Military Drone: Coming Soon to the Sky Over You

Attorney General Eric Holder finally responded to Senator Rand Paul’s question on whether President Obama believes he has the authority to order a drone strike on an American citizen on US soil. You’re not going to like his answer.

“It is possible, I suppose, to imagine an extraordinary circumstance in which it would be necessary and appropriate under the Constitution and applicable laws of the United States for the President to authorize the military to use lethal force within the territory of the United States,” Holder replied in a letter yesterday to Paul’s question about whether Obama “has the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, and without trial.”

Paul condemned the idea. “The U.S. Attorney General’s refusal to rule out the possibility of drone strikes on American citizens and on American soil is more than frightening – it is an affront the Constitutional due process rights of all Americans,” he said in a statement. (Read More)

Related: States and localities can and should craft laws about drone use and set limits on it. I’m not sure what that would do about a tyrannical federal government, though. Also, Nancy Pelosi said that Obama could kill an American with a drone strike and keep it secret.