ACLU places full-page ad in NYT morphing Obama into Bush over 9/11 trials

[Bluebear]

The American Civil Liberties Union takes a shot at President Barack Obama in a full-page ad in Sunday’s New York Times over the issue of where to try the 9/11 defendants.

The ad’s headline asks, “What will it be Mr. President? Change or more of the Same? ” The ad shows Obama morphing into former President George W. Bush in a four-frame photo series.

“Many of us are shocked and concerned that right now, President Obama is considering reversing his attorney general’s decision to try the 9/11 defendants in criminal court,” the ad says...

Last week, Obama administration officials suggested that they could return to the idea of trying the defendants before a military tribunal. At the same time, the White House is pushing Congress to change military commission rules to give defendants more rights. Administration officials have been negotiating with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.).

On CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Graham said if the White House agrees to move the 9/11 trial back to a military commission, he would press fellow Republicans to support closure of the Guantanamo Bay detainee facility, another administration priority that has run into problems.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/03/07/aclu-takes-shot-at-obama-over-911-trials/

[Solly Mack]

1. The battle is on

We'll see which way it goes

[Bluebear]

2. Care to bet? :)

[Solly Mack]

3. No

lol

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. Battle? Only if the White House is out of white flags or excuses.

[Solly Mack]

7. I think the ACLU is battling

that said... I used the phrase tongue-in-cheek

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. Which is exactly the way the White House uses promises. Tongue-in-cheek.

[paulsby]

4. national review is gloating like hell

over this decision

it's "i told you so" ad nauseum.

[Edweird]

6. Oh boy. ACLU - meet the bottom of the bus.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. DU has plenty of volunteer right handed bus drivers.

[Edweird]

9. That's handy for making right turns.

[rhett o rick]

44. Isnt that what the Admin is doing? So if the admin tells the repukes they win

on military tribunals, the Admin will ask for permission to close Guantanamo? I thought Rahmbo was going to kick ass and take names not cave, cave, cave.

[Bluebear]

12. :nodding:

[arcadian]

59. Obama's Hope Bus only makes right hand turns

[HughMoran]

11. 80% of DU already threw them under the bus for the amicus brief on the corp personhood case

...even though the brief had nothing at all to do with the corp personhood aspect of the case.

So, since there is no logic to who is viewing the bottom of the bus at any given time, your comment has lost all meaning here...

[girl gone mad]

15. Why can't you guys ever get this analogy right?

Du isn't driving "the bus". We don't have control of the wheel. Heck, we can't even so much as pull the little bell to ask the driver to make a stop. We have no control or power to throw people under "the bus". Statements such as yours make about as much sense as calling DUers "the man".

[HughMoran]

17. Depends on each persons perspective

I see things differently than you - m'kay?

[Political Heretic]

20. Some perspectives have more grounding in reality than others.

[spoony]

37. They can't get anything else right, why start with the bus? nt

[Edweird]

19. Whatever works for you.

[HughMoran]

22. lol

non-acknowledgment of being shown to be off-base of the year award.

[Edweird]

23. Nah, just not in the mood to respond to non-sensical bullshit.

[Bluebear]

24. Thank you for verifying my ignore list is properly stocked lol

[rhett o rick]

45. Bad mouthing DU again. What's your objective? nt

[HughMoran]

47. Pointing out what is true on DU is not bad-mouthing DU

You on the other hand can go to your hate-sites and bad-mouth DU without fear of reprisal - I do not do that - I state my opinion here for all to see.

[rhett o rick]

72. So you have proof that 80% of DU threw the ACLU under the bus. I'd love to see the proof.

So are you in the 20% that didnt throw the ACLU under the bus? You told the statistic but didnt tell how you felt about it.

[Echo In Light]

13. k/r

[Better Believe It]

14. Damn the ACLU! Always complaining about civil liberties, the Bill of Rights and other stuff.

[Bluebear]

26. Darn them anyhow.

[noise]

16. Why is Lindsey Graham dictating policy?

Was he elected POTUS? That is quite a news story that I must have missed.

