WBEZ | obama

Obama's unnecessary scandals

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:53:00 -0500

Leave it to Barack Obama to bring together in genuine outrage Tea Party conservatives, sparked to life by his election and determined to undermine it, and the American press, technically unfettered but the administration’s best friend in times of crisis.

Sure, Obama can say his people really had nothing to do with the IRS scandal unfolding before us, in which the tax agency harassed Tea Party groups seeking not-for-profit status for their work. It’s true that the IRS is semi-independent. But does anyone believe Obama really found out about the mess from the media?

Obama is already perceived, even by many of his supporters, as aloof and above it all. Is he now saying he’s so beyond his own administration, so disconnected from his own aides, no one thought to tip him off a scandal was brewing?

Saying he found out about the mess from the media is no shield: it’s an admission of neglect, both by him and by his own team. Are they too busy trying to coordinate the next dinner in the so-called “charm” offensive on congressional Republicans they didn’t bother to establish some kind of routine communications with the IRS that might have let them in on the problem? Or are the IRS people so disdainful of the president and his administration they figured they could wait until the boiling point?

And let’s not forget Attorney General Eric Holder, copy-catting the president in ignorance: turns out he had no idea either his folks had been caching phone records for months over at the Associated Press. Holder said he’d recused himself and didn’t actually sign off on the spying – but doesn’t the law require the Department of Justice to inform the source first, to seek its cooperation? Never mind, Holder remembers so little of this, is so aimless a satellite, he failed to put his recusal in writing, leading to his inability to remember the date he actually recused himself.

How pissed off are media people? Almost every major newspaper has been leading with at least one Obama disaster – the IRS, the AP story or, in more conservative circles, Benghazi.

On the Internet, HuffPost – the president’s biggest booster – lead with “DOJ WTF.” The 24 TV news cycle has been churning with all three, and with connections between all three. There’s actual talk of impeachment, however ridiculous.

Here’s the thing: All three of these events are completely unnecessary scandals. Republicans may be lapping and stirring them up, but all three are crazy careless mistakes on the part of a White House that, even to supporters, has often seemed arrogant beyond the pale.

And while at least two of the scandals appear to have merit (Benghazi strikes me as a GOP wet dream to derail Hillary Clinton’s 2016 bid – good luck with that, guys), none actually hit the heights of bulldozing over rights and law-bending in similar situations in previous administrations.

What makes them red meat right now is the GOP’s appetite for anything to tarnish this president, and the president and his cronies’ unfettered belief that’s the only thing keeping them from glory.

In the meantime, judgeships remain vacant, appointments remain unconfirmed, the sequester marches on, government slows to a crawl and the 2014 midterms – an exercise that, no matter who wins, will reward bad behavior – approaches.

Transit fare-card fog thickens

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 05:00:00 -0500

TRANSIT FARE-CARD FOG. Adding to confusion over the incoming Ventra card for Chicago-area transit, the RTA says its version won't include prepaid debit account functionality for senior citizens and people with disabilities. On one hand, that means they'll be spared a bewildering array of debit-card fees; on the other, a disability rights group executive tells the Tribune, "Whatever options are available to the general public should be available to persons with disabilities and persons over 65 who qualify for reduced-fare cards."
* Correction to something I said yesterday on WBEZ's "Afternoon Shift" (at about 5:02 in this audio clip): According to the Trib, that $2.95 "Reload on Internet" fee applies only to money added to the retail (debit) side of the card; not to recharges for the card's transit-fare side.

SCHOOL CLOSINGS ANALYSIS. As Mayor Emanuel's administration prepares to announce what could be the largest number of schools shut down by a city in a single year, keep an eye on these data-driven websites (including WBEZ's map of school closures), featuring what Chicago magazine's Whet Moser calls "vital" tools for understanding the closings' impact.
* Chicago charter-school operator UNO's boss has 3 relatives on the payroll, Sun-Times reports.

