General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "President Obama Has Earned Our Disapproval" The Atlantic, Nov 2014 [View all]bhikkhu
(10,708 posts)Much of that comes with the territory (sadly).
To not do #1, he would have had to shut down the NSA, and a certain amount of the CIA and the FBI. I don't think that could be done from the executive branch.
To not do #2, he would have had to have published the records, pictures and video of the bush era torture practices. While I would have welcomed that, there are pros and cons. He did sign an executive order in his first week clearly ending the practices, and probably there was some rationalization that that was sufficient, and a "least harm" approach (though clearly not a "maximum justice" approach).
#3 is a matter of enforcing existing law. I don't know how he could do otherwise - its kind of the job. The administration did move towards a hands-off policy of marijuana enforcement where state laws had been passed that conflicted with federal laws.
#4 is an objection to a method of modern war. I don't think the drone program has been effective, but I believe it was a choice between doing nothing, or unnecessarily committing troops, or trying to do something. On paper there is a compelling military argument for drone warfare, but it hasn't worked out so well in practice, apparently.
#5 Technically, military action against a foreign power is illegal without an act of congress, and congress has authorized only 11 actions since 1787. A list of actual wars and military interventions is here https://www.globalpolicy.org/us-military-expansion-and-intervention/26024.html . I didn't count them, but its certainly well over a hundred. Obama followed the same practices as every other president; not that that's a good thing, but "illegal" means nothing in context. And I think the side you are fighting on outweighs any other factor if you are fighting in a war. Al-Awlaki chose his side.
#6 I don't know what this refers to
#7 Snowden and Manning, I imagine. I'm again not for prosecution, but if you have protocols for classified information, its hard not to have punishment for releasing classified information. I wish Manning had been treated better from the beginning, and I'm fine with Snowden being allowed to leave.