One of the fundamental universal human rights is the right to defend yourself when accused of a crime. If someone says you did something wrong, you must be allowed to have your say about whether the accusation is true or not. If a nation state denies this right to its citizens, it is in violation of those citizens human rights.
I was raised in a country that believes that We the People give our consent to elected officials to create a government that will run this country in such a way as to preserve our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In order to preserve these rights, we ordained and established the Constitution of the United States of America. One of the very first ammendments to this Constitution is a guaranteed right to defend ourselves against accusations before being jailed. This right is known by the latin term, Habeas Corpus - which means, Produce The Body.
This right has been suspended once by the President of the United States. Abraham Lincoln in the opening days of the Civil War suspended the writ of habeas corpus in the city of Baltimore so that anti-federalist agitators could be rounded up before they seized the city and separated it from the Union. Considering that Virginia, on one side of Washington D.C. had already seceeded from the Union, had Baltimore also become enemy territory, the United States capitol would have been surrounded. These agitators were rounded up based upon intelligence gathered by real life detectives and they were imprisoned until the threat was considered ended and then released. Even though the act was generally praised as a smart and decisive strategic move, the pro-Lincoln Congress roundly condemned the action of the President as unconstitutional. And indeed, though necessary, Lincoln agonized over the decision before making it.
Today, in the Senate, 51 American Senators under no direct threat whatsoever, threw away our guaranteed constitutional human right to the writ of Habeas Corpus. 51 people have opened up the statue books, found the Constitution of the United States of America, and have ripped them out, torn them up, and burned the pieces. Once this bill takes effect, the Federal Government will be able to have any American citizen arrested without producing evidence or even leveling allegations. They will be allowed to be interrogated here and abroad by means not allowed under the Geneva Convention. And there will be no... NO... recourse nor means to prove one's innocence.
For your information, listed below are the States of this great nation who believe that the Constitution no longer matters based upon their representation in the Senate of the United States:
Grouped by Home State
Alabama: Sessions (R-AL), Nay Shelby (R-AL), Nay
Alaska: Murkowski (R-AK), Nay Stevens (R-AK), Nay
Arizona: Kyl (R-AZ), Nay McCain (R-AZ), Nay
Georgia: Chambliss (R-GA), Nay Isakson (R-GA), Nay
Idaho: Craig (R-ID), Nay Crapo (R-ID), Nay
Kansas: Brownback (R-KS), Nay Roberts (R-KS), Nay
Kentucky: Bunning (R-KY), Nay McConnell (R-KY), Nay
Maine: Collins (R-ME), Nay Snowe (R-ME), Not Voting
Mississippi: Cochran (R-MS), Nay Lott (R-MS), Nay
Missouri: Bond (R-MO), Nay Talent (R-MO), Nay
Nebraska: Hagel (R-NE), Nay Nelson (D-NE), Nay
North Carolina: Burr (R-NC), Nay Dole (R-NC), Nay
Ohio: DeWine (R-OH), Nay Voinovich (R-OH), Nay
Oklahoma: Coburn (R-OK), Nay Inhofe (R-OK), Nay
South Carolina: DeMint (R-SC), Nay Graham (R-SC), Nay
Tennessee: Alexander (R-TN), Nay Frist (R-TN), Nay
Texas: Cornyn (R-TX), Nay Hutchison (R-TX), Nay
Utah: Bennett (R-UT), Nay Hatch (R-UT), Nay
Virginia: Allen (R-VA), Nay Warner (R-VA), Nay
Wyoming: Enzi (R-WY), Nay Thomas (R-WY), Nay
Its time to call it like it is. And its time to tell the truth. This is not a red state/blue state issue, this is a human rights issue. And for those of you who don't feel you have anything to worry about because you're not a terrorist, I believe there are a great many victims of NAZI Germany who had the same attitude at the start of World War II.
Power corrupts. And we've just handed the government the most corrupting power of all - the power to jail us and torture us without charges. I sure hope this makes you feel safer. Because it scares the hell out of me!
Be vigilant. Be safe.
1 comment:
Actually, as near as I can tell from reading the text of the bill (it gets kind of complicated) the law applies to all enemy combatants (legal or otherwise) in the declared War on Terror. So while it doesn't apply to Joe Shmoe murderer, it does apply to anyone who has been accused of being linked to terrorism. While it is a far stretch for the average citizen to become linked to terrorism, it has already been seen that our U.S. Intelligence Agencies can make mistakes and arrest the wrong people. Since these people have no recourse to prove their innocence, they can be, and have been, sent to foreign countries for rendition interrogation (i.e. torture). And since enemy combatants can also be U.S. citizens who, by their acts, render their citizenship in this nation null and void, it is possible that a U.S. citizen can be arrested and tortured without ever getting the opportunity to defend themselves in court.
That is the way I read it. I'm not terribly against the idea of rendering and I'm not terribly against the idea of agressive interrogation, but I am against the idea of convicting someone without a trial and without judicial oversight. This is a clear powergrab by the White House that goes against the Constitution (which is not the only Constitutional issue in this bill, by the way).
And as for a non-partisan discussion... why would the Republican's ever agree to that? They control both Houses. They don't need to listen to the Democrats if they always vote along party lines. There were 9 ammendments to this bill proposed by Senators of both houses and only one passed. In the end, the White House got their bill almost exactly the way they handed it to Congress. Even the guy most against torture, Sen McCain, voted for this bill - thus proving that in an election cycle, politics beats out the Constitution and Common Sense every time.
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