KIDS DOCS BACK GAY MARRIAGE. The Illinois-based American Academy of Pediatrics says stable relationships between parents, regardless of sexual orientation, contribute to children's health and well-being.
* Gay-marriage opponent: "To the extent that the other side is able to frame this as a vote for gay people to be happy, it will be challenging for us."

'SURE. SEX AND THE PRIESTS, LET'S BLAST IT ALL OVER THE PLACE. NEVER LET IT GO.' The retired bishop of the Joliet Diocese reacts bitterly to release of previously secret papers detailing decades of sexual abuse on his watch.
* Lawyer who won the revelations: "At least 75% of the diocese ... had a sexual predator priest."

LET PROSTITUTES WALK FREE? To ease a population crunch at Cook County Jail, several County Board members are asking prosecutors to treat prostitution arrests as misdemeanors, not felonies.
* On WBEZ, Sheriff Tom Dart criticizes mental health clinic closures: "We as a society have decided to criminalize mental illness. ... We've shut down all the facilities to treat people. Where in God's name do you think they're gonna go?"

YOUR TAXES AT WORK.
* Chicago ordered to pay $57.8 million to parking company for letting competing garage open nearby.
* Cook County to pay $646,000 to ACLU in fight over law forbidding recording of cops on the job.

COMING FRIDAY: A fresh news quiz.
Limber up your quizceps by trying these previous editions.

COULD MAKE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS AWKWARD. President Obama was caught on-mic and on-camera in Israel joking, "It's good to get away from Congress."
* Obama, Israel's prime minister complain NBC reporter asks too many questions.
* Conservative vs. conservative: "O'Reilly slams Bachmann for 'trivial' criticisms of President Obama" (Politico).

'THE AMERICAN NEWS CONSUMER HAS NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD.' Slate's Matthew Yglesias says, sure, it's a rough time for news producers, but the doom-and-gloom reports on the state of the news biz miss the key point that "today’s readers have access to far more high-quality coverage than they have time to read."
* Reporter who quit: "Newspapers killed newspapers."
* Washington Post nails Jane Goodall for plagiarism.
* CNN reporter allegedly "outraged" over Steubenville rape trial coverage criticism.

GOOGLE'S NEW NOTE-TAKING SERVICE. Google Keep is aimed at services like Evernote, promising to "save ideas and organize to-dos the moment they happen by creating notes, lists, photos and voice recordings right from your phone."
* YouTube now reaches 1 billion unique visitors a month -- 15 percent of humanity.

THIS LINK UNSUITABLE FOR ALL AGES. Tired of the traditional NCAA bracket? Deadspin offers a 64-slot "Swear Word Bracket" -- because "68-team brackets are stupid."
* Tech Crunch: "Google Embeds March Madness Bracket In Search, Because Screw Sports Sites."

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Honors due for Internet activist Aaron Swartz

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 05:00:00 -0500

GONE, NOT FORGOTTEN. Chicago native and Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide early this year as he faced prosecution for the theft from MIT of millions of online documents, will be honored Friday with the James Madison Freedom of Information Award.
* From January: WBEZ's Robin Amer wrote after Swartz' funeral, "I am drained from crying."

REMEMBER ALL THOSE PROTESTS EARLIER THIS WEEK ABOUT HIGHER FEES IN THE CTA's NEW FARE SYSTEM? The CTA board has approved the plan anyway even though some board members themselves seemed not to understand it. So your existing Chicago Card is headed toward the scrap heap. But you might be able to get one of the new Ventra cards free.
* CTA prices headed up for college students, tourists.
* CTA train line colors added to Google's Chicago maps.
* Mayor Emanuel proposes overhauling parking taxes to lower rates on cheaper spots, raise them on premium spaces.

New WBEZ Meyerson News Quiz tomorrow.
Catch up on last week's and other previous quizzes here.

CLINTON-OBAMA TICKET? Speculation for the 2016 presidential race: Hillary + Michelle.
* Mother Jones: "Turns Out That [President] Obama Doesn't Hate Whitey After All."
* Bipartisan budget bill would make permanent four longstanding gun protections.

