Obama and Civil Liberties ~ go to the audio link, worth the 5 minutes!

[lastone]

My column was on civil liberties, which are those basic rights and freedoms guaranteed under our Bill of Rights and the Constitution. While they do not change in the sense that they are fundamental rights, they have been “recognized” in a belated or evolving fashion by the courts. Civil liberties include those core rights we associate with freedom, such as free speech, privacy, due process. Civil rights generally refer to laws that protect us from unequal treatment or harassment based on such characteristics as race, gender, age, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation and nationality.

Notably, Obama has been criticized on both fronts. While he recently moved against “don’t ask, don’t tell,” his administration has been in court making the same arguments as the George W. Bush administration in denying that discrimination based on sexual orientation should be treated the same as discrimination based on race, religion or gender. He remains undecided on same-sex marriage. These are viewed as civil rights matters.

The subject of my column is properly called civil liberties. At issue, for example, is the right of the president to unilaterally declare that citizens should be killed on sight because his administration deems them part of a terrorist organization.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/29/opinion/la-oe-turley-civil-liberties-20110929
http://jonathanturley.org/2011/10/10/obama-and-civil-liberties-talk-of-the-nation/
Audio, link goes to liveleak - so not entirely sfw... not just for the ron paul bs either!
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c0c_1318309060