MrRodgers
Posts: 10542
Joined: 7/30/2005 Status: offline
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Yes, Obama has been a disappointment but I still give Bush the edge. To wit: In the years after 9/11, the Bush administration embraced a series of policies, including torture, surveillance of private communications, and restrictions on the writ of habeas corpus, that undermined the fundamental American values of individual dignity, personal privacy and due process of law. Its most dangerous policy, though, was its attempt to hide its decisions from the American public. In an effort to evade the constraints of separation of powers, judicial review, checks and balances and democratic accountability, the Bush administration systematically hid its actions from public view. It promulgated its policies in secret, denied information to Congress, abused the process for classifying information, narrowly interpreted the Freedom of Information Act, punished government whistle-blowers, jailed journalists for refusing to disclose confidential sources, threatened to prosecute the press for revealing secret programs, and broadly invoked the state secrets doctrine to prevent both Congress and the courts from evaluating the lawfulness of its programs. Now of course, I feel for both of them although Bush less, because presidents do what they need to do...to stay alive.
< Message edited by MrRodgers -- 8/12/2015 11:21:25 PM >
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