ON TWITTER, NEW POPE'S NO OBAMA. No matter how many tweets you read yesterday about the new pope, they weren't enough to break the record 20 million sent the night President Obama won reelection.
* Twitter's next frontier? Music -- with an emphasis on sampling.
* Google Reader, we hardly knew ye. And that was the problem. Or did Twitter kill it?
* Gawker: "If You Wear Google’s New Glasses You Are An A__hole."
* Is The New York Times technophobic?

'WERE YOU STRAPPED INTO YOUR CAR SEAT AND FORCED TO LISTEN TO NPR IN THE '80s AND '90s?' That's the hook NPR's using to promote itself at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, courting loyalty among a demographic it calls "Generation Listen."
* Meanwhile, WBEZ, which has been encouraging those former "backseat babies" to "Go Make Babies" of their own, is planning a "Member Meet-up: '90s Time Machine Edition."

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Rubio and Obama are in a fake immigration fight

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 05:55:00 -0600

The last time Sen. Marco Rubio and President Barack Obama squared off over immigration, Obama swept the floor with the junior senator from Florida.

Which explains, at least in part, Rubio’s evolution on immigration. And explains too why, though Rubio and Obama’s immigration proposals are practically identical, Rubio will not only distance himself from the president because of internal GOP politics but also because the man is rightfully wary.

I’m referring, of course, to the fight over the DREAM Act, which the president supported, Rubio opposed, and Congress rejected -- setting Obama up to use executive power to suspend enforcement of deportation rules and allow millions of young people from all over the world to legalize their status.

Obama’s move came not in the wake of congressional action but just as Rubio -- who had been hounded by Latino activists for his anti-immigration positions -- announced that he was going to propose his own DREAM Act, one that did not include amnesty or a path to citizenship but would “accommodate” these undocumented young people.

Of course, Rubio never got a chance. Obama’s announcement made any proposal from the young Cuban-American a moot point.

As a Florida state legislator, Rubio had exhibited zero interest in immigration matters (in spite of the fact that Miami is one of the country’s top three ports of entry for immigrants). Once elevated to the U.S. Senate after a quixotic campaign fueled by the Tea Party, Rubio adopted most of the movement’s immigration platform: No to the DREAM Act, no to legalization of any kind for the undocumented, yes to Arizona’s SB1070, yes to E-verify, yes to English as an official language, and yes to increased border security.

But Rubio, like so many Republicans, has had a what appears to be massive change of heart since the election -- when Latinos overwhelmingly supported the Democratic Party at every level.

It’s a funny place for Rubio. I don’t think he wants to be a champion for Latinos, but suddenly his party needs one, and just as suddenly, though he claims not to have particular presidential ambitions, riding the Latino pony (i.e., immigration) could take him all the way to the White House. I don’t think he really cares one way or the other how the party does with Latinos or about immigration (which is totally absent from his Senate website), but if the party thinks it needs Latinos, and if he could be perceived as the guy who brought them over ...

Anyway, he’s still saying no to the DREAM Act and yes to Arizona’s SB1070 (though he’s not talking about it much these days) and yes to E-Verify and to English as an official language and, God, a big, big yes to increased border security, but there’s been one significant flip: Rubio is now onboard, as one of the Senate’s Gang of Eight, with finding a way to legalize the status of the 11 million undocumented people in his country.

And he has a plan. It’s a plan "totally different" from the president’s with nearly the same wording: an eventual path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants (after they jump through a few hoops), a crackdown on employers who hire future undocumented workers, and a fix to allow for future worker programs.

But Rubio and the few Republicans onboard have made the citizenship path contingent on a favorite GOP bugaboo: Increased border security.

There are just a few hitches here: 1) Immigration from Mexico is down to net zero; 2) arrests at the border have dropped by nearly a half million in the last five years to 357,000 in 2012; 3) and Obama -- whom Rubio and the GOP accuse of being weak on the border -- has poured more than $73 million into border reinforcement, resulting in the largest number of deportations in U.S. history.

As Bloomberg Business Week put it, “that’s more than the budgets of all other federal law enforcement agencies—the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Secret Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service—combined." (For comparison, Bush spent $37.4 billion on immigration enforcement in his first term and $60 billion in his second.)”

