I’m fake angry at President Obama because he’s probably going to sign the National Defense Authorization Act
This act contains some really bad language. There have been a few changes that at least give the executive the option of not grossly violating civil liberties—but it’s a real shame to see indefinite detention without trial enshrined in law. That said, I think the practical effect will be fairly minimal.
- Because the act doesn’t require this administration to use the provisions, I expect it will carry on much is it has. Specifically, it will act in a way that makes civil libertarians uncomfortable—but is substantially better than what the Bush administration did.
- The past Republican President claimed that he didn’t need any act of congress to do what he did—so I don’t know that this act will change the next Republican President’s decision.
- The provision in question is probably unconstitutional. I suspect it will
- There could be a back door to getting rid of it before the next President takes office that involves declaring an official end to the War on Terror—though I’ll write more on that if I remember to get around to it.
Still, I will be genuinely unhappy to see Obama’s signature on this act. In the mean time, I’m fake outraged. Because what did I expect?
I wrote earlier today that my dog had eaten half a loaf of bread dough. I pretended to be upset—because I wanted him to remember that eating bread dough left on the counter is a no-no the next time the situation arose. But I wasn’t really outraged. He’s a dog. Eating unsupervised food is in his nature. I shouldn’t have given him the opportunity.
Similarly, it’s in the Obama administration’s nature to sign legislation that passed with sufficient bipartisan support to easily survive a veto. It’s critical legislation, despite the awful language. A veto would be a political disaster for the administration and compromise other (admittedly important) legislative priorities. Of course the President will sign it. There was a non-zero chance of a veto—but non-zero was still pretty close to zero. Nobody should be surprised at this. Hence, fake anger.
Mr. President, I’m outraged. Don’t do this again … not that there’s anything I could do about it.
