Obama’s 1st weak on the job

By Doug Powers

Wow, what a first week! In the course of just a few days, the innocent have fewer rights, terrorist suspects have more, $1 trillion dollars is being stolen from current and future generations to perpetuate an already monstrous government, and self-proclaimed stewards of the environment left the Washington Mall garbage-strewn. This was after an inaugural speech that shouted out props to Muslims and atheists, made Marxist Hollywood celebs weep with joy, and a tax cheat was nominated for Treasury secretary.

And, as was once said on the Titanic, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

One of President Obama’s first duties was to begin the war on the war on terror by keeping a campaign promise to close the U.S. Detention Camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and to possibly bring some of the terrorist suspects (pardon me, “people with differing viewpoints on how to run the world”) to the United States.

We finally find a politician who follows through on keeping a campaign promise and it has to be this?

With his order to shut down Gitmo, Obama has reversed former President Bush’s policy of “fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here,” and instituted “The Obama Doctrine,” which is “Bring them here so we don’t violate their rights over there.” Jimmy Carter will lose some frequent appeaser miles, but other than that, liberals are thrilled.

So, what happens to the “detainees” currently housed at Gitmo? Not content with the fact that Pittsburgh doesn’t resemble Fallujah nearly enough, Rep. John “once a Marine, always falsely accusing a Marine” Murtha offered to house Gitmo detainees in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvanians who keep re-electing Murtha may deserve their new neighbors, but nobody else does.

If terrorist suspects end up in the U.S., they’ll no doubt be afforded constitutional protections that, in a simpler, saner time when we had the audacity to have common sense, were reserved for citizens. What a gross insult to our military, and others, who make great sacrifices to put away those who are actively seeking to destroy the concept of freedom.

Many terrorist suspects might be released simply because Miranda rights weren’t recited, or, even if they were, the rights weren’t read in Pashto. Once adequate leftist legal representation is secured, the former detainees may then be free to sue big tobacco and will maybe even obtain government “stimulus” jobs where they’ll be trained and paid to reconstruct any buildings they happen to blow up.

So, with the rights of terrorist suspects secured and your right to keep your own money denied early in week one, Obama then set his sights on the lifting the ban on funding overseas abortions. In the deep, dark corner of the liberal psyche, funding abortions helps combat terrorism. Presumably, at least a few of the aborted babies would have grown up to be terrorists, or, worse yet, conservatives, so it’s a win-win.

It’s still a blessing to be an American. In comparison to so much of the rest of the world, we have the good life, and have had it for quite some time. But the downside is that we’ve had it so good for so long that, if we’re not careful, history may record this fact as the very reason for our downfall. When you lose your grip on reality, losing your grip on freedom can’t be far behind.

President Obama likes to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin’s words: “Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.” This is true, but that quote has been perverted and is used as justification to protect the liberty of the government and the security of the government. Therefore, in the mind of big government, if you threaten its liberty and security, you deserve neither. It’s almost enough to make you want to fly a kite during a lightning storm.

At this very moment, liberals are simultaneously celebrating VG Day (Victory at Gitmo) and the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The message the “progressives” have sent in week one of the Obama administration is loud and clear: “Due process” is too lofty an ideal to be wasted on the truly defenseless.


Doug Powers

Doug Powers' columns appear every Monday on WorldNetDaily. He is an author and columnist residing in Michigan. Be sure to check out Doug's blog for daily commentary and responses to select reader e-mail.

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