Bloomberg continues: “Rubio acknowledges the border is more secure than it was a few years ago, but says it’s not enough. ‘We need to achieve control of our borders,’ he wrote in a Jan. 30 op-ed on the conservative website RedState. ‘This is not just an immigration issue; this is a national security and sovereignty issue.’ Yet Rubio’s office won’t specify what he’d do differently.”

(Never mind that between 33 and 50 percent of undocumented people in the U.S. come in with legal visas and overstay -- a matter that no amount of border security short of sealing can prevent.)

In truth, immigration has become a performative issue. Understanding that he can’t actually agree with the current Democratic president if he wants to be a future Republican president, Rubio will now press for an even greater waste of money at the borders, which Obama, to prove just how bipartisan he can be, will probably agree to. Both will immediately declare victory.

Or not.

The problem with Rubio’s theatrics is that while Obama will likely play along, there’s a chance his GOP cohorts won’t think any concession by the president is enough.

And Rubio will always side with his party over his people.

Meaning that the first chance for immigration reform in a generation could go straight to hell.

Follow Achy on Twitter @achylandia.

Burger King twit-hacked; Wendy's: 'We have an alibi'

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 05:00:00 -0600

WENDY'S: 'WE HAVE AN ALIBI.' That was just one rival's response to the hacking of Burger King's Twitter account, beginning with a fake tweet that read "We just got sold to McDonalds!"
* Bogus tweets deleted by day's end, followed by "Interesting day here at BURGER KING ..."
* No prank: OfficeMax, Office Depot could merge.

'I'VE HEARD ALL KINDS OF CRITICS SAYING THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS CORPS IS WHINING ABOUT A GOLF GAME AND VIOLATING THE PRESIDENT'S PRIVACY.' But the president of the White House Correspondents Association says "nothing could be further from the truth" in the complaints over reporters' lack of access to the president during his golf outing with Tiger Woods.
* Indication the president just doesn't care so much about his image in this second term?
* Big tobacco and anti-cancer activists agree: One part of Obama's Affordable Health Care Act is not a good idea.

BOTTLED LIGHTNING. Sen. Marco Rubio's capitalizing bigtime on that awkward water break during his State of the Union response last week. Slate reports his political action committee has raised $100,000 by selling Rubio-branded water bottles.
* Hillary Clinton now available to speak at your next birthday party or bar mitzvah -- for "fees well into the six figures."
* Chicago magazine's Carol Felsenthal: Late jockeying could tilt race to replace Jesse Jackson Jr. toward Ald. Anthony Beale.
* Halvorsen accuses NYC Mayor Bloomberg of trying to buy race.

SURE, NOW. NASA and other organizations are scrambling for better ways to detect incoming space-borne objects like the meteorite that hit Russia last week -- reportedly the biggest to enter Earth's atmosphere in more than 100 years.
* Wall Street Journal: Fireball unleashed more than 30 times Hiroshima atomic bomb's energy.

IF YOU LOVED 'BUFFY,' 'AVENGERS,' 'FIREFLY' ... Then be excited. Be very excited. Joss Whedon is bringing Marvel Comics' super-spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. to television.
* Whedon previously explored high-tech government agency milieu with "Cabin in the Woods."

ON THE BRINK OF HISTORY. The Blackhawks could make the NHL record books tonight.
* NFL player arrested on charges of carrying a handgun in luggage at NYC airport.

HOW ARE YOU WIRED?
* To hate exercise?
* To engage in sex with psychopaths?

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Campaign surprise in race to replace Jesse Jackson Jr.

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 05:00:00 -0600

'NINE DAYS LEFT? WHY WOULD YOU GET OUT?' One of the candidates in the race to replace Jesse Jackson Jr. in Congress questions why a rival has suddenly dropp ed out and tossed her support to yet another candidate.
* Gov. Quinn on NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg's financial interest in the election: "We should not allow anyone with huge amounts of money to dictate the terms of the political debate."

