Comment · Wed, April 25, 2012
Ron Paul speaks out against CISPA
What they were answering
Sajun · 1 points
You seem to be arguing with me as if I am a Republican and/or defending Ron Paul. Nowhere did I state anything to that nature. My original comment was explaining to cfreak why people are stating that Obama has destroyed civil liberties.
"The vote to authorize military force after 9/11 was a 420 to 1 vote! Everyone in the House voted for it, save for Barbara Lee! It also went 98-0 in the Senate."
Uhh. That's a pretty clear example of defending Ron Paul right there.
My later point was that Obama has not fought to put law into place to protect our civil liberties. He merely says that even though he has the authority to take away our due process, that he will not use that power. That is not enough for me, I cannot just take someone's word for it. I want Obama to fight for our civil liberties by enacting laws to ensure them, not making statements that he will not use the authority.
The President of the United States is not a dictator. He can not magically wave a wand and get the legislation he wants. His choice was to quite literally let military families starve to force a non-existent worthless political point OR he could sign the damned thing, write a signing statement condemning and assuring people that he will NOT implement the law in the worst possible way and issue waivers afterwards, which he did.
Your statements regarding Republicans railroading him are true. Howe…
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb
I am not defending Ron Paul individually. I am simply stating everyone voted for it. That was the tone at the time, go get the people responsible. Obama probably would have voted for it, although that is complete conjecture. That is what the American people were crying out for at the time. I do not fault anyone for that vote. As far as the NDAA goes, hell no I do not think Obama should have screwed the families over. I am saying he should have fought harder to fix the law before conceding. Threaten to halt the bill to force Republicans to vote yes to the amendment. Also, many of the representatives who voted the amendment down were Democrats. He could have persuaded them to vote for it harder than he did, rather than just saying the authority is already there, it's a moot point. That is what I mean by fighting! As far as his statement regarding the authority afforded him via the AUMF, his actions do not reflect his words. Point in case, Anwar al-Awlaki. If Obama did not think he had the legal authority to suspend due process for US citizens, then why did he authorize this attack? Then after this action he makes the statement you quoted regarding NDAA and the existing AUMF. This seems disingenuous to me. That is why I feel his beliefs and interpretation of the powers afforded to him are not in the best interests of our civil liberties. Perhaps I am wrong, but it just seems like Obama is doing little to force issues, staying political so that he can stay in office.