Just a Silly Piece of Paper

Trey Smith

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. (emphasis added)
~ The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution ~

Don't you just love how Republicans and Democrats alike prattle on about upholding our founding document...except when they decide it's really nothing more than just a silly piece of paper? In debate after debate, members from both mainstream parties try to show how close this document is to their bosom and how they are the defenders of the legacy of our hallowed Founding Fathers. Yet, for all their incessant blather, they completely disregard it whenever it suits their purposes and motives!!

Yesterday, the Democratic-controlled US Senate passed The National Defense Authorization Act. A portion of this bill will make it legal for US citizens to be picked up without charges and held indefinitely in the gulag at Guantánamo Bay. So much for due process of law!!

If that sounds bad, it gets worse. According to Amnesty International USA,

In summary, once the NDAA becomes law a US citizen on US soil can lawfully be killed by the US military if the military believes that citizen to be a terrorist affiliated with Al Qaeda or its allies.

The key word in that last sentence was “believes.” In the past ten years our intelligence hasn’t been that good.

In other words, not only will it now be legal for the US military to deprive us of our liberty and property without due process, but they also can snuff out our lives as well. They can kill us without any hard evidence; all they need is a suspicion. That's a very, very LOW threshold.

Many people had held out hope that President Obama -- as he had indicated he planned to do -- would veto the bill, if passed by Congress. But as with so many other issues during the past 3 years, his veto threat has evaporated into thin air. Every indication now is that he will sign it into law.

Of course, most people didn't understand what Obama found objectionable in the bill's text. As Glenn Greenwald wrote on December 1, when the bill was still being considered,

Let’s be very clear, though, about what the “veto threat” is and is not. All things considered, I’m glad the White House is opposing this bill rather than supporting it. But, with a few exceptions, the objections raised by the White House are not grounded in substantive problems with these powers, but rather in the argument that such matters are for the Executive Branch, not the Congress, to decide. In other words, the White House’s objections are grounded in broad theories of Executive Power. They are not arguing: it is wrong to deny accused Terrorists a trial. Instead they insist: whether an accused Terrorist is put in military detention rather than civilian custody is for the President alone to decide.

So, for all you Obama supporters out there, tell me again how Obama is better than those hated conservatives. His support for this horrid legislation reminds me a great deal of George W. Bush! How could a conservative president make it much worse?

Once we scuttle time-honored rights like due process, the word freedom begins to ring hollow!