There has been a lot of hubbub raised recently over the National Defense Authorization Act, and rightly so, it carried with it a potentially scary loophole that would allow the government to declare people terrorists and hold them indefinitely, even if they are U.S. citizens. The dastardly part of it is that this amendment that allowed this loophole was part of an overall bill that needs to be passed to fund the military. This Act passed with hugely non-partisan majorities, something like 91 senators. This left Obama in a really difficult position, he could veto the act and torpedo his chance of re-election because he opens the door for openly hating the troops since they would be the ones most hurt by lack of funds, or he could sign it with a signing statement, like he did, that declares it inapplicable to U.S. citizens and address the specific point later.
Frankly, I think Obama made the best decision given to him. I only hope it is addressed in the future.
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