War Is Peace: Obama & Bush

"We are witnessing the bipartisan normalization and legitimization of a national-surveillance state" ~ Jack Balkin, law professor at Yale

Everyday Obama gets one step closer to surpassing his predecessor's delusional and illegal policies. He's actually worse than Bush because he's legitimizing that agenda by forging a bipartisan consensus between Democrats and Republicans on issues related to war and national security. The growing list involves prosecuting whistle-blowers, criminalizing Wikileaks, extending the Patriot Act and conducting an illegal war in Libya and possibly Yemen. Now Obama, just like Bush, is being accused of breaking the law and overruling two of his top legal advisers over the U.S. role in Libya. His excuse for not consulting Congress? The Libyan conflict doesn't rise to the level of a war:

“We are acting lawfully,” said Harold Koh, the State Department legal adviser, who expanded on the administration’s reasoning in a joint interview with White House Counsel Robert Bauer....“We are not saying the president can take the country into war on his own,” Mr. Koh said. “We are not saying the War Powers Resolution is unconstitutional or should be scrapped, or that we can refuse to consult Congress. We are saying the limited nature of this particular mission is not the kind of ‘hostilities’ envisioned by the War Powers Resolution.”

I originally supported the intervention and agreed with Juan Cole that it was justified. I still feel that way, but Obama must go to Congress or else this whole thing stinks as badly as Bush at his worst.