EFF: Obama wiretapping arguments worse than GWB’s

Posted on by Jeff Porten

I’m frequently accused, most commonly by Brian, of believing with goosestep precision that everything Obama does is better than anything Bush ever did.

Personally, I like to think of myself as a bit less of a liberal meatpuppet; my belief that Bush was execrable is a conclusion, whereas my belief that Obama is better is an ongoing proposition. As such, evidence that Obama is neither perfect, nor do I personally believe him to be so: In Warrantless Wiretapping Case, Obama DOJ’s New Arguments Are Worse Than Bush’s.

The legal argument are bad — the proof in the pudding, though, will be whether the Obama administration has an actual plan to continue wiretapping the entire frakking nation. That’s something I’d like to hear more about.

One thought on “EFF: Obama wiretapping arguments worse than GWB’s”

  1. I’m reminded of something I wrote in the comments on this post:

    I don’t believe George W. Bush is a war criminal. I think he’s taken several unpopular stands, many of which have turned out to be spectacular failures, and has blatantly covered his ass from a legal perspective, to the point where those who disagree with him politically are lusting after a conviction for something….anything…..

    Now that he’s on his way out, though, the question becomes totally different. How does it help Obama to punish Bush? A moral victory, perhaps? Red meat for his most ardent supporters? Probably.

    But how does it hurt him? By making the legal hoops that every president must jump through even more complex. Better to do nothing and have any “same as Bush” arguments on Sunday morning talk shows, rather than in courts of law. If the situation never comes up – no harm, no foul. But if we find ourselves with military prisons, special tribunals, enemy combatants, etc. in the next four years, he’ll probably be glad he left Bush alone.

    It seems the only thing I’ve gotten wrong so far was the topic on which the issue came up…

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