obama debateAs we move into the second decade of war what little is left of our principles is being chipped away. In a white paper given to NBC News the Obama Administration asserts the right to kill Americans with no due process.

A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or “an associated force” — even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S…

[T]he confidential Justice Department “white paper” introduces a more expansive definition of self-defense or imminent attack than described  by Brennan or Holder in their public speeches.  It refers, for example, to what it calls a “broader concept of imminence” than actual intelligence about any ongoing plot against the U.S. homeland.

The white paper, if nothing else, is smoking gun evidence that Barack Obama has completely abandoned his 2008 campaign pledge to rein in executive power in wake of Bush Administration abuses – meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Though some close observes are pointing out that the white paper is not the actual memo(s) used to justify killings of Americans that have already taken place.

Also troubling is that, according to the white paper, the authority to kill American citizens without due process is not restricted to the President.

“The condition that an operational  leader present an ‘imminent’ threat of violent attack against the United States does not require the United States to have clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future,” the memo states.

Instead, it says,  an “informed, high-level” official of the U.S. government may determine that the targeted American  has been “recently” involved in “activities” posing a threat of a violent attack and “there is  no evidence suggesting that he has renounced or abandoned such activities.” The memo does not define “recently” or “activities.”

According to the federal government an informed high-level government official can now kill an American citizen without due process. Yes, for those playing at home, this is what tyranny looks like.

So long constitution we hardly knew ye.