Written by Administrator
Tuesday, 09 March 2010 00:00
It's all a slippery slope. Isn't that what we on the left have been saying all along? That if you deny the rights of non-Americans it's only a matter of time before people start thinking the Bill of Rights was printed in invisible ink. Right now Sens. John McCain and Joe Lieberman are floating a bill that would allow for American citizens to be detained without charge. Sure it's unconstitutional, but that's never stopped them before.
Sens. John McCain and Joe Lieberman -- the best buds of Sen. Lindsey Graham who is presently trying to negotiate a deal with the President to close Gitmo -- are BIG fans of unlawful indefinite detention. Yup. They love the idea of denying people rights and holding them without charge indefinitely. They love it SO MUCH that McCain-Lieberman are floating this "fantastic" piece of legislation that would treat EVERY American citizen like a Gitmo detainee!
Bill of Rights? What Bill of Rights! Habeas corpus? Is that some kind of Greek food? McCain and Lieberman don't know! They just know they'd like to be able to throw you in jail without charge or trial! Pardon me while I go bang my head against the wall several times screaming, "THAT'S NOT CONSTITUTIONAL!"
Here's what the bill actually says:
SEC. 5. DETENTION WITHOUT TRIAL OF UNPRIVILEGED ENEMY BELLIGERENTS.
An individual, including a citizen of the United States, determined to be an unprivileged enemy belligerent under section 3(c)(2) in a manner which satisfies Article 15 5 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War may be detained without criminal charges and without trial for the duration of hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners in which the individual has engaged, or which the individual has purposely and materially supported, consistent with the law of war and any authorization for the use of military force provided by Congress pertaining to such hostilities.
Isn't that just swell? You TOO could be rounded up off the street on the scantiest of evidence (maybe you have a neighbor who really hates how you keep playing those T-Pain records at high decibels and decides to call the Feds and say you're a Jihadi! Wouldn't THAT be fun!) and you'd be locked away without trial -- forever and ever, amen -- because it's "The War On Terror!" The war -- much like "The War on Drugs" and "The War on Crime" -- THAT NEVER ENDS! I love how you can be locked up for the "duration of hostilities" when a terrorist attack can come from anywhere by anyone at anytime. There's no such thing as a "ceasefire" on terrorism! Who do you sign the armistice treaties with? Oh... My... God, what are they thinking?
From The Washington Independent:
My emphasis. Lieberman is constantly described as a moderate. McCain — at least once upon a time — used to buck his party and is now taking a for-it-before-he-was-against-it position on closing Guantanamo. And they favor keeping U.S. citizens detained indefinitely, a position that wouldn’t withstand a second of judicial scrutiny.
These are Graham’s closest allies in the Senate. They would be the very first people he would call to round up their votes for closing Guantanamo if the White House agrees to a deal. And they favor keeping American citizens detained forever!
Yup. These are the people Graham would be reaching out to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. They "hate" the prison, but LOVE the denial of rights.
Danielle Belton is a writer and freelancer whose works have appeared in The Huffington Post, The American Prospect and Essence Online. She is the author of the blog: http://blacksnob.com/
Saturday 04 February 2012
