Barack Obama fails to end Iraq War

As friends and families gather for Christmas, it’s important to remember that more than 13,000 troops are still rotating in and out of the failed state of Iraq. A haunting legacy for a presidency built on false hopes and that pretty much doubled down on the unconstitutional polices of George W. Bush.

Maybe, just maybe, some concerned liberals are discovering the principle of limited government as they contemplate an unpredictable Donald Trump inheriting a fully functional Guantanamo Bay, an expanded “Patriot Act”, a National Defense Authorization Act that arguably allows for the indefinite detention of American citizens, increased drone warfare in numerous countries far outside of the original AUMF for Iraq, an unprecedented crackdown on whistleblowers (more than all other presidents combined), a toppled Libya infested w/ ISIS, and boots on the ground in Syria amidst a civil war—despite promises to the contrary. (Not to mention issues surrounding the NSA.)

Indefinite Detention: …2017 NDAA reaffirms the right of the President to hold any US citizen indefinitely without charge or trial. Many critics see this as by far the most important and potentially devastating portion in the entire bill. The United State’s continued funding and protection of indefinite detention has caused the acronym, NDAA, to be synonymous with ‘anti-liberty’ in many circles.

NPR’s Steve Inskeep recently asked President Obama if Donald Trump should continue using executive orders to the extent that he had.

Obama told NPR that Trump is “entirely within his lawful power” to sign new executive orders of his own. “Keep in mind, though, that my strong preference has always been to legislate when I can get legislation done. In my first two years I wasn’t relying on executive powers because I had big majorities in the Congress and we were able to get bills done, get bills passed.

Too bad President Obama didn’t use that Democratic majority to, I don’t know, shut down Guantanamo and end the wars…

Needless to say, the current president ultimately warned Trump to avoid excessive executive orders. Glad that’s taken care of…

Another big win for limited government!