Political Historian Garry Wills: Obama Still Runs Bush's Secret Empire

Entangled Giant :

George W. Bush left the White House unpopular and disgraced. His successor promised change, and it was clear where change was needed. Illegal acts should cease--torture and indefinite detention, denial of habeas corpus and legal representation, unilateral canceling of treaties, defiance of Congress and the Constitution, nullification of laws by signing statements. Powers attributed to the president by the theory of the unitary executive should not be exercised. Judges who are willing to give the president any power he asks for should not be confirmed.

But the momentum of accumulating powers in the executive is not easily reversed, checked, or even slowed. It was not created by the Bush administration. The whole history of America since World War II caused an inertial transfer of power toward the executive branch. The monopoly on use of nuclear weaponry, the cult of the commander in chief, the worldwide network of military bases to maintain nuclear alert and supremacy, the secret intelligence agencies, the entire national security state, the classification and clearance systems, the expansion of state secrets, the withholding of evidence and information, the permanent emergency that has melded World War II with the cold war and the cold war with the "war on terror"--all these make a vast and intricate structure that may not yield to effort at dismantling it. Sixty-eight straight years of war emergency powers (1941--2009) have made the abnormal normal, and constitutional diminishment the settled order.

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Comments

[JohnHKennedy]

Didn't we elect Obama to STOP THIS?

Continue to pressure Obama, Attorney General Holder and our Congressional Democrats to investigate and prosecute, ASAP!

Keep asking ALL politicians at ALL public events "Why do they support Torture?"
If they aren't actively calling for enforcement of our Federal Torture Laws They Support Torture.

SIGN THE PETITIONS
Demanding both a Commission of Inquiry
and Prosecution for All the Bush-Cheney Crimes at ANGRYVOTERS.ORG

http://ANGRYVOTERS.ORG

Only Prosecution Stops Torture!
Only Prosecution Stops Violations of Our Constitution and Rule Of Law.

[einstein10]

Bush set us up as a war economy.

[nicholasjh1]

Though he certainly didn't help the problem, This all started long before bush.

[Chopin]

Exactly. Eisenhowever warned about it with great clarity and prescience in his farewell speech in Congress to the nation in 1961. He knew what he was talking about.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=eisenhower+military+industrial+complex&search_type=&aq=3&oq=eisenhower

Bush accelerated this nation's downward spiral by a great extent.

[Ventoi]

Look at the photo of these two men...on the main page...

and listen to the song 'peace train' by Cat Stevens..


(thank goodness Gadafi showed up with his tent...I was in a rut)

[LeroyJenkins]

lol, he has been on the job for 9 months, 9 months people

[DestinationsUnknown]

9 mos or 8 years

do americans know the difference?

[Yermammy]

Stop, please stop, people! He's only been in the job for 6 year and 9 months, people!1!!
What an apologist.

[LeftLeanWing]

Another BASH OBAMA ARTICLE

Another Day ...

[DCBarrister]

No, another Bush = Obama article.
The truth flows like a mighty river.

[Yermammy]

Right on, DCBarrister. Fanned.

[SanderO]

This is interesting:

http://www.amconmag.com/article/2009/nov/01/00006/

[not going2take it]

I'll weight in on this one too. I voted for changes
firmly represented by Barak Obama.

I am GRAVELY DISAPPOINTED in Barak Obama.
He IS just another politician anchored in policies and ways
of those who have preceded him.

I have lost nearly ALL prospects of any
branch of government.

[cyndeewi]

I cannot agree with you more. I am deeply disapointed in Obama as well. I just knew we had a president that would fight for us.

[DCBarrister]

A president that would fight for us?
That's why I supported Hillary Clinton.

[DestinationsUnknown]

fight for you?

how?

be specific

no dumb down here please

[learntofly]

A little disillusioned, myself. And all the problems our country is facing right now doesn't help. I keep telling myself that we are much better off than if the alternative would be sitting in the oval office right now though.

Fanned & faved.

[Yermammy]

“Naturally the common people don’t want war. But after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and for exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.” .
Wow, if that isn't the current state of affairs, what is! Guess who made that astute observation and when- yesterday? last month? last year, maybe?.
That's Hermann Goering, Hitler’s Reich Marshall, at the Nuremberg Trials after World War II.
My... how soon we forget.

[Yermammy]

Barack has a fine line to walk, but he's weakened his presidency by embracing the very worst of Bush's Unitary Executive theory. The CIA and NSA answer to no one nowadays (Panetta's a puppet) and if Barack doesn't allow the DOJ to open up investigations, then we are toast. The Supremes are about to grant corporations much more lobbying and campaign power and after that... ?
Rome is about to Burn.

