S 3081 would set the cause of freedom back 800 years to the time before the Magna Carta by David S
(libertarian)
Saturday, March 13, 2010
What kind of America do you want to live in? Do you want it to remain the "Land of the Free", or do you want it to be a police state where people can be thrown in jail indefinitely without a trial, at the discretion of unelected bureaucrats? A bill recently introduced by Senator McCain would create exactly that kind of a police state. S 3081 would allow American citizens to be jailed indefinitely without a trial and without even being charged! Don’t believe me? Read the section of the bill that would do it below.
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 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."
If you think I’m making this up you can look up the bill at the Library of Congress at http://thomas.loc.gov/ Just click on bill number and enter S3081.
The following section explains how the determination will be made. (I’ve added my comments in italics.)
Section 3
(c) Determinations of Status-
(1) "PRELIMINARY DETERMINATION BY HIGH-VALUE DETAINEE INTERROGATION GROUP- The high-value detainee interrogation group (unelected bureaucrats) responsible for interrogating a high-value detainee under subsection (b) shall make a preliminary determination whether or not the detainee is an unprivileged enemy belligerent. The interrogation group shall make such determination based on the result of its interrogation of the individual and on all intelligence information available to the interrogation group. The interrogation group shall, after consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, submit such determination to the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General. (More unelected bureaucrats)
(2) FINAL DETERMINATION- As soon as possible after receipt of a preliminary determination of status with respect to a high-value detainee under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General shall jointly submit to the President and to the appropriate committees of Congress a final determination whether or not the detainee is an unprivileged enemy belligerent for purposes of this Act. In the event of a disagreement between the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General, the President shall make the final determination." (In the event there is a disagreement between the unelected bureaucrats, Obama will decide if you go to jail. Does that comfort you?
Let me reiterate; your fate will be decided by unelected bureaucrats. You will not be given a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. You will not get a trial. There will be no appeal. If the bureaucrats decide you’re guilty you will be thrown in jail and left there until you rot. This bill will set the cause of freedom back 800 years to the time before the Magna Carta.
When John McCain was in the military he took an oath to defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And as a Senator he took an oath to support the constitution. And yet this bill would destroy some of the most important provisions of the constitution. It would suspend habeas corpus, and the "due process of law" requirements of the 5th amendment, as well as the right to a jury trial specified in the 6th amendment.
Maybe you think this bill is OK because it would just be used against some wild eyed terrorist running down the street with an AK47 and yelling "death to the Infidels". Well think again because it could just as well be used against you!
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So let me get this straight, instead of using US citizenship to determine the treatment of hostiles, they want to skip directly to this. When the panty bomber was taken off the plane, because he is not a citizen he should have gone directly to Guanoton for his dunk test, If he is a citizen whether natural or naturalized try him under terrorist statutes at home.
Progressives, of which McCain is one, want to establish that citizenship and rights depend wholly on where you are standing ,not your legal standing as to citizenship. We have to decide on whether or not we are going to tolerate these miscreants in power.
Our rights mean absolutely nothing to these people. They will never give up!!!! Ever!!!
Bentree, I think this is less of an issue of Left vs Right and more of an issue of The State vs. The People. The state has been passing constitution threatening legislation long before the current members came to power. The most detrimental legislation so far has been the PATRIOT Act, passed under dubyah. It is a bipartisan attack on all fronts. The left right paradigm is used as a distraction so legislation such as S. 3801 can be passed, under the noses of the public, in the shadows of the house, bipartisanly.
Bentree they don't care where you are standing either.
Sec 2 para(a) says
Whenever within the United States, its territories, and possessions, or outside the territorial limits of the United States, an individual is captured or otherwise comes into the custody or under the effective control of the United States who is suspected of engaging in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners through an act of terrorism, or by other means in violation of the laws of war, or of purposely and materially supporting such hostilities, and who may be an unprivileged enemy belligerent, the individual shall be placed in military custody ...
They just want the ability to throw anyone in jail and leave them there without bothering with things like trials, habeas corpus, or due process of law.
The bill establishing "enemy belligerants" is an abomination, a monstrosity, and an assault on the American way.
Yet, this article singles out John McCain. As far as that goes, good. That would be discredit where discredit is due.
But, let's make a point to mention that McCain's co-sponsor was Joe Lieberman, another out-of-touch sociopathic Senator whose turgid "decision making" has become an open sewer of toxic ideas to the detriment of the American way and the American people.
I live in Australia and feel very much under threat if this bill manages to pass. It comes across as a declaration of war on the people of the world. As someone who is interested in understanding how this world works and can see the corruption that is going on I am staggered to see how such a bill could even be proposed as it takes away the whole legal process with one strike. These cosponsors have exposed themselves as people who do not understand or value the legal system, let alone human rights. One good thing about democracy is that the selfish and inconsiderate leaders do not last long, I just hope they are gone before it is to late.
Did't they just pass similar legislation in Europe? I heard about one bill that has a actually led to several arrests of political offenders, one of them being Jane Burgermeister in Austria. It's about to hit the U.S. and almost noone is aware.
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