Guest guest Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 At 11:19 PM 10/3/06, you wrote: >Rounding Up U.S. Citizens > >Because the bill was adopted with lightning speed, >barely anyone noticed >that it empowers Bush to declare not just aliens, but >also U.S. citizens, > " unlawful enemy combatants. " > >By Marjorie Cohn > >The Military Commissions Act of 2006 governing the >treatment of detainees is >the culmination of relentless fear-mongering by the >Bush administration >since the September 11 terrorist attacks. > >Because the bill was adopted with lightning speed, >barely anyone noticed >that it empowers Bush to declare not just aliens, but >also U.S. citizens, > " unlawful enemy combatants. " > >Bush & Co. has portrayed the bill as a tough way to >deal with aliens to >protect us against terrorism. Frightened they might >lose their majority in >Congress in the November elections, the Republicans >rammed the bill through >Congress with little substantive debate. > >Anyone who donates money to a charity that turns up on >Bush's list of > " terrorist " organizations, or who speaks out against >the government's >policies could be declared an " unlawful enemy >combatant " and imprisoned >indefinitely. That includes American citizens. > >The bill also strips habeas corpus rights from >detained aliens who have been >declared enemy combatants. Congress has the >constitutional power to suspend >habeas corpus only in times of rebellion or invasion. >The habeas-stripping >provision in the new bill is unconstitutional and the >Supreme Court will >likely say so when the issue comes before it. > >Although more insidious, this law follows in the >footsteps of other >unnecessarily repressive legislation. In times of war >and national crisis, >the government has targeted immigrants and dissidents. > >In 1798, the Federalist-led Congress, capitalizing on >the fear of war, >passed the four Alien and Sedition Acts to stifle >dissent against the >Federalist Party's political agenda. The >Naturalization Act extended the >time necessary for immigrants to reside in the U.S. >because most immigrants >sympathized with the Republicans. > >The Alien Enemies Act provided for the arrest, >detention and deportation of >male citizens of any foreign nation at war with the >United States. Many of >the 25,000 French citizens living in the U.S. could >have been expelled had >France and America gone to war, but this law was never >used. The Alien >Friends Act authorized the deportation of any >non-citizen suspected of >endangering the security of the U.S. government; the >law lasted only two >years and no one was deported under it. > >The Sedition Act provided criminal penalties for any >person who wrote, >printed, published, or spoke anything " false, >scandalous and malicious " with >the intent to hold the government in " contempt or >disrepute. " The >Federalists argued it was necessary to suppress >criticism of the government >in time of war. The Republicans objected that the >Sedition Act violated the >First Amendment, which had become part of the >Constitution seven years >earlier. Employed exclusively against Republicans, the >Sedition Act was used >to target congressmen and newspaper editors who >criticized President John >Adams. > >Subsequent examples of laws passed and actions taken >as a result of >fear-mongering during periods of xenophobia are the >Espionage Act of 1917, >the Sedition Act of 1918, the Red Scare following >World War I, the forcible >internment of people of Japanese descent during World >War II, and the Alien >Registration Act of 1940 (the Smith Act). > >During the McCarthy period of the 1950s, in an effort >to eradicate the >perceived threat of communism, the government engaged >in widespread illegal >surveillance to threaten and silence anyone who had an >unorthodox political >viewpoint. Many people were jailed, blacklisted and >lost their jobs. >Thousands of lives were shattered as the FBI engaged >in " red-baiting. " > >One month after the terrorist attacks of September 11, >2001, United States >Attorney General John Ashcroft rushed the U.S.A. >Patriot Act through a timid >Congress. The Patriot Act created a crime of domestic >terrorism aimed at >political activists who protest government policies, >and set forth an >ideological test for entry into the United States. > >In 1944, the Supreme Court upheld the legality of the >internment of Japanese >and Japanese-American citizens in Korematsu v. United >States. Justice Robert >Jackson warned in his dissent that the ruling would > " lie about like a loaded >weapon ready for the hand of any authority that can >bring forward a >plausible claim of an urgent need. " > >That day has come with the Military Commissions Act of >2006. It provides the >basis for the President to round-up both aliens and >U.S. citizens he >determines have given material support to terrorists. >Kellogg Brown & Root, >a subsidiary of Cheney's Halliburton, is constructing >a huge facility at an >undisclosed location to hold tens of thousands of >undesirables. > >In his 1928 dissent in Olmstead v. United States, >Justice Louis Brandeis >cautioned, " The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in >insidious encroachment >by men of zeal, well meaning but without >understanding. " Seventy-three years >later, former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, >speaking for a zealous >President, warned Americans " they need to watch what >they say, watch what >they do. " > >We can expect Bush to continue to exploit 9/11 to >strip us of more of our >liberties. Our constitutional right to dissent is in >serious jeopardy. >Benjamin Franklin's prescient warning should give us >pause: " They who would >give up an essential liberty for temporary security, >deserve neither liberty >or security. " > >Marjorie Cohn, a professor at Thomas Jefferson School >of Law, is >president-elect of the National Lawyers Guild, and the >U.S. representative >to the executive committee of the American Association >of Jurists. Her new >book, Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has >Defied the Law, will be >published in 2007 by PoliPointPress. ****** Kraig and Shirley Carroll ... in the woods of SE Kentucky http://www.thehavens.com/ thehavens 606-376-3363 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.859 / Virus Database: 585 - Release 2/14/05 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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