Do you trust Barack Obama? For your sake, I hope so. In recent testimony before congress, Attorney General Eric Holder made this statement: "The president has the legal authority to order the targeting and killing of American citizens without trial or due process." Holder's comments come after Obama ordered the death of an American citizen who was believed to be working with Al-Qaida. To kill an American citizen, Holder established three tests. (1) the government will determine whether that person "poses an imminent threat of violent attack against the U.S., (2) Capture is not feasible, (3) The operation must be consistent with four fundamental rules of war: The target must have military value, the target must be lawful, collateral damage must not be excessive, and the weapons used (in the murder) must not inflict unnecessary suffering.
All this might sound fine and great in the era of terrorism when the government has us all fearing our own shadows. I have a problem with this and as an American you should also. My Problem is I don't trust the government to define who poses a threat, whether that person's capture is feasible, or whether the operation is consistent with the rules of war. What is to say if you speak out against Barrack Obama you will meet your end real quick. The whole thing sounds very fishy to me.
And even if we did trust Obama, we as American citizens have constitutional protections against precisely this sort of crime. So long as Obama is our president we have to hope he doesn't define any of us, that speak out about him, as terrorists. When Barack Obama campaigned on "hope" I am pretty sure this isn't what most Americans had come to mind!
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