Glenn Greenwald posts a reflection on reactions to terrorism that I think puts into words my feelings better than I ever could. I really think his views here reflect my own better than I have seen them put before.

What makes all of this most ironic is that the American Founding was predicated on exactly the opposite mindset. The Constitution is grounded in the premise that there are other values and priorities more important than mere Safety. Even though they knew that doing so would help murderers and other dangerous and vile criminals evade capture, the Framers banned the Government from searching homes without probable cause, prohibited compelled self-incrimination, double jeopardy and convictions based on hearsay, and outlawed cruel and unusual punishment. That’s because certain values — privacy, due process, limiting the potential for abuse of government power — were more important than mere survival and safety.

Good read. Find the source here: Salon.com

I was thinking Obama’s presidency was going so well. There were the occasional broken promises and slip-ups. The standard things. I’m realistic, I know not everything he promised he could, should, or would do. I just wanted him to stay true to his principles, get some of the most important tasks done, and not be evil. I never would have thought that last one would be a stumbling block for him.

The fact that he could straight-faced talk about “preventative detention” is appalling. There’s no excuse. It’s actually to the point where I don’t even feel like I should even muster an argument against it, because it is so clearly and obviously wrong. This seriously is a deal-breaker for me. I cannot bring myself to vote for a man who would push for the idea that we can take away someone’s freedom because we think they might do something bad in the future. I mean that if he pushes for this power then I seriously can no longer support him as President. Top duty: defend the Constitution. He would have failed at that.

I’m confused here. I feel like popular culture has enough warnings about these kinds of powers. Under Bush I got the painful impression we were starting to be 1984ed, and now Obama wants to Minority Report us. Instead the references seem to laughed off. It’s just too easy I suppose since our lives don’t change with these policies. We get to keep living on as normal. But, that doesn’t mean it isn’t evil.

I really hope Obama wakes up and realizes the road we’re going down is not where we’re supposed to be going.