Civil Liberties

• He authorized the assassination of U.S. citizens abroad.
• He rescinded on his promise to not prosecute marijuana users in states where it is legal, & pushed for a 5 year prison term for a California-legal medical marijuana dispensary operator.
• He extended the PATRIOT Act, with no reforms.
• He shifted on FISAlong ago pissing off his base.
• He is also to signNDAA into law allowing the fed to detain citizens indefinitely without trial, which is in line with the executive order he gave in march of 2011institutionalizing indefinite detention. Lifer-Democratic Party members defend this action by saying that Obama's back was against the wall. If he didn't sign it then he would have prevented proper funding to the military which would have been political suicide and it would have had no effect as Congress would have simply overrode his veto since they had the votes to do so. Since then Chris Hedges, Noam Chomsky and others have sued the Obama Administration over the provision. US District Judge Katherine Forrest has issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the enforcement of the portions of the National Defense Authorization Act 2012 (NDAA) that relate to open-ended military detention of “suspects,” rejecting the Obama Administration’s arguments that the eight plaintiffs in the case did not have standing to contest such detention practices. Meanwhile, while the Obama Administration play-acts like their hand was forced to sign this controversial law they not only defended their position in court against Hedges, were over-ruled by temporary injunction, and now the administration is construing the Court’s Order as applying only as to the named plaintiffs in this suit - and only the named plaintiffs. For someone who is against the provision, the Obama administration is sure doing a lot of dancing to keep it from being repealed. A judge down the NDAA provision. The very next day, theObama Administration appealed the decision.
• He pushed for mandatory DNA testing for those arrested for crimes, even if they have not been convicted
• which seems right in line with this bullshit of allowing cops the right to GPS track people without a warrant.
• Apparently Obama's DOJ thinks it is above the 5th Amendment and can force you to un-encrypt your laptop, USB keys or cell phones

Had a Bush or McCain presidency permitted extrajudicial executions virtually anywhere in the world, expanded drone strikes and introduced the NDAA, the Democratic Party would have howled from the rooftops. Senator Obama the Constitutional lawyer would have been one of the most vocal objectors. Under a Democratic administration however, these far-reaching developments have received scant opposition and a disgraceful absence of mainstream media coverage.

Misc

• He increased government secrecy, denying more Freedom of Information Act requests in 2009 than Bush did in 2008. So much for open government. When the people try to get information on their own - how does his administration react? Well just ask Bradley Manning - and he'll be sure to tell you all about Obama's support of his inhumane treatment. Obama has tried playing down the importance of the Wikileaks cables as well. He talks about open government, but talk is all that it is.
• He passed the Bush tax cuts for two more years in the middle of a fucking recession.
• He hasundercut whistleblowers.
• Obama's DOJ has been seizing Bit Torrent websites with out trial or warrant, including mere search engines
• Obama has continued Bush's legacy of using executive orders to bypass Congress. He has done this both to cover up mistakes in the Fast and Furious programs (that was started under Bush), and in regards to granting amnesty to young, law abiding legal immigrants. I'm more concerned about the use of the executive privilege than I am the goals of it's individual uses. It sets and continues a dangerous precedent of that much power consolidating at the executive level. People get into a pissing match about who used it more, Bush or Obama, but it doesn't matter. Wrong is wrong.