[LeftLeanWing]

Panetta's A Puppet ?

Are You Kidding ?

[Yermammy]

You're a puppet if you think he isn't.
Bank that.

[AmericanDreamWarrior]

Guess what? Its not so secret what he's doing, we've been paying attention. Kinda why his numbers are dropping so fast and furious.

This is going to force true progressive and moderate parties to emerge because both current parties have shown themselves to be the exact same person wearing different colored suits.

Obama had us all chanting "yes we can" and now I ask, why aren't we? Why is there even a debate about public option? He promised.

Why aren't the financial sectors being re-regulated to protect the consumer from further calamity? He promised.

Why is the Patriot Act being renewed using Bush style tactics of hitting the fear button "raised terror alerts" being foisted on us at the same time they're due to expire or repeal all signing statements, presidential directives/executive orders and bills passed that expands the executive powers that nulify the constitution need to go away. He promised.

Where's all our new jobs while saving the economy and the environment by starting the green movement? He promised.

Ya ya I know he's only been in office ... seems to me he's got a touch of Presidentitis, ok maybe more than a touch. Sit in that chair with all that power, its got to be intoxicating, I get it. So then he needs to detox and do right by the people that voted him in office. He promised.

Cause we can do it too, "yes we can vote for someone else come 2012". We promise.

See?

[Hedgehogging]

Excellent post.

May I add... Wake Up People!

[DCBarrister]

I supported Hillary Clinton because the Clintons have a legacy of delivering for ordinary Americans. Our country has NEVER had a better 8 years, top to bottom for ordinary people than when President Clinton was in office.

Obama comes in, poaches former Clinton advisors, lies about President and Hillary Clinton being racist and plays the race card to steal the Democratic nomination.

Now Obama actually has to produce and he can't.

Obama was a phony from day one, not a leader.

[MsBrina]

Can anyone truly support what Obama has done?

His policies have been just as bad as the previous administrations and in some cases worse.

Thus far, Obama has proven to be no more than, a devil in a pretty Sunday hat.

As a true, independent progressive, not beholden to any political party (side note* I think both major parties are criminal and god awful for the American people,) I feel used and disrespected.
It's only 9 months into the Obama Administration and I'm growing more nervous by the day. This is not the change I voted for.

Wake Up Progress!

[LeftLeanWing]

" His policies have been just as bad as the previous administrations and in some cases worse. "

SUCH AS ?______________________________

[DCBarrister]

GITMO? DOMA? Patriot Act? No change in Iraq?

[lbicomber]

Continuing the use of "indefinite detention"? Extraordinary rendition? "Looking forward" rather than holding the Bush administration accountable? Allowing the DOJ to file a brief defending DOMA, comparing hom0sexuality to ped0philia and bestia/ity? Opening Tongassas National Park to roadless logging? Bailout for Wall St., not Main St.? Backroom deals with the drug/health insurance companies, as opposed to "open hearings televised on CSPAN"? ...

What's the word limit again?

[EducatedObserver]

While one does not fault Mr Obama for responsibly preserving several of Mr Bush's more sensible policies - after all, the alternative would have had us all wandering into Jimmy Carter's Neverland - I do find the so-called mantra of "change" which the president employed during his election campaign to be particularly irksome.

For if one is to compare Mr Obama's actions in office to his rhetoric prior to being elected, what is revealed is a cynical manipulation of voters' emotions.

At last we know what that ridiculously nebulous phrase - Change we can believe in - means: Absolutely nothing at all.

[YunekFlava]

Look Mr Willis. None of us have eyes on what mess was left behind for Obama to clean up. None of us, not even you. You may be a politician historian, but President Obama is not history...yet.

[MsBrina]

Unfortunately, some of his policies and action are now a part of history and will hurt the future.

Starting with the continuing of big bank and other big business bailouts, without implementing and restrictions or regulations. Continue occupation of Iraq. Excelerating the Afghanistan war, for what? Bin Laden died years ago. Oh wait, we're there to nation build, now. *blank stare* *hump*
Question.... How can we build their country, when our own country is in chaos and headed for disaster? Let's compare America to Afghanistan?
Violence? Check!
Abuse and manipulation of it's citizens? Check!
Fradulent elections? Check!
Brought and sold government officals? MAJOR CHECK!
Low education rates? Check!
Poor health care and coverage? Check!
Poverty? Check!
Homeless citizens? Check!
Starving children and families? Check!

Obama? *crickets*

[cyndeewi]

Well, he is history to me.

[Ramirez]

I think this is more of a blog than a news item.

[Bigjonsey]

Dick Chaney was the mastermind of Bush's secret empire and last I checked Dick isn't apart of President Obama's administration. So I'm not buying this crap.