Obama Nominates Anti-Constitution Lawyer to Federal Court
By Onan Coca / 12 May 2014 / 90 Comments
David Barron is a legal scholar from President Obama’s old stomping ground of Harvard University. He is also the guy the President would like to appoint to a federal judgeship. One little problem… David Baron is also the anti-Constitution (specifically anti-5th Amendment) lawyer who authored the memos telling the President that it’s cool to kill Americans overseas with drones without first giving them due process.
Republicans and the ACLU have formed an unlikely alliance against the nomination of Mr. Barron. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) leads the Republican assault on his nomination. “The constitutionality of this policy has been the subject of intense debate in our country since its implementation,” Paul wrote to Senate majority leader Harry Reid.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) stood against Barron’s nomination in committee and is still fighting his appointment to the federal bench. “Republicans are concerned about a host of aspects of his record, which is why Senator Grassley opposed in committee. But, you’d think that any member who truly cares about the Obama administration’s drone policy should want to wait until the administration complies with the court order before they are asked to cast a vote,” Beth Levine, Grassley’s aide, wrote in an email.
davidbarronDemocrats are arguing that Republican obstinacy to the nomination of David Barron is politically motivated and is just another in a long series of Republican stonewalling of the Obama administration. But the reality is much uglier for Democrats. If this were simply a political weapon being wielded by Republicans then it is likely that there would be no support from liberals… but that is just not the case. The ACLU (among other liberal groups) has joined the Republicans in calling on the government to block Baron’s ascent to the federal bench.
The ACLU, which has a much more natural partnership with Democrats, (usually) has joined with Republicans in fighting against Barron’s appointment. This dissent from within their own ranks should give Democrats pause before supporting Baron as a federal judge – the ACLU’s criticism of Barron is even more stinging than the Republicans.
“There is no other president in modern American history who has ordered the killing of an American citizen away from a battlefield without a judicial order, and by extension, there is no other federal government lawyer in modern American history who authorized the killing of an American citizen away from a battlefield,” said Christopher Anders, an ACLU attorney and co-author of the organization’s letter to the Senate.
The ACLU continues, “the memos “written or signed by Mr. Barron helped form the purported legal foundation for a large-scale killing program that has resulted in, as Senator Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, stated last year, as many as 4,700 deaths by drone attacks, including the deaths of four American citizens …” Ars Technica reported.”
Look, we are likely to disagree over the morality of killing people with drones. We are even likely to disagree with whether or not the President has the power to demand the execution of Americans overseas without a trial. (Normally because they are engaged in active combat against us as terrorists.) But consider the ramifications of allowing the President to decide which Americans get to have a trial and which Americans he can kill with a drone without due process.
dueprocessIt’s terrifying, isn’t it?
Anyone who simply throws out the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution because it suits him does not deserve to ever judge anyone else.
Well, David Barron is the man who did this. He gave President Obama the go ahead (and legal cover) to kill Americans without due process, and Democrats are about to let him become a federal judge.
Remember when Democrats were calling for the heads of Alberto Gonzalez and John Yoo for giving President Bush the legal cover to “torture” terrorists? Democrats get incensed about torturing terrorists but not about blowing them (or American citizens) up with drones? What kind of backwards thinking is that? It’s just more evidence of the logical gymnastics it takes to be a Democrat in America today…
We must stop the nomination of David Barron to the federal court.
Call your representatives and demand that they stand against President Obama and David Barron.
Read more at
http://eaglerising.com/6107/obama-nominates-anti-constitution-lawyer-federal-court/#YKLsr5vF3a1F157t.99
