Obama Administration Says President Can Use Lethal Force Against Americans on US Soil

[Swede Atlanta]

13. Agree but this is significantly different in my opinion....

In those cases you had human law enforcement agents who had significant amount of evidence as to the culpability of these individuals. I think the circumstances around their deaths lend themselves to a conclusion these were bad people who had done bad things before and were likely to do bad things including killing people again. Should they have been apprehended and brought to justice in a courtroom? Sure, that would have been ideal.

My concern with the use of drones or other military resources against American citizens on U.S. soil are several fold. The first is the notion of posse comitatus under which the U.S. military cannot engage in law enforcement action on U.S. soil. The next is the fact we have history with drones and know that their use often involves "collateral damage" whereby innocent victims are killed. Further there is no actual confrontation between law enforcement and the individual to be sure it is the right person, etc. Allowing someone sitting in a command center hundreds or thousands of miles away playing on their video monitor to kill an American citizen is beyond creepy.

I am very disappointed in this but we have seen time and again where Obama has not only relished in the exercise of what I consider extra-constitutional powers that were devised under GWB but has in fact extended them.

I do not want an imperial president. I want a president that upholds the Constitution. As a lawyer and someone who taught constitutional law I expect better from this man.

Trust me I still prefer him sitting in the White House than RMoney or McInsane but he is far from ideal as a president.