Even worse - the power to kill or detain them if they are BELLIGERENT (with that term left legally undefined).
We know that Homeland Security considers small-government and pro-life advocates to be dangerous and told all law enforcement personnel to watch out for them. I imagine it would be really, really easy to go from that to saying they are “belligerent” - in which case they can be detained or killed WITH NO DUE PROCESS, APPEAL, OR EVEN KNOWLEDGE ACCESSIBLE TO EITHER THE VICTIM OR THE PUBLIC.
And this was approved by the vast majority of our Congress members.
I want to hear every one of them who voted for that explain to me exactly how this country at this moment PROTECTS somebody like Andrew Breitbart from being labeled by Obama as a belligerent “enemy” and LEGALLY assassinated by a heart-attack-inducing frozen poison dart.
BTW, if Obama said he would never use that power then we can bet our bottom dollar that Breitbart was assassinated. The way we know when Obama is lying is by whether his lips are moving.
Obama not using absolute power is like his wife passing up fried food.
You are right on the money - it is the legality of the act.
If legal then there is cover, and also less likely that someone will say it is wrong.
And your comment about the FBI is true, I have a relative who won’t say much about what he does (he has an oath which I respect). But there’s a lot going on.
Then there is the gray area - retired special ops guys etc. Foreign experts, etc..
If the the legality is covered and it is in the interest of national security, well....
Just remember, Breitbart was actually dangerous. He brought down Weiner, he brought down ACORN, he brought down Sherrod (sp?). He was not just some windbag who made people uncomfortable. He actually was cleaning out the rat’s nest.
And now he was going to bring down the Commander and Chief - he announced he was going to do it at CPAC. He had done it in the past successfully too - he had a track record of success.
Yup, I’d say he was a national security threat of the highest order.
Arresting him would have just made him more popular, a martyr with a spotlight on the national stage. Better he just goes away and is replaced with confused, ineffective, windbags - like usual. Better for the homeland that way.