Right after the inauguration last year, I was guesting on Marty Owings’ internet talk show Radio Free Nation (which still appears on Saturday nights).  The show was pretty diverse; you had a center-lefty (Marty) and a group of far, far, far lefties.  And me.

Anyway – I made a fearless prediction for them.  Barack Obama would not get us out of Iraq; he would not resolve the Afghan situation; he would not close Guantanamo or end rendition; and he would not change  Bush-Administration policies like the Patriot Act.

Was I right?

Well, duh; it doesn’t take any more of a rocket surgeon today to figure out that Obama is an emptier suit on foreign policy and defense than on most topics than it did a year ago.

The funny part?  He tried to do it on the sly:

With virtually zero debate – or media attention – President Barack Obama has signed a one-year extension for what many considered the most crucial and controversial aspects of the USA PATRIOT Act. The provisions, set to expire Sunday without the signature of Obama, include extensions to allow:

-1) “roving” wiretaps, permitting surveillance on multiple phones and e-mail addresses.

-2) court-approved seizures of records and property in anti-terrorism operations.

-3) surveillance on “lone-wolf” foreign nationals, who may not be part of a recognized terrorist group.

Originally set to expire in December, a two-month extension was passed by Congress late last year.

Simple fact:  Dick Cheney is Barack Obama’s foremost counterterror strategist.