I am considered by some to be a “right wing nut job”. I’m somewhat proud of that title. Here’s why.
If I had told you ten years ago, that the President of the United States would authorize the government to assassinate US citizens, you’d have called me paranoid. Yet President Bush did so following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Reportedly the Bush administration never executed any such actions, but Dana Priest, writing in the Washington Post, reports that
“The Obama administration has adopted the same stance. If a U.S. citizen joins al-Qaeda, ‘it doesn’t really change anything from the standpoint of whether we can target them,’ a senior administration official said. ‘They are then part of the enemy.’”
Priest continues:
“Both the CIA and the JSOC maintain lists of individuals, called ‘High Value Targets’ and ‘High Value Individuals,’ whom they seek to kill or capture. The JSOC list includes three Americans, including [New Mexico-born Islamic cleric Anwar] Aulaqi, whose name was added late last year. As of several months ago, the CIA list included three U.S. citizens, and an intelligence official said that Aulaqi’s name has now been added.”
In a similar vein, on December 31, 2011, the President signed into law the National Defense Appropriation Act, whose Section 1021 authorizes the detention without trial of any person "who was part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners," and anyone who commits a "belligerent act" against the U.S. or its coalition allies in aid of such enemy forces. Under the provisions of this Act, non-citizens are to be detained by the military until cessation of hostilities. We lucky US citizens are to be detained by civilian authorities for a like term. You’d think the GOP would be all over this, being the opposition party and all, but not so. A proud co-sponsor of this legislation was none other than the senior senator from Arizona, John McCain, the GOP’s last candidate for the Presidency.
Don’t lose any sleep over this blatant trampling of the 6th Amendment to the Constitution though. President Obama (remember him? He’s the guy from the above paragraph who’s bent on assassinating US citizens.) has promised not these powers against his fellow citizens.
I have to ask what’s happening to the due process of law. Where are the good old days when no citizen could be deprived of “life, liberty or property” without a hearing in a court of law?
We all know from the “Obamacare” controversy exactly what the President’s word is worth. Remember when Rep Bart Stupak (D-Mich) stood in the way of its passage over conscience protections? Rep Stupak sold his soul to the administration in exchange for an Executive Order guaranteeing the right of religious organizations and churches to select plans which didn’t include “family planning” services. The US Department of Health and Human Services has overseen the inclusion of those “conscience protections”, but the definition of religious affiliation is so narrow that it is likely that Jesus Christ and the twelve Apostles probably wouldn’t meet the HHS requirements.
There goes the 1st Amendment.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Indiana General Assembly, Rep Brian Bosma (R-88) is too busy ridiculing members who take strong conscientious stands to deal with protecting the rights of Hoosiers. Perhaps his time would be better spent by seeing to it that emergency legislation is introduced mandating that the good citizens of Indiana be protected against a bloodthirsty and anti-religious Federal government. And don’t look to Indiana House Democrats to save us. They can’t even make it to work.
But then again, what do I know? I’m just an old soldier sworn “to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic”. So did President Obama and Senator McCain. So did Speaker Bosma and the Democratic majority of the Indiana House of Representatives.
This is not “right wing paranoia”. This is fact. Both parties are complicit in the dismantling of the Constitution. Neither party has the “general welfare” of the people in mind. And worst of all, we, the People, continue to fiddle while Rome burns. Let’s change that. For our own sake, for the sake of our children, for the sake of the Republic let’s change that now.