'THERE’S PLENTY OF ROOM UNDER THE SECOND AMENDMENT FOR GUN CONTROL.' A UCLA law prof says the Constitution provides a roadmap to gun regulation.

* "The argument that armed civilians are just as capable as law enforcement at stopping crime is essentially the same as saying 'police don't need training.'" -- Huffington Post's Walker Bragman.

* At least two Chicago high school students gunned down Saturday and Sunday.

METEORITE HUNT. The search is under way for more fragments of the meteorite blamed for 1,200 injuries and millions of dollars in damage in Russia.
* Why one of the world's only full-time meteorite hunters probably isn't going.
* Astronaut on Reddit: "To think of that hypersonic dumb lump of rock randomly hurtling into us ... sent a shiver up my back."
* Borowitz Report satire: "House Science Committee Questions Existence of Meteors."

COOL VIDEO OF THE DAY. "Mathemusician" Vi Hart uses a music box and a Möbius strip to explain space-time theory.
* How would discovery of life on another planet affect traditional religion?

OBAMA + TIGER WOODS. They golfed this weekend, but out of the public eye.
* White House reporters complain about lack of access.
* Historic audio of President Johnson ordering pants -- ~~newly~~ animated.

CUBS + CH. 9: SPLITSVILLE? A relationship that dates back to 1948 may end.
* Cubs boss: "On a mission to be the best organization in baseball."
* Cubs players pull practical joke on manager.
* Boxers Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield reunite -- at a Jewel-Osco supermarket in Chicago.
* The Onion: "Michael Jordan Celebrates 50th Birthday With Last People He Hasn't Completely Alienated Yet."

PUBLIC RADIO APP. The new version lets you listen to WBEZ and hundreds of other local stations around the country -- and download show episodes to hear later. Ars Technica puts it first four iPhone apps to try this week.
* Journalism prof lays into BBC for "irresponsible" coverage of Facebook hack.

Obama wraps State of Union speech tour in Chicago

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 08:15:00 -0600

Returning to the South Side of Chicago, President Barack Obama allayed critics who called on him to address gun violence in his hometown by identifying economic opportunities and strong families as the key to combat crime.

“We’ve got to grow our economy and create more good jobs. It means we’ve got to equip every American with the skills and the training to fill those jobs. And it means we’ve got to rebuild ladders of opportunity for everybody willing to climb it. And that starts at home. There’s no more important ingredient for success, nothing that would more important for us reducing violence than strong stable families, which means we should do more to promote marriage and encourage fatherhood,” Obama said Friday afternoon at Hyde Park Academy in the Woodlawn neighborhood.

Since his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Obama has been giving stump speeches around the country about growing the middle class, all while pushing for new gun control legislation as well. For a couple of years, local activists have wanted the president to come to Chicago and tackle violence. The agitation hit a fever pitch last month after the fatal shooting of Hadiya Pendleton, an honor student who had recently performed at his inauguration. Last Saturday First Lady Michelle Obama attended her funeral.

Obama said in his remarks that gun violence claims the lives not just in mass shootings like the one in Newtown, Conn. that killed 20 kids last December. He said 65 children were killed by guns in Chicago last year — the equivalent of a Newtown tragedy every four months. Several Chicago families who’ve lost children to gun violence sat in the invite-only audience at Hyde Park Academy.

“This is not just a gun issue,” Obama said. “We should reform our child-support laws to get more men working and engaged with their children,” the president said. He added that his administration will continue to work with the private sector and faith-based communities this year on a campaign to encourage parenting and fatherhood.

Obama noted that he was raised by a single mom but “I wish I had had a father who was involved and around.”

Before his remarks at Hyde Park Academy, Obama privately met with a group of students in a mentoring group called Becoming A Man. Robert Scates was one of them.

“It’s not what he said, it’s what he did, how he was able to become the president that should be able to spark some change in my eyes,” Scates said. The meeting got him thinking about “how we can relieve our stress ... When you’ve got a lot of things built up inside of you, a lot of anger, the littlest thing will just make you go off for no reason.”

Violence experts have said mentoring and understanding the social and emotional needs of young people can deter gunplay.

