Off the Cliff

As some were gushing over a new nuclear arms reductions treaty,* the Obama Administration admitted that the U.S. Approves Targeted Killing of American Cleric:

The Obama administration has taken the extraordinary step of authorizing the targeted killing of an American citizen, the radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have shifted from encouraging attacks on the United States to directly participating in them, intelligence and counterterrorism officials said Tuesday.

Even Bush never went so far:

It is extremely rare, if not unprecedented, for an American to be approved for targeted killing, officials said. A former senior legal official in the administration of George W. Bush said he did not know of any American who was approved for targeted killing under the former president.

 Three thoughts:

1. Who is next?
2. Doubtless some future targets are currently cheering this action on.
3. For his apologists: how, again, is Obama any better than Bush?

* Reducing nuclear weapons is a good thing.  How many of those warheads slated to be decommissioned are functional?