The real story is that the GOP has no shame at all regarding the way they disgraced the country with their police state garbage. In fact they are proud of it. It's sick.

[laughingliberal]

21. The other real story is the Democrat's capitulation to just about anyone with an R behind their name

That's also sick.

[Bluebear]

29. +1

[Political Heretic]

18. I guess the ACLU didn't get their pony.

:sarcasm:

[Mari333]

25. good for them.KNR

[amborin]

27. morphing into Bush on more than that issue!

[avaistheone1]

57. Actually in many, many issues.

[leftstreet]

28. Ouch

K&R

[Hello_Kitty]

30. Hey ACLU, thanks for supporting the SCOTUS majority in that Citizens United decision.

Think allowing corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections is going to be GOOD for civil liberties?

[Bluebear]

32. Any comment about THIS case?

[Flaneur]

67. The ACLU is a principled organization defending civil liberties.

I was sad to see them to take that stance, but it is understandable.

They also supported the right of Nazis to march in Skokie back in the day. I understand that as well.

I may not always agree with them, but God bless the ACLU.

[Hello_Kitty]

70. The ACLU believes that corporations are people and they are not. eom

[defendandprotect]

31. Obama folded on this long ago and isn't going to react to a shaming . . .!!!

[Bluenorthwest]

43. He only reacts to shaming from Republicans

Also, only reacts to praise from Republicans.

[defendandprotect]

64. How sadly and oddly true that is . . . !!!! Wow . . .!!

[democracy1st]

33. K & R

[DisgustedInMN]

34. Obama has seemed to have morphed into George W Bush..

... on EVERY important issue. In reality, he ALWAYS was very much like George W Bush, just far better at lying about it.

:puke:

[whistler162]

35. Suicide and Stupicide in one easy ad!

[GinaMaria]

36. sounds like he's making deal and compromising with the

republicants to get Gitmo closed. SOP.

[SlingBlade]

38. Drip, Drip, Drip ...Deja Vu All Over...... Again !

[whistler162]

39. Murdock is probably reaalllly happy about this

ad. Especially in his own paper.

The ACLU destroying itself without him having to lift a single dollar!

[Bluebear]

49. 'The ACLU destroying itself' - how so?

[TankLV]

66. It's whistler - bullshit is expected from him...matches all his other posts...

[whistler162]

76. Besides putting out a ad based on rumor's and

comparing Obama to Bush no reason at all!

[Bluebear]

77. Yes, I'm sure they put the ad out on just "rumor's"

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

40. I've disagreed with the ACLA in the past...

but I've still supported them because their work is too important.

So much for that. Not one dime. Never again.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

41. I take it you support the capitulation of the White House

on the terror trials, at least you aren't ashamed to admit it in public.

[AlbertCat]

60. I take it you support the capitulation of the White House

So.... they aren't "considering" anymore? They've DONE it?

[spiritual_gunfighter]

63. I will apologize if they decide to hold the trials in NYC

and you can apologize to me if they dont.

[Bluebear]

48. So you are on record supporting the White House folding to the Republicans on this?

[AlbertCat]

62. So you are on record supporting the White House folding to the Republicans on this?

Like I said.... they've already done it? No more "thinking about" or "considering" going on? It's a done deal, right?

You're gonna post where you got that from, right?

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

56. I'm on record...

as saying that anybody who can't tell the difference between the Bush Administration and the Obama Administration is fucking retarded.

And I now have zero, fucking absolutely ZERO, patience with people who piss their pants every time this Administration doesn't give them 100% of what they want for their pet cause.

[Maat]

61. Observance of the most important rights is my pet cause?

I stand proudly.

:patriot:

I'm a fool for the observance of our most treasured constitutional rights, such as the right to trial by jury.:) I cry out loudly when these rights are gutted, as well as our most precious constitution and Bill of Rights. I cry out loudly when this gutting is condoned by the president I voted for. Guilty as charged.:)

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

75. Oh for shit's sake....

The story in the media is that the Obama Administration is considering

C-O-N-S-I-D-E-R-I-N-G

the use of military courts to try the 9/11 defendants. Considering. As in, "Looking At All The Options" that might be available.

