Presidential Arbitrary Power to Kill a Bipartisan Success

Glenn Greenwald at Salon notes that lefty-loosies Think Progress and tout le GOP presidential field (except, cough, Ron Paul) agree that it's great when Obama orders people killed for his own darn good reasons, thank you very much, and please don't ask any questions:

Prior to [last week's] GOP foreign policy debate, the Center for American Progress Action Fund's Think Progress blog…announced  that it had compiled a list of "what you won't hear at tonight's GOP foreign policy debate: Obama's successes." …many Democrats not only passively acquiesce to Obama's continuation of core Bush/Cheney Terrorism policies, but enthusiastically cheer it as proof that they, too, can be Tough and Strong…. So here you have Think Progress heaping praise on Obama for seizing what is literally the most radical power a President can seize: the power to target — in total secrecy and with no checks or due process — their fellow citizens for execution…

But what's most notable here is how inaccurate TP's prediction was: it turned out to be completely wrong that the Awlaki assassination was something "you won't hear at tonight's GOP foreign policy debate." In fact, we heard a lot about it — from the GOP candidates who heaped as much praise on Obama as TP did for murdering this American citizen. Indeed, among the most vocal cheers of the night from the GOP South Carolina crowd — second only to its vocal swooning for the virtues of waterboarding — was when their right-wing candidates hailed Obama's decision to kill Awlaki.

Not, though, Ron Paul, who Greenwald ironically refers to, in deference to some standard proggy opinion, as crazy:

Ron Paul also objected to the killing under Obama not only of Awlaki, but, two weeks later, of Awlaki's 16-year-old son, also a U.S. citizen, and his 17-year-old cousin. Think Progress forgot to include those dead teenagers on its list of Obama's "foreign policy successes"…. But Ron Paul yet again showed how insane he is by pointing out that it's a bad thing — both morally and prudentially — for the U.S. Government to run around continuously killing Muslim children from the sky. All Sane and Serious People know that the President has the right and the duty to keep killing Muslim teeangers such as Awlaki's 16-year-old son; only crazies like Ron Paul object to such necessities.

But even the craziest and most radical policies are immediately removed from the realm of craziness as soon as the leadership of both political parties agree on them. As evidenced by Think Progress' listing of the Awlaki assassination as an Obama "success" — joined in that assessment by Bachmann, Gingrich and Romney — that is what Barack Obama has achieved for due-process-free presidential killings of our fellow citizens. 

Normalizing the worst of Bush's claims of presidential power? Yes, Obama can!