I give Charlie Savage of the New York Times credit for reporting on the many ways in which President Obama has continued national security policies of the Bush administration that are inconsistent with basic civil liberties. I get bored with people who say there is no difference. Obama has banned torture completely, for example, and he has shut down all the black prisons. Rendition and state secrets invocation policy are under review. Obama has a goal of shutting Guantanamo by next February.
But Obama’s policies still fall far short of respecting a reasonable standard of privacy and the rule of law. And, the risk is, putting a bipartisan imprimatur on these policies will make them a permanent feature of a new surveillance state.