So when you're done congratulating yourself on your moral purity, consider that the 9/11 Defendants are not (N-O-T) American Citizens and their conspiracy occurred on foreign soil so their right to protections under the laws of the United States are not as black-and-white an issue as one might think.

All that being said, a little more investigation into the matter reveals that the Obama Administration is looking at a potential deal. The Republicans have indicated that they won't fight the closure of Guantanamo Bay if I-F Obama agrees to try KSM in a miltary court.

[Bluebear]

74. "Is fucking retarded" - you sound like your hero Rahm. As to "pet cause": /ignore at last

Enough idiocy.

[Flaneur]

68. Why? Because they took exactly the stand you would expect them to take?

Sorry, the ACLU's job is not to make Obama look good or excuse his human rights errors.

[SlingBlade]

42. Then It's Offical ! Welcome to Bizarro World .....

Officials Step Up Enforcement of Rights Laws in Education
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4297608

This is becoming quite the bizarro world with Barrack Obama at the helm
Having held up as examples of such "Good Democrats" as Lincoln, Nelson and
personally protecting the worm Lieberman and his particular brand of Liberals was one thing.

But his new best, best, bestest friend, Lindsey Graham has caused quite the stir and rightly so
as they discuss the spit drip'in afternoon delight, Military Tribunals.
How does a constitutional scholar come to this conclusion by the way ?

Where does it end Mr. President ?

Where DOES it end ?

K&R.... Too Bad, So Sad.
Simply because I want to document this.
It started just moments after the election...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7764365

[Jefferson23]

46. YES, YOU CAN Obama, IF YOU WANT IT !!!!!!!!!

Thank you ACLU, consider a donation if you can folks.

[Brickbat]

50. Why on earth isn't there a comma after "be" in that sentence? Is that a bad screen capture or did

they really put it out there like that? ARGH!

[EFerrari]

51. I've noticed that punctuation is sometimes omitted at line breaks now.

It's a little weird to those of us that were trained differently.

[Brickbat]

52. I've seen some of that, too.

It's beyond weird; it's incorrect.

[pokerfan]

54. Yes, they did

And it's not just the line break:

http://www.aclu.org/national-security/aclu-new-york-times-ad-today-calls-president-obama-not-back-down-911-civilian-tria">

My grasp of the language is tenuous at best (I'm an engineer) but even I know that's just wrong. That said, that's my only problem with the ad. I don't agree with the ACLU all of the time but then again, I don't agree with anyone all of the time. I think the ACLU is right to hold the President's feet to the fire on this issue.

[Brickbat]

55. I agree.

I think it's an excellent point and an effective ad -- except for the missing comma. :)

[Goldstein1984]

53. This is why groups like the ACLU, Amnesty International, and...

Human Rights Watch deserve ongoing support from those of us who put civil liberties before political expediency.

Thanks, ACLU, for speaking the truth in a big way in a big forum.

[Maat]

58. People should be OUTRAGED about this.

It represents a gutting of our Sixth-Amendment rights.

Lieberman and McCain are attempting to introduce a bill gutting our Miranda rights. If one reads the bill carefully, one recognizes that they can apply the denial to ANYONE. Listed below is the PDF.

http://assets.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/politics/ARM10090.pdf

[TankLV]

65. TRUTH hurts - doesn't it, obama! Good for the ACLU - they "get it"

Sure - obama has painte the white house rooms nice colors since moving in - and he has a KUTE KENNEDY DOGGIE!!!

but on the IMPRORTANT stuff - he's JUST LIKE bush* and in fact CONTINUINT bush*s POLICIES!!!

[ShortnFiery]

71. Time for me to renew my membership in the ACLU.

:patriot:

[Quantess]

69. I haven't forgiven the ACLU for approving of the SC decision about corporations funding elections.

[Bluebear]

73. You don't have to forgive them. Any comment about THIS case?