President Bush has long been criticized for unprecedented abuse of American liberties. A year ago this month, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann accused Bush of killing Habeas Corpus saying, "The President has now succeeded where no one has before." He then continues on to explain how this eliminates all of the Bill of Rights except for the third. The third allows Americans the right not to house soldiers if they choose. It is a blatant and incorrect attack on Bush.
Olbermann gives President Bush undeserved credit, as the suspension of Habeas Corpus can be traced as far back as the Civil War when Abraham Lincoln issued the Proclamation Suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus. Nor is he the first President to imprison people without due process, as FDR issued an executive order imprisoning tens of thousands of Japanese Americans.
The government will continue to take our rights away during times of uncertainty. The American people will make the sacrifice, but for only so long. We will demand that our rights be returned. This is the perpetual give and take between our two values; life and liberty. We expect that the government protects us from dangers to our safety. Those dangers include the government and the threat of losing our freedoms.
Many of President Bush's actions are not original in idea. Lincoln and FDR are but two examples of other presidents trampling on our rights. The insinuations about Bush ending our democracy expected, but incorrect. However, the fact that many people do accuse him, and repeatedly get away with it, shows that their rights are still intact. His actions are similar to many presidents before him and will be repeated by those to come.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Not the First nor the Last
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3 comments:
GEEZ,..no American President abused their power more than Clinton! "W" may not be a rocket scientist,(at times, I'd question his ability to light a bottle rocket)..but atleast he didn't unload on an intern in the oral office, get himself impeached, or lie to a federal grand jury! Hey...come to think of it, "W" doesn't inhale either, but he does have Laura waking up next to him every morning....it sure beats looking at that coyote Hillary!! AAWWWWWhhooooooooo!!!!
While I am no fan of Clinton, I would hesitate to say he abused powers more than any other. I do agree that he abused his powers greatly. The point of my article is to show that Bush is not the horrible corrupt person people try to make him out to be. He has made mistakes, but so has every president. Thank you for your comment.
I think bush is corrupt, i think he is far more corrupt then Clinton ever was. He does ignore our rights, he is not very clear in why he does the things that he does. He is not very good at what does no matter how you look at it. Personal issues that clinton got impeached for are considered non-issues in my book when compared to poorly justified taking of citizen rights. I do agree that this has been done by presidents in the past. However I dont consider it necessary for a president to take such actions even during times of uncertainty.
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