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[Laelth]

15. Obama appears reluctant to sign any such order, I agree.

But I don't think it's because he lacks the Constitutional power to do so. More likely, he's merely thinking like the politician he is.

Democratic politicians are very concerned about what people will say about them or what the electorate will do to them. They're thinking, "Well, what if there's another massive terrorist attack, and it is shown that the attack could have been prevented if we had done X, Y, and Z (all of which are legally authorized by the Patriot Act and other recent laws)? What then? We'll be crucified in the media! Republicans will say bad things about us! We will lose elections! Therefore, we must do X, Y, and Z, so that we don't get blamed for not preventing a terrorist attack."

That's the mindset that those of us who value our civil liberties are up against. I have no solution, but I fully understand why the same, authoritarian, police-state policies are pursued by both parties. This, I think, best explains Obama's dilemma.

-Laelth