with comments he made during the hearing — how seriously he takes this case, as well he should. He several times pointed out how extraordinary and unprecedented is the Obama administration’s position that it not only has the power to assassinate Americans with no due process, but that courts have no role whatsoever to play in reviewing how those powers are exercised. David Addington and Dick Cheney would have been very proud. My guess is that the court will refuse injunctive relief on some procedural ground — such as ruling that Awlaki’s father has no standing to bring this suit on behalf of his son — but it is quite apparent that there are very serious legal and Constitutional issues raised by the Obama administration’s attempted seizure of this power.
