“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. ”
― George Orwell
I wasn't shocked when I read Obama's kill list on NYT. All presidents lie, and it's just a matter of how well they package themselves. Everyday, the government shreds our constitutional rights, taps our mobile, kills innocents abroad, and keeps these different avenues in secrecy when the people demand greater transparency.Once the president claims some sort of power, even if there are objections and their decisions don't seem to be constitutional, it becomes impossible to get the power back.
This article basically says that the executive branch claim to have the right to kill their "enemies" at any time, and Obama spends every Tuesday to review how far counterterrorism operations will go and approves new names on an expanding "kill list." How chilling is it to learn that President Obama– who campaigned against the Iraq war and torture– simultaneously justifies the use of drones to do his killing because they are "surgical" and those killings are consistent with our values? What is he talking about?
One thing we have to keep in mind is that no matter who we voted for, we must remain vigilant and realize that nobody ever seizes power with the intention of giving it up.
The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Don't let patriotism blind you. Don't let political language make you forget that some other sets of people are human too.
