http://www.advocate-online.net/110509/O_JordanObama.php

Most people will remember George Walker Bush’s presidency as the crazy time in which words like “legal,” “illegal,” or even “rational” didn’t mean anything.

Above all of the things he did, negative or positive, one of the things that will standout in history is the fact that he protected himself from being questioned about any illegal activities he did, at least concerning surveillance on American citizens.

To some, this might seem like it was nearly a lifetime ago. It has been about a year since Obama was elected and his policies supposedly began to be set in motion.

The only problem with that is that, overall, they really haven’t.
We’re still at war; it just doesn’t make the news as much. We’re still in a borderline depression, but people seem less worried about it.

These things aren’t that troubling, though. Obama can’t truly be blamed for these things because he really has only been president for a short time, and he has many channels to go through before he can legally start doing some real good. The founding fathers built the government that way so the president could be held accountable for his actions.


The problem is, Obama did just assert that he is granted immunity from being questioned about the legality of home surveillance programs.
Sound familiar?

In fact, do you know who one of the loudest voices against this idea was when Bush did it? That’s right — our current president. The even bigger problem is that he was speaking out against it loudly right up until the time he got elected.

Then, suddenly, protecting the president from being questioned about very legal activities seemed like a very good idea.

I don’t really blame him, though. There is a great use for secret home surveillance. However, it is the fact that all people’s phone calls and emails can be monitored for no real good reason, and the fact that Obama is refusing to admit that this is a contradiction in his original stance on the matter, that should really worry people.

It would be all right, for the most part, if he was just willing to admit that he didn’t realize the necessity for keeping the president, and the agency involved in the surveillance (the NSA), immune from questioning. However, he’s not.
“I wouldn’t have drafted the legislation like this, and it does not resolve all of the concerns that we have about President Bush’s abuse of executive power,” said Obama about the policy.

Essentially, he’s trying to hide behind the fact that he himself did not write the bill, and shove the blame onto the Department of Justice, regardless of the fact that they indirectly represent the policies that Obama wishes to put into place.

It’s most worrisome, however, because of how contradictory this policy is to one of Obama’s loudest outcries during his campaign. While it is doubtful that he would ever take such a 180-degree turn on things such as healthcare, it does make one question how much his stance will change on other things during the remainder of his time in office.

For the most part, he just needs to be watched more carefully, even though he just made it impossible to actually do that.