Glenn Greenwald: It's like Bush-Cheney all over, but worse! Obama has single-handedly eliminated virtually all mainstream debate over these War on Terror policies.
[Jennifer Rubin/Washington Post: ] The left-leaning Glenn Greewald, who unlike virtually all other liberal bloggers has taken a consistent position on the war on terror (criticizing Obama on the same basis on which he excoriated the Bush administration), writes:
Obama has single-handedly eliminated virtually all mainstream debate over these War on Terror policies. At least during the Bush years, we had one party which steadfastly supported them but one party which claimed (albeit not very persuasively) to vehemently oppose them. At least there was a pretense of vigorous debate over their legality, morality, efficacy, and compatibility with our national values. Those debates are no more. Even the hardest-core right-wing polemicists -- Gen. Hayden, the Heritage Foundation, Dick Cheney -- now praise Obama's actions in these areas. Opposition from national Democrats has faded away to almost complete nonexistence now that it's a Democratic President doing these things. What was once viewed as the signature of Bush/Cheney radicalism is now official, bipartisan Washington consensus: the policies equally of both parties and all Serious people. Thanks to Barack Obama, this architecture is firmly embedded in place and invulnerable to meaningful political challenge.
Well, he does have a compelling argument, even considering differences with the Bush administration over enhanced interrogation techniques.