Democracy Hypocrisy

The easy way out is to try to yell and pretend like I can do something by violating our laws. And what I’m proposing is the harder path, which is to use our democratic processes to achieve the same goal that you want to achieve — but it won’t be as easy as just shouting. It requires us lobbying and getting it done. -- Barack Obama, 11/25/2013, explaining to a heckler why his immigration dragnet and record number of deportations will continue unabated under his watch.

Okey dokey. So, Barack, either you weren't paying attention when Richard Nixon announced that "when the president does it, it's not illegal" or you're just making excuses again, scapegoating Congress when gridlock serves your purposes all too well. And please explain how your weasel-worded sanctimony on the rule of law squares with what your henchman Eric Holder told the nation last year about you and your extra-legal Kill List. (parentheses mine):

Let me be clear: an operation (the president says is) using lethal force in a foreign country, targeted against (anybody) a U.S. citizen who (we say) is a senior operational leader of al Qaeda or associated forces, and who (Obama proclaims) is actively engaged in planning to kill Americans, would be lawful at least in the following circumstances: First, (a politician and his minions) the U.S. government has determined, after a ( boys' club Terror Tuesday meeting) thorough and careful review, that the (fuzzy images seen from computer screens afar, of people we don't know) individual poses an (opportunity to use our military might and hardware) imminent threat of violent attack against the United States; second, capture is not (as easy as the path of droning) feasible; and third, the operation would be conducted in a manner consistent with (whatever we say at any given moment) applicable law of war principles. (our Orwellian definitions.)

And about that rule of law --  the shadow government known as the National Security Agency has dispensed entirely with the verbal gymnastics and stopped pretending that the law even applies to them. That whole Constitution thing? Whether it gets in Obama's way, or whether it gets their way, there is just no stopping them. From the recently-leaked Surveillance State Manifesto:

For SIGENT (the State) to be optimally effective, legal process and policy authorities must be as adaptive and dynamic as the technological and operational advances we seek to exploit. Nevertheless, the culture of compliance, which has allowed the American people  to entrust NSA with extraordinary authorities, will not be compromised in the face of so many demands, even as we aggressively pursue legal authorities.

They want your info and your data. They want everything from everybody. Anywhere, any time, anyhow. They want it all. And they want it now. And the Department of Cultural Compliance assures that they're getting it.

 

When Barack Obama mentioned his "pursuit of the harder path" at his immigration speech, he was once again confirming that the rule of law applies only when its purpose is to suppress and control ordinary people. Obama always uses the "hard" word when it comes to inflicting pain on regular people, have you noticed? When he wants to cut Social Security and proceed with austerity for the masses, for example, he's making those "hard choices" on our behalf.

And if the law won't do the trick, the law will be ignored. He admitted that money ("lobbying") trumps the voice of the people ("yelling out") Extraordinary people --  plutocrats, and the politicians and bureaucrats operating in their interests -- get extraordinary treatment. When generals lie, it's not perjury. When Wall Street financiers rob the country blind, they pay their paltry fines with more bailout money robbed from the same people they already victimized. And when presidents do whatever the hell they want, it's never illegal. Because their extraordinary successors will always give them cover.