1. Eliminate Secret Prisons
In September of 2006, Bush admitted to letting the CIA operate secret prisons all over the world. The premise for these prisons was the War on Terror, but secrecy inevitably becomes a cover for the abuse of power. The War on Terror can be prosecuted without the power to sequester suspects secretly. Since it is an executive agency, its practices can be changed by order of the President.
How Obama Can Do This
He could change this instantly issuing an executive order commanding the open publication of the locations of all prisons used by the CIA, open publication of the names of all inmates, and the crimes they are charged with, for public review. The order would also command the agents running these prisons to obey the Geneva Conventions regarding torture. Since Barack Obama has given much lip service to openness in government, this should be no problem.
2. Restore Habeas Corpus
Habeas Corpus is a centuries-old tradition of the free world. It is the right of every human being to know what crime he is charged with, and his right to defend himself before he is deprived of life, liberty, or property. When Congress passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006, this pillar of a free society was abolished in America in cases purely up to the discretion of the President. Civilians the President suspects of terrorism can now be incarcerated indefinitely without knowing what charge was brought against them, and the only procedure that offers them even the slightest chance to defend themselves is a military tribunal. This has been used on Americans just the same as foreigners.
How Obama Can Do This
He can publicly refuse to enforce the Military Commissions Act on Constitutional grounds, and order the transfer of terrorism suspects to civilian prisons rather than military ones, and that they be told their charges and that they should face a civilian court.
3. Restore Posse Comitatus
Since at least September of 2008, the US Military has been depositing battalions of troops within the borders of the United States for “civil unrest and crowd control.” The use of the military as a police force violates the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 and the ancient tradition of the free world of separating the military and police. It is the equivalent of Julius Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon. It constitutes a military invasion against the American people. The streets of several major cities could find themselves under an occupation, but the occupation would not be from an invading foreign government, but a rogue domestic one. More and more troops are getting domestic deployments, hardened battalions from Iraq are coming to America to prepare for a fight against their own neighbors should civil unrest over the economy or some other disaster reach a boiling point.
How Obama Can Do This
He can order the disbanding of all domestically deployed brigades, or their return to military bases. He is “Commander in Chief” after all. The military obeys the direct orders of the President. This one is of supreme importance and is the most easily repealed by a conscientious executive. If these brigades are not returned to their rightful place immediately after Barack Obama assumes the presidency, we will have to consider him a failure on this item.
4. Repeal the USA PATRIOT Act
Just 45 days after 9/11, Congress was still in the midst of the yet-unsolved Anthrax scare, and they passed this bill with zero debate, and without reading a word of its 300+ page text. It was, in short, a Christmas list of powers that law enforcement agencies had been denied by Congress for a long time on the grounds that such powers violated the rights of the people. Over the years this hastily ratified law has changed, with some powers expiring and others emerging. This Act, along with the one called Patriot II, radically expands the government’s powers of surveillance, eliminates accountability, and is not limited to cases of terrorism. They need simply to be repealed.
How Obama Can Do This
He can order intelligence and law enforcement agencies not to use the PATRIOT Act powers that violate the people’s 4th Amendment rights to privacy. He can pardon those victimized by the PATRIOT Act. He can issue a public statement condemning it and pressuring Congress to repeal it. If he refuses to enforce its unconstitutional provisions, he will have made a positive change.
5. Stop the Warmongering
In the name of fighting Terrorism, George W. Bush threw the US military into a war in Afghanistan, and he lied to the world and to the people in order to invade Iraq, burdening Americans with the cost of two wars, neither of which have a concrete goal, and both of which are projected by politicians to last for a very long time. They don’t have to! As illegal and immoral as it was, the Iraq War was won. Saddam Hussein was captured, and wherever the WMDs that the US sold Iraq are now, they don’t appear to be in the country. Mission Accomplished. The subsequent occupations are so much pissing in the wind.
How Obama Can Do This
President Obama can order the immediate and orderly withdrawal of all military personnel and weapons from Iraq and Afghanistan. This is a process that would take no more than 2 months. Those who claim it would take longer are basing their calculations on airlifting every HDTV, ping pong table and chapel pew from the sprawling military bases the US has established. That is not necessary. We just marched in; we can just march out.
The military has had enough time to comb every inch of Afghanistan by now. If Osama bin Laden is not there, then leave and apprehend the criminal in some other way. A 400-million dollar bounty would cost less than one more day of the existing wars, and would motivate thousands of bounty hunters and former Al Qaeda minions to work on our behalf. If finding Osama and guarding against terrorists is the goal, then it is time to stop treating the military, Afghanistan and Iraq like automatic cash machines for Halliburton and Blackwater. For the future, he can end warmongering by not positioning aircraft carriers at the shores of Iran, not pressuring Russia’s neighbors to join NATO, and that’s just for starters.
We will not be satisfied if Obama is merely forced to end the occupations for fiscal reasons. He must choose to wage peace instead of war.
6. Stop the Signing Statements
Before President Bush took office, presidential “signing statements” were rarely used, and were only window dressing to a new bill expressing the President’s opinion on the new law. George W. Bush has transformed the signing statement into a legislative weapon. It has become a tool the President uses to legislate (a power not granted to him in the Constitution), and to create new powers or to disregard the orders of Congress.
How Obama Can Do This
All he has to do is refrain from adding his own legislation to the congressional bills that come across his desk. Now that Bush has set such a precedent, it is imperative that President Obama refute the Bush policy of ambitious executive power, to resist the temptation to follow Bush in unilaterally expanding his own power.
7. Repeal Presidential Directive 51
National Security Presidential Directive / NSPD 51 is a document issued by President George W. Bush, in which he granted himself the power to seize control of the entire federal government in the case of a national emergency. The conditions of this emergency are entirely at the President’s discretion. It should be obvious how dangerously close to dictatorship this measure takes us. The Democratic Congress said nothing, and the Supreme Court has been silent on this issue. The traditional separation of powers has turned into a separation of the Congress from their powers over the President. President Obama needs to rescind this directive.
How Obama Can Do This
It’s as easy as an executive order repealing these sections of NSPD 51, and returning continuity of government to the proper channels outlined in the Constitution. Ours is a federal system, not an imperial one. The 50 autonomous states delegate a short list of jobs to a common government, and they do not need an emperor in Washington seizing the reins in an emergency.
Summary
Every single one of these is a Bush policy that the Left complained about incessantly. Obama should not get a free pass on continuing these crimes against the Constitution. If he is to be accepted as a decent alternative to Bush, he must be assertive in satisfying this checklist.
