It's funny because it's true...

Thanks, Larry.
From: ssj-forum-bounces@iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp <ssj-forum-bounces@iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp> on behalf of SSJ-Forum Moderator <ssjmod@iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp>
Sent: 16 September 2020 23:08
To: ssj-forum@cal.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp <ssj-forum@cal.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp>
Subject: [SSJ: 11157] Assessing Abe

From: Lawrence Repeta <repeta55@live.com>

Date: 2020/09/15


Dear Forum Members,

The Abe administration achieved great success in expanding police power
by passing legislation that LDP leaders had sought for decades. Key
achievements:

Expanded wiretapping authority, 2) formally recognized plea
bargaining (first employed in the Ghosn case); 3) expanded state secrecy
powers, backed by sharply increased penalties against leakers and
others; 4) legislation creating the crime of "conspiracy."

The Abe team managed to achieve all this despite opposition from the bar
associations, much of the news media and public intelligentsia, and tens
of thousands of protesters that repeatedly gathered before the Diet. I
think the polling data was nearly uniform in showing majorities opposed
to all of these initiatives. Abe managed to push all this through while
winning every election.

At the same time that he bolstered police powers, Abe managed to bypass
Constitution Article 9, first by the 2014 Cabinet resolution and then by
the 2015 package of national security laws.


This is a tremendous record of achievement.

Larry Repeta


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www. lawrencerepeta.com
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