Has anyone seen the right to Habeas Corpus?
On tuesday, GWBush signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006.
This legislature gives him the power to:
Suspend Habeas Corpus for anyone labeled an enemy combatant or co-blligerant,
Define what an enemy combatant/co-belligerant is,
Designate anyone as an enemy combatant or as a co-belligerant (including organized protestors),
Detain/imprison 'enemy combatants' indefinately and without a trial,
Try enemy combatants in military tribunals on military bases,
And in essence, bypass the Constitution to the US.
I believe there is a clause in the bill protecting it from Judicial Review and Checks and balances.
The legislation allows that detainess be imprisoned indefinately without the right to a fair and speedy trial. It allows detainees to be tortured in order to extract information, and I believe that forced confessions are also permitted (don't quote me on the forced confessions bit).
The legislation applies not only to foreign enemy combatants, but to US Citizens as well, and also legal aliens.
The Patriot Act gives the right to tap any source to extract information that may be a threat to national security. Because of this Act, typing "Kill Bush" on your personal blog could get you thrown in jail indefinately. Last week a 14 year old girl was interrogated by the FBI because she had "Kill Bush" on her myspace. According to a report, it took several hours of harch interrogation to surmise that the girl was not a threat. Granted, they have to take every threat seriously, but there's a huge difference between "Kill Bush" and "I will make sure he dies". Not that I'm saying I'd do anything to threaten anyone's life, even a president who uses the constitution as toilet paper, but it illustrates my point.
This legislation is downright unAmerican. In 1933, Hitler signed the Enabling Act, allowing him to do essentially the same things in The Military Commissions Act. I'm not comparing Bush to Hitler for the sake of comparing the two. I'm makng the comparison to demostrate how dangerous a country with an open-door constitution can get. Hitler had most of his people behind him, and fortunately for us, Bush's approval ratings are not as good. What I'm waiting for are massive raids, arrests, and deaths of people labeled free-handedly as 'enemy combatants' or 'co combatants'.
This Act completely neglects the principles upon which the United States were founded. By suspending basic inalienable rights for anyone, friend or foe, we have let our foundation crumble under our feet. The words "Innocent until Proven Guilty" comes to mind, and yet this Act explicitly gives the president and Secretary of Defense the power to bypass that completely.
Abe Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus during the Civil War, but under the Constitution, such acts were allowed temporarly during times of rebellion and invasion. The south had seceded and invaded the north (Anteitam and Gettysburg). The Act allows the president to suspend habeas corpus, practically at his own free will.
How the hell could this have gotten so far? Sure, a wholly Republican controlled government who backs the president will help, but where are the people. This is our fucking country too. We have a responsibility to do and say something when the government allows itself to do things like this. Our government tells us that we're fightin to protect freedom, to eradicate terrorism, and to spread democracy. What does the president do? He has congress pass the most blatantly hipocritical and contradictory piece of legislature he can. We're fighting for 'freedom', yet the president can take it away from just about anyone. We're trying to eradicate terrorism, yet this war has spawned more terrorists than it has gotten rid of, and this legislature will surely be a catalyst in doing the same. We toppled one dictator in another country, only to let one grow here. We still vote, but the country is now controlled by a practical dictator.
He can use this legislature as justification to just about any decision he makes. If we petition the government due to extreme dspleasure about this bill, we could be thrown in jail for being a threat to national security because we don't support the president in his war.
So, now I ask one question- WHERE DID OUR COUNTRY GO AND WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
This legislature gives him the power to:
Suspend Habeas Corpus for anyone labeled an enemy combatant or co-blligerant,
Define what an enemy combatant/co-belligerant is,
Designate anyone as an enemy combatant or as a co-belligerant (including organized protestors),
Detain/imprison 'enemy combatants' indefinately and without a trial,
Try enemy combatants in military tribunals on military bases,
And in essence, bypass the Constitution to the US.
I believe there is a clause in the bill protecting it from Judicial Review and Checks and balances.
The legislation allows that detainess be imprisoned indefinately without the right to a fair and speedy trial. It allows detainees to be tortured in order to extract information, and I believe that forced confessions are also permitted (don't quote me on the forced confessions bit).
The legislation applies not only to foreign enemy combatants, but to US Citizens as well, and also legal aliens.
The Patriot Act gives the right to tap any source to extract information that may be a threat to national security. Because of this Act, typing "Kill Bush" on your personal blog could get you thrown in jail indefinately. Last week a 14 year old girl was interrogated by the FBI because she had "Kill Bush" on her myspace. According to a report, it took several hours of harch interrogation to surmise that the girl was not a threat. Granted, they have to take every threat seriously, but there's a huge difference between "Kill Bush" and "I will make sure he dies". Not that I'm saying I'd do anything to threaten anyone's life, even a president who uses the constitution as toilet paper, but it illustrates my point.
This legislation is downright unAmerican. In 1933, Hitler signed the Enabling Act, allowing him to do essentially the same things in The Military Commissions Act. I'm not comparing Bush to Hitler for the sake of comparing the two. I'm makng the comparison to demostrate how dangerous a country with an open-door constitution can get. Hitler had most of his people behind him, and fortunately for us, Bush's approval ratings are not as good. What I'm waiting for are massive raids, arrests, and deaths of people labeled free-handedly as 'enemy combatants' or 'co combatants'.
This Act completely neglects the principles upon which the United States were founded. By suspending basic inalienable rights for anyone, friend or foe, we have let our foundation crumble under our feet. The words "Innocent until Proven Guilty" comes to mind, and yet this Act explicitly gives the president and Secretary of Defense the power to bypass that completely.
Abe Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus during the Civil War, but under the Constitution, such acts were allowed temporarly during times of rebellion and invasion. The south had seceded and invaded the north (Anteitam and Gettysburg). The Act allows the president to suspend habeas corpus, practically at his own free will.
How the hell could this have gotten so far? Sure, a wholly Republican controlled government who backs the president will help, but where are the people. This is our fucking country too. We have a responsibility to do and say something when the government allows itself to do things like this. Our government tells us that we're fightin to protect freedom, to eradicate terrorism, and to spread democracy. What does the president do? He has congress pass the most blatantly hipocritical and contradictory piece of legislature he can. We're fighting for 'freedom', yet the president can take it away from just about anyone. We're trying to eradicate terrorism, yet this war has spawned more terrorists than it has gotten rid of, and this legislature will surely be a catalyst in doing the same. We toppled one dictator in another country, only to let one grow here. We still vote, but the country is now controlled by a practical dictator.
He can use this legislature as justification to just about any decision he makes. If we petition the government due to extreme dspleasure about this bill, we could be thrown in jail for being a threat to national security because we don't support the president in his war.
So, now I ask one question- WHERE DID OUR COUNTRY GO AND WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?