The Senate is going to vote on whether Congress will give this president—and every future president — the power to order the military to pick up and imprison without charge or trial civilians anywhere in the world. Even Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) raised his concerns about the NDAA detention provisions during last night’s Republican debate. The power is so broad that even U.S. citizens could be swept up by the military and the military could be used far from any battlefield, even within the United States itself.
The worldwide indefinite detention without charge or trial provision is in S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act bill, which will be on the Senate floor on Monday. The bill was drafted in secret by Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) and passed in a closed-door committee meeting, without even a single hearing.
I can put this kid in jail too!
Wouldn’t this violate the posse comitatus act?
Actually, I suppose they would simply use a different branch of the military than the army, to skirt the law…not that the government really cares about the law any more.
Just how much of the camel is in the tent now? There is a “real issue” about “non State aligned non-military belligerents.” If there were thousands of them being arrested/confined every year and a demonstrated inability for the police/courts to deal with them, then I suppose this sort of thing should be considered? Streamlined military court of initial review I’d think would be a minimum. To expressly state no charge no trial does take our response to the penultimate maximum extreme short only of shoot them on sight.
Ex Post Facto? Does not arise. If we have detainees illegally held now but this new law, we simply release them and re arrest–ie, in their holding cells in situ.
What to do with non-aligned terrorist combatants? On American Soil? Who ARE Americans???? Just ask the Americans of Japanese Descent.
Same as it ever was—with less hope, fewer jobs, and more wealth disparity and getting worse all the time that is.
Ha, ha.
The Mighty Zero, having considered using TSA Troops, as well as an Obama Jugend, must be pleased….
As for the rest of us, why is anybody surprised?
Too bad the NVA didn’t do us all a favour and squash that evil little bug McCain when they had a chance.
Riiiight. Be cause it was him & him alone. He forced that Dem at gunpoint.
Idiot
“that Dem”? What does that mean in English? Jerkoff.
Senator Carl Levin, Democrat, and coauthor of the bill.
And to think that the bipartisan supercommittee failed.
Here’s a nice example of successful bipartisanship.
I don’t ever wanna hear you say that neither party thinks about their citizens
Yes. The United States of America.
Government of the thousandaires (the 99%) by the millionaires (the 1%) for the billionaires (the 12,400 individuals identified with the IRS).
That’s what America has devolved to.
Since 1980 to the present, we’ve been dismantling everything Roosevelt had accomplished trying to push back against the advance of communism.
Now violent revolution against income inequality will come to pass.
Marie Antoinette would never have said “Let them eat cake” in this economic climate because her pousse café would now be covered with gold foil. She would have had her military machine gun the peasants off the lawn.
How does the IRS identify thousandaires, millionaires and billionaires when taxes are based on income and not wealth?
Too late to complain about losing freedoms. That ship has sailed. You shoulda thought it rthough before you voted in the Cheney administration (twice).
You sure are a proud stupid, Dullas
Hmm, I would have said the same thing about Abraham Lincoln.
Big creepy country you guys have. Enjoy!
Which country is not like that nowadays?
I just saw what appears to be a directional microphone next to public phones at Oslo train station
The have those in both London and Beijing….think about that comparison and spin on it.
Enjoy the occupation.
American politician = traitor. You people DO remember what you’re supposed to do with traitors, DON’T you?
This law is how they’ll round up millions of citizens for the Rex84 camps
MSB, there are 12,400 billionaires? and 4 million millionaires?
The source for this article, that is linked above, is the blog of the ACLU. Even many of the links within that appear to just go to other ACLU pages, so I have yet to see an original source description of the legislation. They do link to a PDF at whitehouse.gov when saying the WhiteHouse is threatening a veto. First part of the PDF,THe White House supports passage. Now, hos much weight should the reader give to the rest of the ACLU’s interpretation? The White House’s primary objections are what I said above, the military already has the authority as part of executive power, so they don’t see any reason to codify it. Also, they don’t like the idea of abandoning their fantasy notion of civilian trials for these people, so they object to the part that says military commissions only, and use the ACLU talking points to object, that it would lead to the military policing the streets.
So the military are policing the streets comes from a provision that bans civilian trials for people in Guantanamo.
“‘Even’ Ron Paul”? You should look him up. He is the only serious candidate who wants to stop everything bad like this at once. Ron Paul is the only high-profile politician who takes the Constitution and civil liberties seriously.
No doubt the US Supreme Court will rule that the Founding Fathers had never wanted “… the right to bear arms and kidnap people also …” as a philosophy, else they would’ve explicitly said so. If it ain’t in the Constitution, it ain’t legal.
99.99999% of what the government does is not in the Constitution. Its in Congressional and State Laws that only have to conform with the Constitution and even then only when someone brings a lawsuit to enforce such limitations.
Just like what you see before us right now.
ACLU interpretations are quite conservative. Only shills, dupes, and tools think otherwise. How casually so many are willing to forgo their liberty—and think Ron Paul is the answer to anything at the very same time.
>ACLU interpretations are quite conservative.
The White House is threatening a veto is quite a conservative interpretation of The White House supports this bill.
FRIGGIN MADNESS!
-s
It’s never too late to regain our freedom and constitutional protections. You know what we have to do and it isn’t pretty but neither is the alternative of doing nothing. Our children will wear chains and live in concentration camps.
I don’t understand how this is profitable for anybody but maybe some historian can tell us who profited from the German concentration camps and the enslavement of all those people (not only jews). It is definitely a popular idea in America now.
If you love freedom it is time to ask yourself what you are willing to do to get some.
I guess this makes questions about JURY NULLIFICATION pointless !!! Ben Franklin said about the Constitution: “We give you a Republic, if you can keep it !!!” Looks like we LOST IT !!!
Who said: “For Evil to Triumph, it is only necessary for good men to do nothing!!!” ?
Sounds like it’s mainly the Republicans who are in support of this thing. But not exclusively, naturally. And since we now trust everything the US Republicans want to do. Perhaps we should let them violate the US Bill of Rights. It’s obviously become a tool of the terrorists. If you’re wealthy enough, the military isn’t going to come after you. Just the other 99% of US citizen who step out of line.
This is apparently one of those “future laws” the Congress get worried enough to set up now. Just in case the disenfranchised 99% of US citizen, ever got any ideas about taken care of those 1 percenters, who sucked up all the wealth in the country. And built themselves castles, with moats, and have ex-military guarding them. Nice touch to have the US taxpayer, footing the bill for having its military arrest and detain them for protesting anything. Not just something the states’ National Guard can be misused into doing. Like at Kent State. Welcome to the soon-to-be-1984 oppressive state. If our elected and wealthy puppet politicians have anything to do with it.