Note: I could have written this to George W Bush six months ago. If John McCain were the POTUS, I would have written this letter to him. Since President Obama was inaugaurated on 1/20/09 I have waited patiently for President Obama to take the lead in Prosecuting the Bush Administration for war crimes and restoring the Bill of Rights to it's full authority. I can not wait any longer.
I understand that these policies did not start with President Obama. All I ask is that they end with him. As a citizen who voted for and campaigned for Obama, I feel I am within my rights by asking for this.
I am not a suspect in any crime. I have committed no crime. There is no reason to eavsdrop on my phone calls, or read my e-mail, or monitor my internet activity. Without a court issued warrant, it is illegal to do so. Without a just cause, there is no sound reason that can warrant any search. As a citizen of these United States of America, as a native son of the State of New York, as the son of a Vietnam veteran and as a voter with all of the rights as defined under the Constitution, I say to President Barack Obama, I want my Bill of Rights back!
" As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience sake. "
- From the Inaugural Address 1/20/09
To those of us who have negative comments to make, please address them to Buhdydharma and other Pro-Prosecution advocates as well when their diaries make the rec-list.
After 8 years of pure corruption wrapped up in the seal of the Oath of Office, I demand more than just walking and chewing gum, I demand accountability and a return of the rule of law as defined by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. President Obama has not done this. In fact, The DoJ under President Obama has fought to uphold precedents set by the Bush Jr Administration regarding State Secrets and other civil rights issues. As detailed by in yesterday's rec list diary titled Judges, Experts: Obama Mimics Bush...Gibbs: State Secrets Good the Obama Administration thus far is not fighting to reverse Bush policy, but to maintain it.
Gibbs: Obama Stands By DOJ's Use Of State Secrets Privilege, by Sam Stein
The President fully supports the Department of Justice's citing of the state secrets privilege to brush aside lawsuits targeting officials who oversaw warrantless wiretapping, spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Thursday.
"Absolutely, absolutely he does," Gibbs said, when asked if the president deemed the DOJ's legal reasoning fair.
In my eyes, this is an affront to every thing that Obama said during the campaign leading up to the election. These are broken promises, plain and simple. Further, this underlines the lack of action in taking the Bush Jr Whitehouse to task for the War Crimes committed in regards to torture and violations of the 8th Amendment of our Constitution concerning Cruel and Unusual Punishment. Why prosecute those whom you agree with as a matter of policy?
I can not fully endorse the Obama Administration until these matters are addressed and corrected. I can not endorse an Administration that denies me my 4th Amendment rights, or my ability to demand my rights in court by hiding behind the cover of "State Secrets". Nor can I endorse an Administration that refuses to address the War Crimes committed by the previous regime of George W. Bush, especially when the international community is already moving to prosecute these war criminals without us.
Until the American Government gets on board with the rest of the world to hold War Criminals and torturers accountable, until the American Government restores the Bill Of Rights and The Constitution of the United States to it's pre-Patriot Act levels (which suited us well during two World Wars and a Civil War), I can not fully endorse the Obama Administration. Good enough is not good enough. I am not a criminal or a suspect in any crime, but I am complicit in the eyes of the world as an accessory to these crimes, in that, as a citizen of The United States of America, I am guilty through association.
Therefore, I say to you, President Obama, restore the Bill of Rights and Prosecute The Bush Administration for Crimes of War, or be complicit in their crimes and guilty of Obstruction of Justice. You have the power to make things right. Please, for the good of our nation and the good of the world, do not shirk that responsibility.
Formal Petition to Attorney General-Designate Eric Holder to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute any and all government officials who have participated in War Crimes.
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