General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Obama Administration Says President Can Use Lethal Force Against Americans on US Soil [View all]limpyhobbler
(8,244 posts)First of all it's a (hopefully) very rare event. If they start setting up secret panels to approve domestic executions, I think that's a sign we are headed in the wrong direction.
Since the review process would be secret, it's really just a rubber stamp in my opinion.
I don't think the President should have too much flexibility when it comes to killing Americans.
They seem to be asserting authority without limit. In other words they are asserting that it's the President's call. We should trust his judgement and there shouldn't be a legal limit. Basically they are saying they don't want to put any limits on the authority to kill US citizens in the US because, hey, you never know what may come up, so just give the government unlimited authority to kill anybody based on the President's personal judgement. In my opinion that is too broad.
The executive branch is not likely to limit itself. Either Congress or the courts will have to step in to limit this power. Sadly they probably will not.