President Obama and the Miranda Rule

Dear Friends,

It seems that President Obama is trying to be more like President George W. Bush than even President George W. Bush was.  Yesterday, Attorney General Holder suggested that we need a broad new exemption from the Miranda Rule to deal with terrorists wherever they are found.  Here is The New York Times article on the subject.  He did this after defending the actions of the FBI and others in connection with the interrogation of Faisal Shahzad who was questioned for three hours before being given the Miranda warning under the public safety exception.  Mr. Holder offered no evidence of any public safety need for a broader exemption, nor did he disclose exactly what he was going to propose.

Today, David Axelrod confirmed that President Obama was open to looking a changing the Miranda Rule.  Here is The New York Times article about Mr. Axelrod's statement. 

So why would President Obama bring this idea up now.  The two most recent domestic terrorist attacks have been very well handled and the alleged perpetrators have been successfully interrogated under the current Miranda rule.  There has been no outcry by FBI or other law enforcement agencies seeking to expand the exemption.  Constitutionally, it does not make any sense to change the rule.

We should all bear in mind that the oath of office taken by the President of the United States and virtually all other Federal officials is to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."  The oath does not say to protect the safety of the American people even if it means destroying the Constitution of the United States.  It is, of course, much easier to keep the country safe if we do not care about our freedoms and rights, but that is not the job of the President.

We should all also remember that President Obama has been under a savage attack from the right about not being tough enough on terrorists and not keeping the American people safe.  The illogical, inconsistent right (as opposed to true conservatives who actually believe in the Constitution and individual rights) was certainly not appeased by Mr. Holder's suggestion that the exemption be expanded.  That faction of the right will not be satisfied until the Miranda rule is thrown out entirely.  Rudy Giuliani said, "Well, I would not have given him Miranda warnings after just a couple of hours of questioning. I would have instead declared him an enemy combatant..."  Apparently, Mr. Giuliani has no respect for our Constitution or our individual rights.

Lately, I have been trying to find something positive to write about that President Obama and the Obama Administration have done, but I have not found anything.  Unfortunately, I have not been having trouble finding things that the President has done that let me down.  So please contact the President (here) and let him know that Miranda should be left alone.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal