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but we begin tonight with a tale of two speeches
both from the same and both from President Obama
one speech that could have been billed as a ballad the Constitution
a proclamation of American values a repudiation of the lawless behavior of
the last presidential administration
and another speech announcing a radical new claim a presidential power
that is not afforded by the constitution and that has never been attempted in
American history
even by George W Bush and *** Cheney remarkably President Obama today made
both have their speeches simultaneously standing inside the National Archives in
front of the actual
original Constitution President Obama delivered a blistering critique
up the Bush administration and what she called her actions and their legacy
literally a mess our government made a series of hasty decisions
poorly planned haphazard approach too often
we set those principles outside as luxuries that we could no longer afford
our government made decisions based on fear rather than foresight
the decisions that were made over the last eight years establish
an ad hoc legal approach for fighting terrorism there was neither
fact a more sustainable and ad hoc legal approach for fighting terrorism
that was neither affective nor sustainable ouch
then moments later he announced his own
his own ad hoc legal approach for fighting terrorism
President Obama today proposed something new something called
prolonged detention doesn't sound that bad right prolonged detention
Did you ever see the movie Minority Report it was based on a Philip K *** short story
came in 2002 it starred Tom Cruise remember it played a police officer in
something called the Department of pre crime
pre crimes were people arrested and persuaded to prevent crimes that they
have not
yet committed mr. marks
by a mandate issued by the D.C by the pre crime division I am placing you under arrest for the
future murders of Sarah Marks and Donald Domen the was due to take place today April 22nd at 0 800 hours and 4 minuites
Nah I didn't do anything he didn't do anything but your gonna
future *** creepy right putting somebody in jail not for what they've
done but
for what you're very sure they're going to do
there may be a number people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes
in some cases because evidence may be tainted
but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United States
for not prosecuting them for past crimes
that we need to keep them in prison because of our expectation
up there future crimes Al Qaeda terrorists and their affiliates are at war with the
United States
and those that we capture
like other prisoners of war
must be prevented from attacking us again prevented
will incarcerate people preventively preventive incarceration
indefinite detention without trial that's what that's what this is
that's what President Obama proposed today if you strip away
the euphemisms one civil liberties advocate told the New York Times today
quote
we've known that this was on the horizon for many years
but we were able to hold it off with george bush the idea that we might find
ourselves fighting with the Obama administration over these powers
is really stunning and it is stunning
particularly to hear President Obama claimed the power to keep people
in prison indefinitely with no charges against that no conviction no sentence
just
imprisonment it's particularly stunning to hear him make that claim in the
middle of the speech
that was all about the rule of law but we must do so within abiding confidence
in the rule of law our government was defending positions
undermine that under mind the rule of law
to ensure that they are in line with the rule of law how can a president
speak the kind of poetry that President Obama does about the rule of law
and call for the power to indefinitely
preventively imprison people because they might commit crimes
in the future how can those two things coexist in the same man?.
even in the same speech well that brings us to the self-consciously
awkward embarrassing part of this speech today after condemning the Bush
administration for what he called their
ad hoc legal strategy for trying to make things seem legal
patently weren't this is what President Obama proposed
today my administration has begun to reshape
the standards that apply
to ensure that they are in line with the rule of law
we must have clear defensible
and lawful standards for those who fall into this category we must have a thorough
process periodic review so that any prolonged detention is carefully
evaluated
and justified our goal is to construct a legitimate legal framework
for
the remaining Guantanamo detainees that cannot be transferred
our goal is not to avoid
a legitimate legal framework
in our constitutional system prolonged detention should not be the decision
of any one man
if and when we determined that the United States must hold individuals to
keep them from carrying out
an active war
we will do so within a system that involves judicial
and congressional oversight
and so going forward my administration will work with congress to develop
appropriate legal regime that our efforts are consistent with our values
and our Constitution you'll construct
a legal regime to make indefinite detention
legal you will what does he say develop an appropriate legal regime
so you can construct a whole new system outside the courts
even outside the Military Commissions so that you can indefinitely imprison
people without charges
And build that system from scratch what's that somebody said about
ad hoc legal strategies just for context here in the United Kingdom where there
isn't even a bill of rights
there's been a major debate about whether people can be held in preventive
detention
former British Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted three months
to be outer limit for how long anyone could be held there was a big political
fight about it Parliament ended up limiting that power to 28 days
28 is still the longest period of preventive detention that allowed under
law
in any comparable democracy anywhere in the world how long would President Obama's
proposed preventive
indefinite detention last well he is not saying yet but here's
how he defines the threat that he says makes indefinite detention necessary
right now in distant training camps in crowded cities there people plotting
to take american lives
that will be the case a year from now
five years from now
in all probability 10 years from ten years from now
so you can get arrested today and locked up
without a trial without being convicted without being sentenced
for say 10 years until the threat of your
future criminal behavior passes prolonged
detention he is calling it this is a beautiful speech from President Obama
today with patriotic moving
even poetic language about the rule of law and the constitution
and one of the most radical proposals for defying the Constitution
that we have ever heard made to the American people