Top 12 liberal Democrats who oppose President Obama’s drone ‘kill list’ policy

 New Age leader and alternative medicine physician Deepak Chopra lent both his website’s blog and his own Twitter feed to denouncing President Obama’s drone assassination program. In a Sept. 5, 2012 tweet from Chopra, he directs his followers with a link to a blog post on his website, tweeting:“Please read this thought provoking protest by Salman Ahmad & Peter W. Singer about using drones in Afghanistan. http://tinyurl.com/9oruaun “The blog, posted on the left-leaning Deepak Chopra’s own personal website, then condemns the drone killing campaign by writing:“There is more anti-Americanism now in Pakistan than there was during the Bush era. Killer drones are the worst way to win hearts and minds of the people & many American & global voices like President Jimmy Carter's are openly cautioning against setting this dangerous precedence of drone warfare.I hope that you can convey my protest to Ambassador Marc Goodman, the US army personnel & the CIA operatives who order these strikes. The US needs to lead the world with responsibility & uphold the best ethics of just warfare in keeping with international law.” In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington D.C., Congress quickly passed a law known as AUMF – the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists – which gave the President of the United States discretionary executive power to use “all necessary and appropriate force” against any individuals responsible for the attacks.Only one member in the entire U.S. Congress voted against AUMF:  Rep. Barbara Lee of California.  Lee represents one of the most liberal constituencies in America in the Oakland and Berkeley districts of the Bay Area. One of Lee’s concerns at the time in 2001 was that President Bush or a future president would use the law as a “blank check” to keep the nation in an endless war.On Feb. 6, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Lee is questioning President Obama’s use of drones and is trying to force a repeal of AUMF by saying:“My position has always been that we have to repeal this blank check that was given as a result of the horrific events of 911, to end this state of perpetual war.”On the Feb. 5 episode of his MSNBC program “The Ed Show,” liberal talk show host Ed Schultz blasted President Obama’s drone policy by saying:“It doesn’t meet the moral or the constitutional standard that we expect of any administration, and I have to say that liberals have come certainly a long way to crying about the FISA court and the Patriot Act and listening in on conversations to literally taking out innocent people around the world. We’re losing the moral high ground by doing this, and even more troubling, there are people in Washington who are ominously silent and not questioning this process and willing to stand behind the legal opinion of the Justice Department. This is President Obama’s legacy right now. It is dangerous.”View the list »
On Feb. 4, a leaked white paper from President Obama’s Department of Justice detailed many of the legal arguments authorizing the federal government to assassinate U.S. citizens in targeted killings.

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On Feb. 4, a leaked white paper from President Obama’s Department of Justice detailed many of the legal arguments authorizing the federal government to assassinate U.S. citizens in targeted killings.

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The memo was leaked to NBC News and even specified the legal framework by which President Obama can order the execution of a U.S. citizen on foreign soil - without any right to due process in the courts - if that person is identified to be a terrorist or associated with a group such as al-Qa’ida.

The revelation about the Department of Justice legal authorization has immediately sparked outrage and disbelief across the political spectrum, with unlikely supporters and opponents of President Barack Obama’s drone policy arrayed in both political parties and throughout the media.

At the daily press briefing on Feb. 5, White House press secretary Jay Carney passionately defended the Obama Administration’s drone policy and executive authority to order assassinations of terror suspects by saying:

“These strikes are legal, they are ethical and they are wise.”

Interestingly, some of President Barack Obama’s most vocal supporters are also among his critics of his drone warfare policy to combat terrorism.

On Feb. 4, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon authored a letter co-signed by seven other senate Democrats and three Republicans that was critical of President Obama’s lack of transparency on his drone policy and asked for clarification of its legal authorization.

Liberal Democrats who are more wedded to ideology than partisan political tactics are emerging as even harsher adversaries in dissenting from President Obama’s drone assassination policy.

On Feb. 5, progressive-liberal columnist Glenn Greenwald penned a scathing critique in The Guardian of President Obama’s drone policy by writing:

“And we have the current president asserting the power not merely to imprison or eavesdrop on US citizens without charges or trial, but to order them executed - and to do so in total secrecy, with no checks or oversight. If you believe the president has the power to order US citizens executed far from any battlefield with no charges or trial, then it's truly hard to conceive of any asserted power you would find objectionable.”

