No we’re not talking about the Sci-Fi fantasy motion picture; we’re talking about President Obama’s recent executive order granting Interpol full diplomatic immunity from American law.
The Obama administration still has not publically commented on the order. However Interpol’s Secretary General, Ron Noble has issued an after-the fact-response to the order even though Interpol has not publically stated that American laws were interfering with their policing activities.
(President Obama signing an Executive Order)
Many have questioned as to why Interpol suddenly needed more diplomatic immunity. Noble explained that when President Reagan signed the original order, the organization didn’t have a permanent U.S. staff or office and that things changed in 2004 with the opening of the Office of the Interpol Special Representative to the United Nations.
The revisions bring Interpol’s U.S. office in line with its other international offices. “It’s international custom that international organization are exempt from FOIA,” said Noble. “We’re no different than any other international organization.”
Still many political bloggers and political pundits feel that Noble’s explanation is a moot response because it did not come from the man or the administration that executed the order. Not to mention the fact that Interpol has had no problems functioning since it opened its office in the United States under the Reagan-era restraints.
This ‘international custom’ that Secretary General Noble speaks of is accepted in European nations and other parts of the world. Interpol’s seven other offices (located in Argentina, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, El Salvador, Kenya, Thailand, and Zimbabwe) have also granted Interpol unqualified diplomatic immunity…but this is the United States and we have always (until now) viewed our nations sovereignty to be more important than following ‘international custom’. In America we have a Constitution that guarantees certain rights and sets Government restrictions. We are no doubt unique when compared to the rest of the world; unless of course if you view this country through the eyes of an Internationalist Liberal like our nations leader – who has on many occasions stated that our Constitution was flawed and that he favored the ideas of transnational progressivism.
There was a reason for having those restraints in Reagan’s previous order; restraints that have been removed by President Obama for no apparent reason. Reagan’s order provided Interpol some basic protections, but also stated that Interpol’s property and assets should remain subject to American search and seizure laws, and stated that Interpol’s records would remain subject to public scrutiny; which makes sense since our own law enforcement agencies have to follow the same type of scrutiny. Noble attempted to provide a glimpse into the possible reasons for President Obama removing the aforementioned restrictions, but in reality has no idea why the order was changed or executed. Bottom line, for nearly 25 years since Reagan’s original order, Interpol has not had any problems performing its duties on US soil, so it makes little sense for this administration to change things.
President Obama is sending very clear messages to the American public and to the nations of the world that America’s no longer the “superpower” that we used to be…we are now no different than any other country; we’re not special and that our Constitution and the rights that it guarantees are inconsequential.
‘Council of Governors’
Before the ink is dry on Executive Order 12425 (a.k.a the Interpol order), President Obama has issued yet another order today establishing a “Council of Governors” to “…strengthen further the partnership between the Federal Government and State governments to protect our Nation and its people and property…”. This bipartisan Council will be made up of Ten State Governors who will be selected by the President to serve two year terms. The Council will be reviewing matters involving various states National Guard; homeland defense; civil support; and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States.
It is important to note that the development of the ‘Council of Governors’ was part of a requirement initiated by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 signed by President George W. Bush on January 28, 2008 which stated, “The President shall establish a bipartisan Council of Governors to advise the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the White House Homeland Security Council on matters related to the National Guard and civil support missions.” This “Council” will no doubt become a story or topic of debate in the near future as more information becomes available.
The office of the Presidency comes with a super-powered pen designed for signing executive orders, and it would seem that much like President George W. Bush, President Obama is becoming very accustomed to the new ability. Bush had a total of 284 Executive Orders issued during his tenure in office; 54 orders were issued in 2001 alone. Many of Bush’s orders where the topic of heated debate on both sides of the political spectrum; nevertheless, the Bush administration didn’t stonewall the media when questioned about them. Also, none of President Bush’s EO’s specifically or purposefully undermined the sovereignty of the United States or made vulnerable the rights of American citizens the way that President Obama’s secretive Executive Order 12425 does.
