Obama's hollow words.

• Author: Rothschild, Matthew
• Position: Comment - Barack Obama on closing Guantanamo

President Obama has an eerie and alarming ability to detach himself from his own dubious actions. This character trait was on full display in his big speech at the National Defense University on May 23.

When he talked about the need to shut down Guantanamo, he said: "Look at the current situation, where we are force-feeding detainees who are holding a hunger strike. Is that something that our Founders foresaw? Is that the America we want to leave to our children?"

Wise words, but hollow ones.

Hollow, because he could have closed Guantanamo on day one in his first term, as he promised.

Hollow, because even today he could be releasing those prisoners himself, rather than overseeing their force-feeding.

Thank God for Medea Benjamin of CodePink. She had the audacity to disrupt the President's speech with some cogent criticism, saying, "You could close Guantanamo today." She also asked him whether he would "compensate the innocent victims" of his drone attacks.

To his credit, Obama said, "The voice of that woman is worth paying attention to. Obviously, I do not agree with much of what she said.... But these are tough issues, and the suggestion that we can gloss over them is wrong."

But acknowledging their toughness (and indulging a questioner) does not rectify the shameful policies he is carrying out.

Obama also tried to detach himself from his own Justice Departments grabbing of the phone records of more than 100 AP reporters and the claim by the Justice Department that Fox News' James Rosen was a "co-conspirator" in violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and was therefore a suitable subject for surveillance.

"I am troubled by the possibility that leak investigations may chill the investigative journalism that holds governments accountable," Obama said.

Then tell Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department to back off.

But Obama really doesn't want to do that. Nor does he want to retreat from the harsh assault on whistleblowers that he's had Holder wage, again using the Espionage Act. Obama has been more ruthless toward whistleblowers than any President before him. It's schizophrenic of him to say he's worried about chilling investigative journalism while he's throwing the book at NSA whistleblowers and Bradley Manning.

Most slippery was Obama on the subject of killing U.S. citizens. "For the record," he .said, "I do not believe it would be constitutional for the government to target and kill any U.S. citizen--with a drone, or a...