Obama said he will push for tax breaks for businesses that invest and hire in hard-hit communities. Economic development is hard if people don’t feel safe and commerce dries up, he said. Chicago murders surpassed 500 last year, up from the previous year but nowhere near the figures of the 1990s.

While some specifics were absent from the president’s speech, many said Obama’s presence is a good first step in rebuilding communities: part inspirational, part dog-whistle to South Siders and his base.

Rami Nashashibi, executive director of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network, helped organize petitions that demanded Obama speak in Chicago.

“Many of us who’ve been in the community...have to be at least somewhat gratified. It was a very heartwarming event to have the president on the South Side,” Nashashibi said. “We know there’s much more work that needs to happen on the grassroots level and those policies need to come to fruition. But just on that basic level we need to see it as a victory.”

Father Richard Tolliver, of St. Edmund’s Church in Washington Park, said the president’s speech was on target and appropriate for the South Side.

“He spoke to issues directly important to us: jobs, education, recognizing sometimes there's a one-parent family because our laws prevent married people who are low-income from marrying because then women lose a lot of their benefits so he understands the unique challenges to our neighborhood,” Tolliver said.

President Obama to speak at Chicago high school

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:23:00 -0600

President Barack Obama's post-State of the Union speech in Chicago will be at a high school on the city's South Side.

The White House says Obama will speak Friday afternoon at Hyde Park Academy. The visit comes days after first lady Michelle Obama sat next to the parents of Hadiya Pendleton during the president's State of the Union address on Tuesday.

The 15-year-old girl was shot and killed about a mile from Obama's Chicago home. The majorette was killed just days after she performed at events for Obama's inauguration in Washington last month.

The president is expected to address gun violence and other issues.

Michelle Obama attended Hadiya's funeral in Chicago last weekend. Police say the girl was an innocent victim in a gang-related shooting.

Obama to stress jobs, Afghan war troop withdrawal in State of the Union

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 09:20:00 -0600

WASHINGTON — Still hampered by the vulnerable economy, President Barack Obama is using his State of the Union address to appeal for new spending to create jobs while also pledging to cut the federal deficit, in part by raising taxes — issues Republicans are likely to oppose.

Speaking before a divided Congress Tuesday night, Obama also will announce a major reduction in U.S. military forces in Afghanistan, withdrawing 34,000 troops within a year, half the total deployed there. And he'll sharply rebuke North Korea for defying the international community and launching a nuclear test hours before Obama's remarks.

But it's the economy at center stage, as it has been each time Obama has stood before lawmakers and a national TV audience for the annual address. Despite marked improvements since he took office four years ago, the unemployment rate is still hovering around 8 percent and consumer confidence has slipped.

White House officials said Obama would offer the public an outline for job creation, though much of his blueprint will include elements Americans have heard before, including spending more money to boost manufacturing and improve infrastructure. Getting that new spending through Congress appears unlikely, given that it would require support from Republicans who blocked similar measures during Obama's first term.

The president is expected to be uncompromising in his calls for lawmakers to offset across-the-board spending cuts that are scheduled to begin March 1 with a mix of tax increases and targeted budget cuts.

The president hasn't detailed where he wants lawmakers to take action, though he and his aides often mention as examples of unnecessary tax breaks a benefit for owners of private jets and tax subsidies for oil and gas companies. Such measures are modest, however. Ending the corporate plane and oil and gas breaks would generate about $43 billion in revenue over 10 years.

That appeal for new revenue is getting stiff-armed by Republicans, who reluctantly agreed at the start of the year to increase tax rates on the wealthiest Americans in exchange for extending Bush-era tax rates for the rest of taxpayers.

"He's gotten all the revenue he's going to get," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said. "Been there, done that."

Still, buoyed by re-election, the president and his top aides are confident that Americans back their vision for the economy. Immediately following his speech, Obama will hold a conference call with supporters to urge them to pressure lawmakers to back his agenda. He'll also seek to rally public support with trips this week to North Carolina, Georgia and Illinois.

