Unhinged president actually starts killing people and claims its a secret.

[Gopher]

Because if you or I secretly decided to kill some one and then did it, what would that be called?

Assassination, extrajudicial killing, murder? They're all the same. None of them are good. Regular folks spend decades in prison for just engaging in conspiracies to commit those sorts of acts. Katie bar the door if they actually succeed.

[ivanbalt]

Sounds like something Alex Jones would say.

Are you talking to me? If so, explain how I'm wrong.

Bush indefinitely detains suspects in Gitmo and the right have no problem. The left wants it closed.

Obama has a kill list of suspects including Americans and the left have no problem. The right freaks out.

[SemiAuto]

There's no proof that he authorized the leaks but he wouldnt be the first POTUS to leak classified info to the NYT...

It seems pretty obvious from the article who told the NY Times. Thomas E. Donilon, his national security adviser.

[soulflower]

Assassination. One of the two possible answers. So what would you say of an assassin's moral authority to call for legislating against violence?

Several of the Founding Fathers owned slaves.

America has been full of contradictions since the beginning.

I'm not. I'm just not secretly deciding to kill people.

The President can Pardon criminals too and you can't do that.

If our leaders are a reflection of ourselves then would this explain anything about the violence of late?

Of late? Are you implying that Presidents haven't been ordering assassinations longer than Obama has been in office?

I don't believe Presidents order assassinations for fun. I'm sure they all have valid reasons. It isn't always ethical. I don't envy them for having the privilege to do those kinds of things...

[soulflower]

It seems pretty obvious from the article who told the NY Times. Thomas E. Donilon, his national security adviser.

Then what's the point of the Congressional investigations into the national security leaks?

[SemiAuto]

Assassination, extrajudicial killing, murder? They're all the same. None of them are good. Regular folks spend decades in prison for just engaging in conspiracies to commit those sorts of acts. Katie bar the door if they actually succeed.

Yet here it is, completely normalized, by a progressive president. /gasp!

[downhome]

It seems pretty obvious from the article who told the NY Times. Thomas E. Donilon, his national security adviser.

Wasn't that the article that caused an uproar in Congress wrt "leaks"?

[SemiAuto]

Then what's the point of the Congressional investigations into the national security leaks?

Gotcha politics? They're certainly not investigating assassinations or murders.

But this is not about the leaks.

[SemiAuto]

Several of the Founding Fathers owned slaves.

America has been full of contradictions since the beginning.

A terrible price was paid for that mistake. Is the country headed for another terrible price via leadership that normalizes violence?

The President can Pardon criminals too and you can't do that.

I can't prosecute criminals either. About as far as I can go is to decline to file a complaint.

Of late? Are you implying that Presidents haven't been ordering assassinations longer than Obama has been in office?

No. I'm implying that Obama is a reflection of a society that is okay with violence and vice-versa. A sort of cultural decline where the leadership has no moral authority to legislate against violence because they are essentially committing murder.

I don't believe Presidents order assassinations for fun. I'm sure they all have valid reasons. It isn't always ethical. I don't envy them for having the privilege to do those kinds of things...

It's not a privilege. It's a self appointed power in this case.

[soulflower]

Gotcha politics? They're certainly not investigating assassinations or murders.

Every President uses that power. The minority party isn't going to investigate because they want the same power when someone from their party is back in the WH...

[SemiAuto]

Every President uses that power. The minority party isn't going to investigate because they want the same power when someone from their party is back in the WH...

Then maybe the government is unhinged and Obama is just a product of that?

If so, it doesn't bode well.

[Gopher]

Yet here it is, completely normalized, by a progressive president. /gasp!

Yep. Mr. Obama claims he read somewhere in the Constitution that he has the authority to assassinate American citizens anywhere in the world without a shred of due process. Nice. I’m not surprised the progressives don’t have much of a problem with it. After all, these are the same people that think Joseph Stalin was an okay kind of guy.

[ms maggie]

No, I'm not talking about bin Laden. One would only have to read the 1st paragraph of the linked article to know that. I'm talking, once again, about a president with a secret kill list that contains US citizens and a teenaged girl.

So give the question a shot. If you or I secretly decided to kill some one and then did it, what would that be called?

you and I aren't the CIC. And it is very much the same as bin Laden. secret operation, teenagers-- an assassination in both cases.

[soulflower]

A terrible price was paid for that mistake. Is the country headed for another terrible price via leadership that normalizes violence?

I doubt it.

No. I'm implying that Obama is a reflection of a society that is okay with violence and vice-versa. A sort of cultural decline where the leadership has no moral authority to legislate against violence because they are essentially committing murder.

Was it a reflection of society when FDR and Truman leveled entire cities(including civilian areas) during WWII?

Was it a reflection of society when JFK had Diem killed?

This stuff didn't just begin four years ago. Presidents have been pushing the limits of what is Ethical and Unethical use of power for a long time. It's not going to change anytime soon.

[soulflower]

Yep. Mr. Obama claims he read somewhere in the Constitution that he has the authority to assassinate American citizens anywhere in the world without a shred of due process. Nice. I’m not surprised the progressives don’t have much of a problem with it. After all, these are the same people that think Joseph Stalin was an okay kind of guy.

Let me know when you hear a peep from the Tea party on this subject...

[SemiAuto]

you and I aren't the CIC. And it is very much the same as bin Laden. secret operation, teenagers-- an assassination in both cases.

Then where did he get this power? If you or I did it we'd be up on murder charges.

[downhome]

Yep. Mr. Obama claims he read somewhere in the Constitution that he has the authority to assassinate American citizens anywhere in the world without a shred of due process. Nice. I’m not surprised the progressives don’t have much of a problem with it. After all, these are the same people that think Joseph Stalin was an okay kind of guy.

Depends on your definition of "progressive." Progressives like Chris Hedges, Glenn Greenwald, Amy Goodman, Naomi Wolf, Noam Chomski and Naomi Klein have consistantly decried various policies of the Obushma administration. (I guess these people might be better described as "left leaning libertarians")

[flyboy56]

No, it doesn't.

Take a shot at answering the question, "If you or I secretly decided to kill some one and then did it, what would that be called?"

1st Degree Premeditated murder.

[Gopher]

Let me know when you hear a peep from the Tea party on this subject...

Not sure what the Tea Party has to do with this unless they were the ones who convinced Mr. Obama that he had the authority to order the assassination of American citizens anywhere in the world without any due process.

[flyboy56]

Are you talking to me? If so, explain how I'm wrong.

Bush indefinitely detains suspects in Gitmo and the right have no problem. The left wants it closed.

Obama has a kill list of suspects including Americans and the left have no problem. The right freaks out.

A difference between life in prison and the death penalty. Personally I don't have a problem with Obama's kill list, but I do see Semi's point. Our leader is setting a very dangerous example for drug induced young minds.