Drone Policy Attacks Heart Of Constitution

There has been a great deal of talk and concern about drones being used within the US borders.  Are we being spied on in yet another new way?  Are we safe from an attack in our own town?

Sen. Rand Paul declared the president has crowned himself “judge, jury and executioner, all in one.” Nadler, during a Dec. 12 Judiciary Committee hearing on drones and the Constitution.   “The power to wage war, and to order the killing of any person is perhaps the most awesome power the president has. The framers of our Constitution rightly placed stringent limits on the authority of any one individual to take the nation down that road.”

The trend toward more central government power is bipartisan. Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham crudely slapped down Paul after his filibuster. And House Republican leaders are making no such demands for disclosure. Only two bills have been filed to control drones, and they have only four signers.

While the Obama administration is lowering the curtain on information about the regime, it is seeking more data on you and me, like Google and like Facebook. Reuters reported last week that the Obama administration is making plans to give all U.S. spy agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial data on American citizens and others who bank in this country.

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was so besotted with the secret power that drones afford, he ordered a new medal for service members who control them from a desktop. It outranks battle awards like the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
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