With so much information (and disinformation) floating around the internet regarding the passage of Senate Bill 1867 (the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, for fiscal year 2012), I felt it necessary to post this article. The NDAA regularly comes before Congress for changes and additions, but Senate Bill 1867 proves to be the most powerful one yet in trampling the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Let me ask you a question. Can the president use the military to arrest anyone he wants, keep that person away from a judge and jury, and lock him up for as long as he wants? According to Judge Andrew P. Napolitano, In the Senates dark and terrifying vision of the Constitution, he can. Two weeks ago, during Thanksgiving week, while the typical American was comatose in front of the television, watching countless hours of football and recuperating from the gluttony that accompanies this holiday, Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) met in secret and drafted an amendment to the NDAA bill. This amendment was then passed in a closed-door committee meeting without any kind of hearing.
What was in this amendment?
In a nutshell, this amendment permits the President to use the U.S. military against American citizens in the USA. He would have the legal (not lawful) authority to arrest, detain, imprison, torture (or conduct enhanced interrogation if you prefer the governments semantic work-around), and even kill ANYONE he wishes (including a U.S. citizen) without even charging him with a crime! And that person, under this disturbing bill, would have no recourse to a judge to require the President to either set him free or file charges against him. This would all be accomplished via military tribunal (rather than civilian court). Military tribunals are the complete antithesis of the civilian justice system, and putting American citizens through such a system would signal the death of everything the American justice system was built upon.
WeAreChangeTV.US
the senate vote was 93-7.
Let me ask you a question. Can the president use the military to arrest anyone he wants, keep that person away from a judge and jury, and lock him up for as long as he wants? According to Judge Andrew P. Napolitano, In the Senates dark and terrifying vision of the Constitution, he can. Two weeks ago, during Thanksgiving week, while the typical American was comatose in front of the television, watching countless hours of football and recuperating from the gluttony that accompanies this holiday, Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) met in secret and drafted an amendment to the NDAA bill. This amendment was then passed in a closed-door committee meeting without any kind of hearing.
What was in this amendment?
In a nutshell, this amendment permits the President to use the U.S. military against American citizens in the USA. He would have the legal (not lawful) authority to arrest, detain, imprison, torture (or conduct enhanced interrogation if you prefer the governments semantic work-around), and even kill ANYONE he wishes (including a U.S. citizen) without even charging him with a crime! And that person, under this disturbing bill, would have no recourse to a judge to require the President to either set him free or file charges against him. This would all be accomplished via military tribunal (rather than civilian court). Military tribunals are the complete antithesis of the civilian justice system, and putting American citizens through such a system would signal the death of everything the American justice system was built upon.
WeAreChangeTV.US
the senate vote was 93-7.