Obama Signs Defense Act

Over the loud objections of many progressives, today President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which, among many other things, includes a GOP-authored provision for the indefinite and untried detention of terrorism suspects. Obama had threatened to veto the bill because of that issue, but today said:

"The fact that I support this bill as a whole does not mean I agree with everything in it. In particular, I have signed this bill despite having serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation, and prosecution of suspected terrorists. [snip] My Administration will aggressively seek to mitigate those concerns through the design of implementation procedures and other authorities available to me as Chief Executive and Commander in Chief, will oppose any attempt to extend or expand them in the future, and will seek the repeal of any provisions that undermine the policies and values that have guided my Administration throughout my time in office."

While signing the bill today is an obvious ploy to have it vanish into the holiday news hole, Ron Paul is certain to make the issue a central point in upcoming appearances: "When the bar is low enough to include political enemies, our descent into totalitarianism is virtually assured."