TCTI: Too Crazy Too Ignore
 Dave Ross
drone_ap980.jpg
A drone is much easier to make than a nuclear weapon. Pretty soon any country will be able to buy or make one - a precisely targeted drone. (AP Photo/File)

Could the President order a drone strike on your block?

BY Dave Ross  on March 7, 2013 @ 6:02 am (Updated: 6:18 am - 3/7/13 )

At a hearing Wednesday, the Attorney General of the United States seemed to have trouble answering whether the U.S. Constitution would prohibit the President from ordering a drone strike against a known terrorist who is an American citizen sitting in a cafe here in the U.S. minding his own business.

Said AG Eric Holder, "The way in which you have described this person, sitting at the cafe - the use of lethal force would not be appropriate."

"I find it remarkable that you still will not give an opinion on the constitutionality," said Sen. Rand Paul.

This prompted a real live talking filibuster in the U.S. Senate by members worried that the 2011 drone strike in Yemen that blew up Anwar Al Awlaki set a dangerous precedent. Awlaki had joined al Qaeda, but he was also an American citizen.

According to a leaked justice department memo the United States - as part of its right to defend itself - asserts the right to target al Qaeda operatives wherever they may be: raising the "terrorist in the Starbucks" scenario.

But this whole debate ignores the real threat. Whatever the Constitution says or doesn't say, if a U.S. President ordered a drone strike on American soil, and killed innocent people - as we've done in Afghanistan and Yemen, he'd be impeached and tried for murder.

The real threat from our expanding use of drones is that we have let the genie out of the bottle. A drone is much easier to make than a nuclear weapon. Pretty soon any country will be able to buy or make one - a precisely targeted drone. It's a suicide bomber without the suicide. The real threat is not that the President would order a drone strike on US soil, it's that someone like Anwar al Awlaki might be able to order a drone strike on U.S. soil.

Filibuster THAT.

Dave Ross, KIRO Radio Talk Show Host
Dave Ross is co-host of The Ross & Burbank Show on KIRO Radio (weekdays 9-Noon) and never too far from the spotlight.
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Comments (107)


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  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    constitution?
    March 7, 2013 5:39 am
    Demonazis don"t need no stinkin' Constitution.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SickofSeattleite wrote...
    since when does Obama
    March 7, 2013 5:44 am
    have to answer to anybody?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ron prevost wrote...
    "would not be appropriate" ???????
    March 7, 2013 5:51 am
    Is that lawyerese for 'not today, but I'll see if we can get away with it through some legal loop hole' ....... Remember, this is the same Eric Holder who saw/sees nothing wrong with the Fast and Furious gun deals.

    I think over at least the past 60 years we have seen that IF a president (or his AG underling) CAN get away with something, they WILL do that something.

    Expect drone executions to be no different. Once the first takes place in THIS country, it will be well 'justified', and any collateral damage will be well 'justified' as well. ..... And any voices objecting - right OR left - will be dismissed. After all, it's already been established that drone assassinations are OK even if they violate the air space and sovereignty of countries that we are NOT at war with - with or without any OK from those countries.

    And remember, we are dealing with an administration cabal that views the Constitution as a 'fluid document', to be viewed and reviewed as needed. ... And if YOU are considered a threat to security ..................

    Dave, drone technology will make these things available to other countries and groups soon enough - likely already had. That will be a threat in any case. .... The REAL threat is not as you believe from others, but from ourselves. .. To 'protect' against another Anwar al Awlaki here AT HOME, we just might strike first. And to heck with collateral damage - or even accidently getting the wrong guy.

    Wouldn't Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover have loved drone technology.

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  • SeattleJack wrote...
    I'm no left-winger, but
    March 7, 2013 5:51 am
    how on earth do you order a strike in the U.S. without collateral damage, unless the target lives out on a farm somewhere? Or is this whole thing just a theoretical discussion?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • po_guy wrote...
    Drones are simply
    March 7, 2013 11:26 am
    meant to police red lights. You run one, you get evaporated. Plain and simple.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rikki Doxx wrote...
    What If Bush ...
    March 7, 2013 6:07 am
    What if Bush had proposed all the crap that the Obama regime has in the past four years and the first several weeks of this one? Uh-huh? Yeah. Oh sorry, I forgot. Obama inherited all Bush's previous administration stuff. Not that he wanted it when he ran for the office.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • DesertRez wrote...
    What?
    March 7, 2013 6:11 am
    ...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • soo purletiv wrote...
    @ DesertRez
    March 7, 2013 10:37 am
    Rikki Doxx switched gears. He/she went from asking the question, then answering it facetiously, by repeating the ad nauseum MSM line that it is STILL Bush's fault.

    Or at least that is how I interpret his/her post...