Also Tuesday night:

— The president will press Congress to overhaul immigration laws and tackle climate change.

— His wish-list will include expanding early childhood education and making it easier for voters to cast ballots in elections.

— Obama is expected to make an impassioned plea for stricter gun laws, including universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons.

First lady Michelle Obama will sit with the parents of a Chicago teenager shot and killed just days after she performed at the president's inauguration. Twenty-two House members have invited people affected by gun violence, according to Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., who helped with the effort. And Republican Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas says he's invited rocker Ted Nugent, a long-time gun control opponent who last year said he would end up "dead or in jail" if Obama won re-election.

Though Obama is devoting less time to foreign policy this year, his announcement on the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan is highly anticipated and puts the nation on pace to formally finish the protracted war by the end of 2014.

On North Korea, the White House said Obama would make the case that the impoverished nation's nuclear program has only further isolated it from the international community. North Korea said Tuesday that it successfully detonated a nuclear device in defiance of U.N. warnings.

President Obama's illegal war

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 10:12:00 -0600

This is what I wrote after the death of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen targeted for killing by the U.S. president, on this blog on September 30, 2011:

"We used to be afraid that President George W. Bush, pushed by his nefarious warmongering VP and a Department of Justice that justified medieval tortures, was going to expand executive branch powers to such levels as to threaten the very balance and foundation of our democracy.

"That’s why so many of us voted for Barack Obama -- because we wanted somebody who was anti-war, who would close Guantanamo; somebody who knew and understood the Constitution not as some sacred sentimental Old Testament but as a covenant of fairness, with inviolable safeguards, between the governed and the government.

"One of those safeguards has always been due process -- the idea that individuals are protected by a process of law from arbitrary action by the state. In other words, that the government must follow its own laws. In the U.S. Constitution, it’s so important that it’s stated twice, in the 5th and 14th amendments.

"Today, however, the media tells us that the president of the United States in the person of Barack Obama has now extended the power of his office to order the assassination of fellow citizens without a shred of due process."

Just exactly how empty of constitutional muster Obama’s policy is can be seen in white papers acquired by NBC News this week which details the administration’s legal reasoning.

Here’s one of the juicier parts: an “informed, high-level” official of the U.S. government may determine that the targeted American has been “recently” involved in “activities” posing a threat of a violent attack and “there is no evidence suggesting that he has renounced or abandoned such activities."

But neither “recently” -- this week? last year? a presidential term ago? -- or “activities” -- actual killing? planning killing? drinking tea and talking approvingly of killing? -- are defined, and in legalese, that’s not a detail.

Moreover, that “informed, high-level” official of the U.S. government, by definition, will not be an elected official -- someone chosen by the people, for the people, to represent the people’s interests. That “informed, high-level” official will be a presidential appointee, and probably one strategically ranked so as not to even need congressional approval.

In the meantime, and speaking of congressional approval, the architect of the administration’s clearly illegal drone policy -- a strategy that ends up killing about 30 or more civilians for every militant it eliminates -- John Brennan, is now Obama’s nominee to direct the CIA.

But don’t be fooled by the Senate’s grilling during the confirmation process. The Dems who oppose him and his policy don’t have the votes or the cojones to do anything about it and the Republicans -- finally in a position to be a real opposition -- actually agree with Obama on this one. Whatever fireworks comes from them should be viewed as spectacle and nothing more.

Barack Obama will get his moment in history’s parade as the nation’s first black president, and he’ll be duly applauded for the long-term good of the Affordable Care Act. But his continuation of President Bush’s drone war, his hypocritical endorsement of government secrecy by refusing to publicly explain what he’s doing in our name in countries such as Pakistan and Yemen, his outrageous expansion of the executive office’s war powers, and the murder of Americans on his orders will forever tarnish his legacy.

And, as we are seen more and more in the rest of the world as a lawless empire, these policies will haunt America's future.

Americans everywhere -- regardless of race or political party -- should condemn the drone war and, specifically, Obama’s assassination guidelines -- which allow him to target U.S. citizens without due process or even a formal declaration of war.