War Counsel: Obama shops for Libya advice that lets him ignore the law
<!-- | http://madjacksports.com/forum/#comments_controls
-->Jacob Sullum
Reason.com
June 23, 2011
During the Bush administration, when the Justice Department?s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) got into the habit of rationalizing whatever the president wanted to do, Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen dreamed of an OLC that was willing to ?say no to the President.? It turns out we have such an OLC now.
Unfortunately, as Barack Obama?s defense of his unauthorized war in Libya shows, we do not have a president who is willing to take no for an answer.
While running for president, Obama criticized George W. Bush?s lawless unilateralism in areas such as torture, warrantless surveillance, and detention of terrorism suspects. ?The law is not subject to the whims of stubborn rulers,? he declared in 2007, condemning ?unchecked presidential power? and promising that under his administration there would be ?no more ignoring the law when it is inconvenient.?
Obama?s nomination of Johnsen to head the OLC, although ultimately blocked by Senate Republicans, was consistent with this commitment; his overreaching responses to threats ranging from terrorism to failing auto companies were not. Last week, by rejecting the OLC?s advice concerning his three-month-old intervention in Libya?s civil war, Obama sent the clearest signal yet that he is no more inclined than his predecessor to obey the law.
Read more
<!-- | http://madjacksports.com/forum/#comments_controls
-->Jacob Sullum
Reason.com
June 23, 2011
During the Bush administration, when the Justice Department?s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) got into the habit of rationalizing whatever the president wanted to do, Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen dreamed of an OLC that was willing to ?say no to the President.? It turns out we have such an OLC now.
Unfortunately, as Barack Obama?s defense of his unauthorized war in Libya shows, we do not have a president who is willing to take no for an answer.
While running for president, Obama criticized George W. Bush?s lawless unilateralism in areas such as torture, warrantless surveillance, and detention of terrorism suspects. ?The law is not subject to the whims of stubborn rulers,? he declared in 2007, condemning ?unchecked presidential power? and promising that under his administration there would be ?no more ignoring the law when it is inconvenient.?
Obama?s nomination of Johnsen to head the OLC, although ultimately blocked by Senate Republicans, was consistent with this commitment; his overreaching responses to threats ranging from terrorism to failing auto companies were not. Last week, by rejecting the OLC?s advice concerning his three-month-old intervention in Libya?s civil war, Obama sent the clearest signal yet that he is no more inclined than his predecessor to obey the law.
Read more
