Why is this NOWHERE to be found in the MAJOR MEDIA? Because they don't want you to know about it, I highlighted this awhile ago, but thought I would revisit since they let this god awful law go through the Senate 93-7. RIDICULOUS. World War 3 is against THE PEOPLE, I wouldn't worry about any other country. This basically makes our Bill of Rights NULL AND VOID. Read on.
SENATE VOTES 93-7 TO ALLOW INDEFINITE MILITARY DETENTION OF U.S. CITIZENS WITHOUT CHARGE OR TRIAL
The fate of the Bill of Rights now lies with President Obama and his threat to veto what can only be described as one of the most terrifying pieces of legislation ever to be passed by the United States Senate.
That august body has just voted nearly unanimously to allow the indefinite military detention of American citizens without charge or trial, shredding the Sixth Amendment and its right to trial and placing every single one of us on notice that we better watch what we say and do and who we support because we could now be considered terrorists and locked up indefinitely in some military hellhole like the concentration camp down in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
I am not exaggerating. Here’s arch-conservative Tea Party darling Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) take on what just happened: “It puts every single American citizen at risk.” And on the other side of the political spectrum, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) said it “denigrates the very foundations of this country.”
“This bill is an historic threat to American citizens,” said ACLU senior legislative counsel Christopher Anders.
How could this happen? Buried deep inside the hundreds of pages of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act are a couple of shocking provisions, authored in secret by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) that:
Explicitly authorize the federal government to indefinitely imprison without charge or trial civilians apprehended both inside and outside the United States.
Mandate military detention of some civilians who would otherwise be outside of military control, including suspects apprehended within the United States itself.
Transfer to the Department of Defense core prosecutorial, investigative, law enforcement, penal, and custodial authority and responsibility now held by the Department of Justice.
The only “silver lining,” if one can call it such, is that the military isn’t forced to detain American citizens without trial, it’s merely allowed to.
The Senate has officially declared the entire United States to be a battleground. And you and I are potential enemies. According to the new law, anyone– including U.S. citizens– who the government says is “a member of, or part of, al-Qaeda or an associated force” must (for foreigners) or can (U.S. citizens) be imprisoned by the military “without trial until the end of… hostilities.” Hostilities which, as Wired’s Spencer Ackerman so eloquently observed, “are currently scheduled to end the Wednesday after never.”
Now, this begs the question: exactly who is considered to be a member of al-Qaeda or “an associated force?” What if you support an organization dedicated to the Palestinian liberation struggle against Israeli occupation and ethnic cleansing? Such groups can and are often labeled as terrorist organizations by our government which, after all, is beholden to pro-Zionist interests.
Thanks to the Senate, the government can now imprison any American it says is a terrorist for as long as it wants, without having to prove anything in court. Said Sen. Franken:
“What we are talking about here is that Americans could be subjected to life imprisonment. Think about that for a minute. Life imprisonment. Without ever being charged, tried, or convicted of a crime. Without ever having an opportunity to prove your innocence to a judge or a jury of your peers. And without the government ever having to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. I think that denigrates the very foundations of this country.”
Tellingly, this bill was almost universally opposed at the highest levels of the military and intelligence community. From Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to CIA Director David Petraeus to FBI Director Robert Mueller and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, a veritable who’s-who of our nation’s top terror warriors has rejected this very un-American bill.
Even Fox News Channel’s legal analyst, former Judge Andrew Napolitano, denounced the measure (see video below).
The Senate vote, by the way, was 93 for, 7 against. Those seven champions of liberty (for the moment) were:
Sen. Thomas Coburn (R-OK)
Sen. Thomas Harkin (D-IA)
Sen. Mike Lee (R-OK)
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT)
Sen. Ronald Wyden (D-OR)
Heroes, all of them (for the moment)– and their heroism was tellingly bi-partisan. But wait a minute– Sen Al Franken, who spoke so passionately against this heinous bill, voted for it. So did such erstwhile progressive luminaries such as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sen. Robert Menéndez (D-NJ), and Mark Udall (D-CO), who bravely fought a failed last-ditch effort to have the most odious provisions of the bill stricken. So did Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who unsuccessfully sought an exception to the provisions regarding the detention of American citizens. Perhaps that “silver lining” I mentioned earlier– that the bill no longer requires but only allows the indefinite military detention of American citizens– swayed them towards their reprehensible “yes” votes. Or maybe the senators just didn’t want to vote against the $662 billion defense bill, for everyone knows that voting against “national security” is touching the third rail of American politics.
One thing is certain: if President Obama does not carry through with his threat to veto this abhorrent measure, the United States will have turned its back on one of the most basic and cherished rights guaranteed in our Constitution. And we will have taken a giant step in the direction of totalitarianism. You’ve been warned.
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