C4SS Media presents Kevin Carson‘s “I Should Know – I’m the Sheriff“, read by James Tuttle and edited by Nick Ford.

“The real reason killing people extrajudicially with drones is (in the words of Obama’s CIA pick John Brennan) “legal, ethical and wise” is that constitutional restraints on executive power are qualified by the clause “all guarantees void in wartime.” In practical terms, Obama’s claims of plenary executive authority are indistinguishable from the most bravado-laden “Unitary Executive” legal briefs of his predecessor’s pet scholars.

And it’s not like even supposedly liberal “due process” hawks on the Supreme Court are prone to overrule such executive claims. Whether or not it should fall under Congressional oversight is, in Supreme Court parlance, a “political question.” When such authority is challenged by a citizen not actually targeted by it, there state claims lack of “legal standing.” But if you’re actually on the list, well, let’s just say it’s pretty hard to make a legal case after you find out.”