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  • WiIliam Lawn wrote...
    yea.. what?
    March 7, 2013 7:42 am
    Your rambling post doesn't even make sense
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    never forget
    March 7, 2013 6:08 am
    that the fools who voted for these corporate warlords are just as culpable.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SeattleD wrote...
    According to the Republitards like Rand Paul
    March 7, 2013 6:16 am
    if an American citizen is transporting a nuclear bomb to downtown NY you have to wait until after he detonates the bomb before doing anything, and then it would just be charging him with the crime of mass murder.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • FormerMarineSgt wrote...
    @SeattleD
    March 7, 2013 6:33 am
    "if an American citizen is transporting a nuclear bomb to downtown NY you have to wait until after he detonates the bomb before doing anything, and then it would just be charging him with the crime of mass murder." --- that only applies to a democrat in the Presidency. If you remember the past, a certain Republican President was given wide powers AND given a blanket go ahead 'to stop terrorism at all costs', so if drones existed then as they do now, these very same 'screamers' wouldn't have said a word. In fact, many demanded this very kind of action from him should another AMERICAN passenger airliner be hijacked... OR any other risk of terrorist attack within this country.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SeattleNative wrote...
    NDAA, Sarge
    March 7, 2013 1:14 pm
    Look it up.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CldWtrSrf wrote...
    You are a complete moron Seattle D
    March 7, 2013 6:40 am
    Doesn't surprise me though. "Your" guy Obama can't do anything wrong in your eyes right? I suppose you love all the stuff that Obama is doing that is EXACTLY the same as Bush or worse right? So you must have loved it when Bush was running this country into the ground?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Lazy Eye wrote...
    Get informed
    March 7, 2013 6:41 am
    The question revolves around the governments definition of "imminent threat" and the constitutional right to due process. If you had bothered to watch any of the debate on the subject last night you would understand that. Everyone agrees that your nuclear bomb in NY would constitute an imminent threat and is not the type of scenario that is concerning. What IS concerning is that the government refuses to admit that it has no constitutional authority to strike American targets on American soil that do NOT pose an imminent threat, without due process. Perhaps you should refrain from commenting on something you obviously don't quite understand
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • RonJ wrote...
    SeattleD
    March 7, 2013 7:54 am
    It's in the Constitution, 5th amendment (and 14th as applies to states). No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Nuclear bomb or wet Kleenex.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SeattleD wrote...
    And all this outrage about killing terrorists that happen to be American citizens (in name only)
    March 7, 2013 6:26 am
    George W. Bush was ready to shoot down a passenger airline filled with innocent American citizens if he so much as suspected there were a terrorist on board.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Cigarillo wrote...
    @D and Sarge
    March 7, 2013 6:51 am
    Watching you two put words in other people's mouths is high entertainment. People on either side of the aisle that have given it any thought don't like drones picking off Americans or the Patriot Act. Presidents of both parties have historically taken advantage of situations to amass more power. I'm sorry if real life is so dull that you have to embellish it by demonizing a perceived opposition that's not even here to uphold their end of the "debate".
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • WiIliam Lawn wrote...
    well you are talking about 2 of the biggest hypocrites on this blog
    March 7, 2013 8:44 am
    What did you expect?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SeattleD wrote...
    Cigarillo
    March 7, 2013 7:26 pm
    Do you know what is more entertaining than watching us put words in other people's mouths? Putting words words in other people's mouths.

    Admit it, you enjoyed speaking for all those "that have given it any thought".

    To tell you the truth I don't know if I like or don't like drones picking off Americans yet. I haven't seen it happen.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SeattleNative wrote...
    And which airliner was that, SeattleDumbshot?
    March 7, 2013 1:15 pm
    One of the ones that crashed into the WTC, the Pentagon, or a field in PA?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • dewatobay1 wrote...
    Cheney was prepared to shoot. . .
    March 7, 2013 7:46 pm
    . . . down any plane headed for the White House http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jun/18/nation/na-cheney18
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CldWtrSrf wrote...
    Could you IMAGINE the
    March 7, 2013 6:35 am
    Outrage if Bush would have said/done this? Oh my lord there would be marching in the streets!! But it's just the sound of crickets from the so called "Liberals", just like they magically became pro-war when Obama took the helm. So you say that your "Messiah" Obama will never use this in America, even though he is the only one putting on paper that he CAN if he wants to. What about the next President? What if he's an evil Republican who now has the option of murdering an American Citizen on American soil without a trial?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CldWtrSrf wrote...
    It's gotta be
    March 7, 2013 6:38 am
    Bush's fault that Obama wants to be Judge, Jury and Executioner. Bush's fault that Obama is power hungry and cares NOTHING for the Constitution. I couldn't stand Bush, but Obama makes Baby Bush look like a pushover.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • RonJ wrote...
    As if you didn't get enough of Baby Bush,
    March 7, 2013 8:01 am
    watch out for Uncle Jeb. He's making the rounds of TV talk shows. Then our grandchildren will get to enjoy George P. Bush, son of Jeb. George P has a Hispanic mother, Columba Garnica Gallo, from Mexico. There's your Hispanic vote all locked up! A made-to-order (Bred-to-order?) candidate with somewhat dark skin and curly hair. Sound familiar? George P was just elected Commissioner of Public Lands in Texas, I believe. A historic first step for political wannabes.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • William Lawn wrote...
    I can image the outrage
    March 7, 2013 6:56 am
    I'm seeing it.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • dewatobay1 wrote...
    Imagine
    March 7, 2013 7:48 pm
    Obama saying or doing what exactly? BTW there is precedent for the US Gov't killing American citizens - geez. Does no one study history anymore?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rangerhawk wrote...
    Filibuster that?
    March 7, 2013 6:38 am
    You really are a cheerleader Dave. Answer the question.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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