A country that has continuously given itself the job of preserving the maxim “American values” is now being questioned for actively undermining such maxim due to the recent actions of President Trump. However, do not be so naive: such preservation has never existed. Trump has not suddenly created the means and processes to diminish these American values — it has always been under threat by those in power. The threat was expanded under President Obama with enhanced domestic and foreign surveillance programs and unchecked foreign capabilities.

Surveillance

Senator Obama’s vote against the appointment of Michael Hayden in 2006, in disagreement against the NSA’s surveillance on Americans, ultimately meant nothing. In 2013, Hayden spoke to the UK parliament about the use of Prism and noted the “incredible continuity” of NSA surveillance between former presidents George W. Bush and Obama. The former director of the US National Security Agency, William Hague, added surveillance programs have “expanded” under Obama.

Obama ran on the stance of “no more secrecy” in his 2008 campaign. However, since then his decisions on the matter have been nothing less than more secrecy, more surveillance. In 2008, he voted to grant immunity to telecom companies compiling to NSA’s wiretapping program. In 2010, he extended several controversial pieces of the Act, including Section 215 — which coerces companies to release personal records. In 2011, he expanded Section 215 even more with the lone-wolf provision. Then, in his final act before Snowden went pubic, he extended FISA for five years with failed oversight attempts by the Senate.

Wikimedia

The same man who promised a filibuster of the Act as a Senator, greatly enhanced it as President. Powers and intel now given to President Trump.

It does not stop there. Under Obama, the Department of Homeland Security broadened (p.g. 28) the usage of its facial recognition, Multi-State Facial Recognition Community, to “nonfederal law enforcement”. This measure has been discussed by the Trump administration in regards to his law and order agenda. At SXSW, Obama even went so far to define strong encryption on phones with no key or back door as the “fetishizing our phones above every other value.”

Foreign

In early September of 2011, drone strikes killed three American citizens under Obama’s intense drone program. ACLU submitted a lawsuit in 2012 stating, “The United States government violated the constitutional rights of the three men by killing them without court review outside of an active war zone.” The Obama administration effectively killed three American citizens without their proper due process. Targeted killing is a a behind-the-doors process, free of oversight, now under Trump’s discretion.

One of the greatest mistakes Obama made was not prosecuting individuals related to the USA Torture Program. The two final cases were closed in 2012. One case followed an Afghan detainee at a secret CIA prison near Kabul, and the other the 2003 death of an Iraqi citizen while in CIA custody at Abu Ghraib. A few days before his inauguration, Obama iterated his reluctance to authorize into the Bush administration, per New York Times:

President Trump stated his belief that torture “works,” and the possible restart of CIA-run “black sites” last week. These options are effectively on the table due to Obama’s inability to prosecute those who violated international law. Looking forward does not allow us to learn from our mistakes. Good faith works in the books, where we believe the author’s words “it all worked out for the best” but in reality, this mindset leads to future policy and law abuses. Under Trump, torture and CIA black sites may soon come back to a foreign nation near you.

The peaceful transition of power in this country is beautiful and something we take for granted. But the peaceful transition of unchecked powers beyond the oversight of legislative powers and the American people? That’s extreme abuse of power by our executive branch. We may have felt “safe” under Obama because we figured he could not do harm to us. He reassured this fact to us. However, Trump is a new beast and he plans on exposing his new powers. It’s important that we fight these abuses — not because they are now under Trump, but solely because they exist.

In hindsight, it is becoming clear the blue gift Melanie Trump gave to Michelle Obama on Inauguration Day was not in anyway ordinary, but effectively a “thank you” gift for the impressive powers Obama has given Trump to utilize.