Obama: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

The following short video by Reality Check regarding the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is a good summary of the Bill, from its passing into law to its current status in litigation. The NDAA gives the President the power to indefinitely detain any US citizen, without evidence, without trial, anywhere in the world, for how ever long the President wants, if the government believes their acts are "belligerent" and associated with a terror group (note that Wikileaks was just listed as an enemy of the state, maybe you will be indefinitely detained if you tried to post something to Wikileaks, see that article here.

In short, President Obama, our beloved leader, promised to veto the NDAA, but when the bill was presented to him, he unexpectedly signed it into law. Note that Mitt Romney has stated he would have passed the bill as well, so this is but another important issue where there is no difference between our two party system which presents us with an alleged stark contrast of a choice in this years election (the two parties are the same, it is true, it is sad, it is undemocratic, their differences are negligible and meaningless, but I digress). However, in signing the NDAA into law, President Obama ensured he disagreed with the indefinite detention article and would not implement it in his Presidency. Ok. That is a nice assurance. That makes me feel good, right? Well, then a judge of the 2nd Circuit District Court enjoined the indefinite detention provision as "facially unconstitutional." This means the President cannot use that provision until its constitutionality is determined by the Court. You would think President Obama would be happy with this situation, he got to sign a law he thought necessary for our safety into law, and like a line item veto the Court made his life easier by striking down the clearly unconstitutional provision he was opposed to from the get-go. You would be wrong. Despite what President Obama said before the bill was passed, and despite what he said when signing the bill, he appealed the decision to the Appeals Court and had the injunction overturned. So now the President can enforce the indefinite detention provision, the one he was going to veto and would not use, that he signed into law and appealed to remove an injunction against.

Reality Check says it best, "actions speak louder than words."

p.s. The Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson, opposes the NDAA. Obama and Romney both support it.