It turns out the Bush years were far worse than we ever imagined - and we were not shy in our imaginings.
Previously classified internal legal memos released by the Obama administration earlier this week demonstrate that
the Bush administration acted under the belief that it had virtually
unchecked power after 9/11. The combined effect of the memos, which in
theory gave the president the power to deploy the military on our soil,
ignore Fourth Amendment protections of our privacy, and even proscribe
First Amendment freedom of speech protections, led writer Scott Horton
to declare that in the post-9/11 era "this country was a dictatorship."
American Freedom Campaign co-founder Naomi Wolf wrote a powerful piece for Huffington Post conveying her initial reaction to the contents of
the memos. She concluded, "We need to stare [the memos] in the face
and understand them: they are evidence that the groundwork was laid out
that gave the president the legal power to effectively subvert the
Republic." Check it out:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/john-yoos-legal-groundwor_b_171552.html
While we are outraged by these memos, we do want to highlight one
positive note. The American Freedom Campaign, led by members like you,
helped to reverse one of the most objectionable policies - a memo
declaring that the president had the power to deploy the military on
our soil, a practice long prohibited under federal law. At the end of
September 2008, a couple of small media outlets reported that President
Bush had assigned the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team
to be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army
component of Northern Command (NorthCom). In response, AFC helped
raise awareness about the potential dangers involved and encouraged
members to take action. Just days later, the administration drafted a memo repudiating the earlier memo's authorization of far-reaching domestic military operations.
But certainly the news is not all positive. If you continue to be
outraged and disgusted by the actions of Bush administration officials,
including John Yoo, who wrote a number of the administration's most
notorious memos, such as those authorizing torture, you can take action
through existing actions on the AFC Web site. Here are two options:
Send an E-mail to Attorney General Eric Holder, urging him to launch a
full criminal investigation of Bush administration activities -- from
torture to warrantless wiretapping and beyond -- with prosecutions
where it is found that the laws of the United States have been
violated. Click here to take action:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2165/t/1027/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26685
Send a strongly worded E-mail to Christopher Edley, Jr, Dean of the UC
Berkeley School of Law, urging the dismissal of John Yoo. While the
pre-written E-mail on the site is torture-specific, the sentiment
remains the same. Here is the link to that action:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2165/t/1027/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=24188
We do not intend to let Bush administration officials ride off into the
sunset after their widespread assault on our laws and our
Constitution. We hope that you will join us as we continue to push for
serious accountability.
Liberty Lover84 messages
kibblesandbits51 messages
Hiking Mike25 messages
