DiscussMormonism.com

Let's turn to Obama. Many progressives and libertarians have been disappointed with his civil liberties record after four years. Where do you think he ranks among recent presidents? Among all presidents?

Among recent presidents? On civil liberties, the differences with Bush are negligible. There’s been “a powerful continuity” between “43” and “44” says Gen. Michael Hayden, who as 43’s NSA head ran the Bush administration’s illegal wiretapping program.

The New Republic’s legal affairs editor, Jeffrey Rosen, predicted in early 2008 that, if elected, Obama would be “our first civil libertarian president.” No such luck. As I point out in my new ebook:

In several key areas, “44” has gone even further than “43” in pushing extravagant claims of executive power. George W. Bush never publicly asserted a presidential right to summarily execute American citizens abroad, far from any battlefield. President Obama both claims that authority and has exercised it: in the September 2011 Predator strike on New Mexico-born Anwar al-Awlaki.

As far as where Obama fits in among all presidents in American history, I wouldn’t hazard a guess while we’re this close to the action. I don’t have the same confidence in my judgment this early that the presidential scholars who participated in the 2010 Siena Research Institute survey seem to have. Just 18 months into his first term, they decided Barack Obama’s already the 15th best president we’ve ever had.

But one of Obama’s main legacies has been ratifying George W. Bush’s legacy of permanent war and permanently enhanced federal power.