Most of these ideologically-driven liberal-progressives fully understand that although they may currently view President Obama as a benevolent force – a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, no less – there will come a day when a future conservative president is able to command this same power to order the assassination of suspected terrorists.

When that day comes, those who remained silent or supported President Obama’s drone policy will have no moral high ground to stand on.

Here are the Top 12 liberal-progressive Democrats who oppose President Obama’s drone ‘kill list’.

ALSO SEE: The 6 Most Controversial Moments From The Brennan CIA Senate Confirmation Hearing

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  • On the Feb. 5 episode of his MSNBC program “The Ed Show,” liberal talk show host Ed Schultz blasted President Obama’s drone policy by saying:“It doesn’t meet the moral or the constitutional standard that we expect of any administration, and I have to say that liberals have come certainly a long way to crying about the FISA court and the Patriot Act and listening in on conversations to literally taking out innocent people around the world. We’re losing the moral high ground by doing this, and even more troubling, there are people in Washington who are ominously silent and not questioning this process and willing to stand behind the legal opinion of the Justice Department. This is President Obama’s legacy right now. It is dangerous.”
  •  In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington D.C., Congress quickly passed a law known as AUMF – the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists – which gave the President of the United States discretionary executive power to use “all necessary and appropriate force” against any individuals responsible for the attacks.Only one member in the entire U.S. Congress voted against AUMF:  Rep. Barbara Lee of California.  Lee represents one of the most liberal constituencies in America in the Oakland and Berkeley districts of the Bay Area. One of Lee’s concerns at the time in 2001 was that President Bush or a future president would use the law as a “blank check” to keep the nation in an endless war.On Feb. 6, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Lee is questioning President Obama’s use of drones and is trying to force a repeal of AUMF by saying:“My position has always been that we have to repeal this blank check that was given as a result of the horrific events of 911, to end this state of perpetual war.”
  •  New Age leader and alternative medicine physician Deepak Chopra lent both his website’s blog and his own Twitter feed to denouncing President Obama’s drone assassination program. In a Sept. 5, 2012 tweet from Chopra, he directs his followers with a link to a blog post on his website, tweeting:“Please read this thought provoking protest by Salman Ahmad & Peter W. Singer about using drones in Afghanistan. http://tinyurl.com/9oruaun “The blog, posted on the left-leaning Deepak Chopra’s own personal website, then condemns the drone killing campaign by writing:“There is more anti-Americanism now in Pakistan than there was during the Bush era. Killer drones are the worst way to win hearts and minds of the people & many American & global voices like President Jimmy Carter's are openly cautioning against setting this dangerous precedence of drone warfare.I hope that you can convey my protest to Ambassador Marc Goodman, the US army personnel & the CIA operatives who order these strikes. The US needs to lead the world with responsibility & uphold the best ethics of just warfare in keeping with international law.”
  •  The former CIA agent and Bush Administration critic, who was controversially outed during the Bush era as a result of former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage leaking her identity to journalists, showed her disdain on Twitter for the AUMF - the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists – which gave the President of the United States discretionary executive power to use “all necessary and appropriate force” against any individuals responsible for the attacks.In a Feb. 6, 2013 tweet from Plame’s Twitter account, the current anti-nuclear activist voiced her agreement with liberal MSNBC host Chris Hayes’ assertion that “it should be a top progressive priority to repeal the AUMF.”  Plame replied:“@chrislhayes Yes! I am not a ranting Conservative, but it is truly an assault on our Constitution and values.”
  •  The dean of the liberal media establishment and longtime PBS host spotlighted President Obama’s drone assassination policy many times on his program in January 2013. On Feb. 1, Moyers co-authored an article with Michael Winship on the Huffington Post titled “Barack Obama, Drone Ranger” in which he writes:“We hope Brennan's upcoming confirmation hearings on February 7 will offer Congressional critics the chance to press him on drone attacks and whether the Obama administration in its fight against terror is functioning within the rule of law -- or abusing presidential power when there has been no formal declaration of war.”
  • Former Democratic presidential candidate and Colorado Sen. Gary Hart, who was once talked about as the liberal-progressive heartthrob destined to be the next John F. Kennedy in the 1980s, penned a scathing column on the Huffington Post on Feb. 6, 2013 criticizing President Barack Obama’s drone assassination policy.Hart did not hold back, bluntly telling his fellow liberal readers:“Where American citizens are targeted, as they have been, their Constitutional rights are unilaterally suspended by the anonymous "high level official." That is not what Madison or Jefferson had in mind. Having drones available would not have altered their principles, as they seem to have done with those in power today. And, politically, Democrats have to be very careful on this issue to avoid adoption of a double standard. All hell would break loose if this were the W Bush administration.”
