Be careful for what you wish for.

Years ago, some lawyers warned that Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) was written too broadly, but others were gung-ho to enact a law that would ensure that Mafia bosses would go to prison for racketeering.

Then the unthinkable happened.The Supreme Court started allowing people to be charged under this law for protests, political and civil.

Case in point: NOW v. Scheidler. Using RICO, the National Orgainzation for Women (NOW) sued a church in Florida for renting space to Operation Rescue. NOW and the church settled out of court. There were more such cases, but you get the point.

That was then, but now Americans face something a bit more ominous, if used. President Obama has signed a new law, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (NDAA), which allows the government to detain American "terrorists." This law also is written in very broad language. As Ben Johnson writes on LifeSiteNews.com, "The law allows the president to determine which groups may be considered terrorists without judicial or congressional oversight."

While Obama declares government officials won't misuse NDAA, we should remind him of what happens when laws are nothing more than vague power shifts.