  •  The former Saturday Night Live buffoonish comic-turned U.S. Senator from Minnesota has been a consistent and loyal supporter of President Barack Obama since both politicians were sworn-in to their respective offices in 2009.On drone assassinations, however, Sen. Al Franken is following in the footsteps of the late-U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota by staying true to his liberal-progressive ideals.Franken was one of eight Democrat senators to send a letter to President Obama demanding more documents and clarification about the drone assassination program.According to Franken’s home state newspaper the Minneapolis Star-Tribune of Franken’s letter:“The senators strongly suggested that they will hold up nominations for national security positions, which could include Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel and the John Brennan, Obama's pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, if the administration does not hand over the requested documents.”
  • The longtime liberal talk show host emphatically declared his condemnation for President Obama’s drone assassination policy in a C-SPAN interview on March 23, 2012, by saying:“We’ve become the thing we hate. We are dropping bombs on crowded cities at night where old people and children are sleeping, and we think we’re gonna get on with the rest of our lives. Turn it upside, turn it reverse. Imagine someone coming in with an unmanned aerial vehicle. Where is the valor here? You gotta a man in a cave somewhere in either suburban Washington, or I think we have them in Nevada, sits there with a joystick, looking at a TV monitor. ‘There they are! Shhhhooot!’ And we are killing children. And this is on Obama’s watch.”
  •  Dr. Cornel West was an early and passionate supporter of President Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign, but “hope” and “change” did not materialize for the former Princeton professor  and anti-poverty crusader after the president began governing.President Obama’s drone assassination policy is among Dr. West’s major disagreements with the administration.Only a week after President Obama was re-elected in November, Dr. Cornel West told Democracy Now host Amy Goodwin:“Poverty, trade unions being pushed against the wall dealing with stagnating and declining wages when profits are still up and the 1 percent are doing very well, no talk about drones dropping bombs on innocent people.”West continued, telling Goodman:“It’s very sad. I mean, I’m glad there was not a right-wing takeover, but we end up with a Republican, a Rockefeller Republican in blackface, with Barack Obama.”
  • Liberal talk show host Bill Maher famously gave $1 million to a Super PAC supporting President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012.The liberal-progressive Democrat’s mood quickly soured on Obama and his drone assassination policy shortly after the president won re-election, with Maher blogging in the strongest possible language about the anti-terror tactics. On Nov. 30, 2012, Bill Maher wrote:“We can now visit death upon our enemies without having to show up in person, look them in the eye and have an actual fight. It just feels wrong -- like breaking up with a girl via text message. If you're going to vanquish your enemy, shouldn't you have to confront them? How does a warrior willing to die for his cause in the Takhar Province fight a guy operating a joystick in Tallahassee?”
  •  The co-founder of Code Pink: Women for Peace, left-wing anti-war activist Medea Benjamin wrote a column detailing the questions she would like President Obama’s nominee for CIA Director, John Brennan, to be asked during his confirmation hearings.Medea Benjamin prefaces her questions by stating examples of particular outrage for the Code Pink group by writing:“For over a year human rights groups and activists have been trying, unsuccessfully, to get an answer as to why our government killed the 16-year-old American boy Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, and have had no help from the Senators' offices.  We look forward to hearing the Senators question Brennan about the legal justifications used by the Obama administration to kill three Americans in Yemen, as we are deeply concerned about their deaths and the precedent it sets for the rights of U.S. citizens.”
  •  Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon authored the bi-partisan letter to President Barack Obama on Feb. 4, 2013.Among the many concerns about transparency and congressional oversight, Wyden criticized President Barack Obama’s handling of the drone assassination program by writing:“It is vitally important, however, for Congress and the American public to have a full understanding of how the executive branch interprets the limits and boundaries of this authority so that Congress and the public can decide whether this authority has been properly defined, and whether the President’s power to deliberately kill American citizens is subject to appropriate limitations and safeguards.”
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Political Journalist Based In Los Angeles, California. A keen observer of elections around the world, the candidates, issues, polling, and political strategies that determine those who hold power and the history they create with it.

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