Among other things, it gives the Military carte blanche to detain American citizens on American soil, without charging them, trying them, etc. The mind just boggles at the "unintended" consequences...
.. but, in an accompanying Signing Statement, Barry "promises not to use it". After all, "if one Muslim is taken off the street in the dead of night, none of us are free" (if you can find the quote from Obama's speech a few years back I am paraphrasing here, please provide link in comments!). Perhaps the same thing doesn't apply if you're white, Veteran, believe in the Constitution, the Bible, and such silly little things?
Pardon this- but WHAT. THE. FUCK, OVER? If Bush had done this (yes, I realize Extraordinary Rendition has been done to non-US citizens, on foreign territory, when they're captured in a war zone. NOT near the same, ok?) the lefties would have had a joygasm with the gnashing of teeth and so on.
ACLU: Stand-the-fuck-TO! If ever you people wanted to stand up and be counted as defending Civil Liberties (yaknow, since it's in the damned name of your organization and all), the time is now. Of course, I doubt you will- you haven't served as more than a shit-stirrer for the left for quite some time now... and Barack's one of yours, right? (EDIT: ok, I found this, and it seems the ACLU's found some scrot after all..)
And to top it all off- go google for "H.R 3166". Here's a hint: Congresscritter Dent comments on the act he introduced.
(pardon the language and vehemence, folks- I'm just really sick of what the present "leadership" is doing to our country. I wasn't a huge fan of the previous few leaders either- but I am really starting to wonder if the present administration just simply has it in for us)
The American Mercenary recently pondered a simple question: Wouldn't it be nice if there were one set of rules that applied equally?
I copy his post here, with full admission it is not my work- I just can't improve on it, and it would be a shame to see it disappear from the web:
28 December 2011
Wouldn't it be nice if there were one set of rules that applied equally?
Senator
Bacon felt the hood coming off of his head, and a single bare lightbulb, not CFL
he noted airily, swung overhead.
The idea that a sitting US Senator would be kidnapped by terrorists was something that they all had to prepare for, but Senator Bacon wasn't prepared for the reality, his bodyguards going down with the muffled flashes of sub-machine guns, the black masked bad guys kicking him down and flex cuffing his hands behind his back. The hood over his head was the part where he knew that it had to be terrorists.
"Do you know who I am?" Senator Bacon demanded, sensing a presence behind him.
"Yes, we do." A cold voice said. A folder slapped down on the table in front of the Senator and pages of correspondence and photos of meetings with Saudi princes came out. "You are a terrorism supporter. There is no use denying it."
But Senator Bacon couldn't NOT deny it, his meetings with a Prince of the house of Saud was purely business! "I met with Prince Saud as part of official business! I was part of the envoy to Saudi Arabia for the last energy deal!" The Senator's voice held plenty of righteous indignation. "What are you? Some sort of fringe homeland group? Let me go now and I won't press charges."
There was nothing but laughter from multiple voices now.
"So you admit to having correspondence with a known terrorism support, you admit that the correspondence in front of you is actually yours?" The voice held a hint of bitter humor.
"Of course it is, I was doing my job! Let me go and I promise you immunity." Senator Bacon began to feel that something wasn't right. The desk in front of him was a simple field desk painted olive drab. The bare light above him was powered by a faint generator noise he heard in the distance. The room he was in wasn't a room at all, but a field tent. The sound of helicopters in the distance told him he was close to an airport.
"We can't do that Senator, you've made yourself an enemy of the state and will be held without counsel until we decide what to do with you." The voice was calm.
"Screw You, I AM the state!" Senator Bacon yelled, angry beyond reason. "Nothing gets done in this town without my hand in it, NOTHING!"
"No one is above the law" The voice replied. Silence followed. Minutes ticked by.
"What do you want?" Senator Bacon realized that bargaining and anger didn't affect his captors.
"Simply to do the job that you gave us to do." The voice said.
"What job did I give you to do?" The Senator asked, bewildered. He may have known the Prince wasn't entirely a savory character, but that is just the cost of doing business in the Middle East right? The Senator couldn't recall hiring the services of a terrorist cell or mercenary group to do anything....
Footsteps came slowly around until a man in uniform, three stars on his chest came into the light of the single bulb.
"We are to detain all who are suspected of terrorism and supporting terrorism." The Lieutenant General smiled a weary smile. "And you have already admitted to supporting terrorism. Unfortunately I cannot let you have a phone call or access to a lawyer since it would tip of your terrorist buddies. The good news is that this is all perfectly legal. You made it so."
"I demand to see an attorney." Senator Bacon felt dead calm.
"That is impossible Mr. Bacon." The 3 Star replied. "You will be held until we feel we have a case strong enough to go to trial."
"But that could take YEARS!" the Senator wailed.
"It took us years to get Jose Padilla, but we got him."
"But I'm up for re-election in 18 months!" The senator couldn't imagine what was happening to him. The law was supposed to PROTECT people from bad guys who wanted to blow them up, not a crooked politician who threw some business to a Saudi Prince who had arranged for several boys to entertain him on his last trip to Riyad...
"You are a terrorist supporter, not a sitting US Senator." The 3 Star walked back into the shadows behind the former Senator Bacon.
"Stop Tape" The 3 Star said. "Seriously Ben, what the heck did you think would happen when you turned the military into your personal attack dogs? I told you it was a bad idea two years ago. I'll let Melinda and the kids know you are all right but will be incommunicado for a while. It is the best I can do. Start Tape"
The 3 Star walked out. Ben Bacon knew where he was now, in a field outside Fort Lee, in an impromptu detainee camp where thousands of others had already been processed. Taken into custody and whisked away to Gitmo or some foreign country for interrogation. Ben Bacon knew for the first time in his life true powerlessness.
The truth of the matter stunned Senator Bacon into silence. The light went out, and Senator Bacon was thankful for the darkness so he could weep unobserved. Unobserved save for the IR camera recording his every tear.
The idea that a sitting US Senator would be kidnapped by terrorists was something that they all had to prepare for, but Senator Bacon wasn't prepared for the reality, his bodyguards going down with the muffled flashes of sub-machine guns, the black masked bad guys kicking him down and flex cuffing his hands behind his back. The hood over his head was the part where he knew that it had to be terrorists.
"Do you know who I am?" Senator Bacon demanded, sensing a presence behind him.
"Yes, we do." A cold voice said. A folder slapped down on the table in front of the Senator and pages of correspondence and photos of meetings with Saudi princes came out. "You are a terrorism supporter. There is no use denying it."
But Senator Bacon couldn't NOT deny it, his meetings with a Prince of the house of Saud was purely business! "I met with Prince Saud as part of official business! I was part of the envoy to Saudi Arabia for the last energy deal!" The Senator's voice held plenty of righteous indignation. "What are you? Some sort of fringe homeland group? Let me go now and I won't press charges."
There was nothing but laughter from multiple voices now.
"So you admit to having correspondence with a known terrorism support, you admit that the correspondence in front of you is actually yours?" The voice held a hint of bitter humor.
"Of course it is, I was doing my job! Let me go and I promise you immunity." Senator Bacon began to feel that something wasn't right. The desk in front of him was a simple field desk painted olive drab. The bare light above him was powered by a faint generator noise he heard in the distance. The room he was in wasn't a room at all, but a field tent. The sound of helicopters in the distance told him he was close to an airport.
"We can't do that Senator, you've made yourself an enemy of the state and will be held without counsel until we decide what to do with you." The voice was calm.
"Screw You, I AM the state!" Senator Bacon yelled, angry beyond reason. "Nothing gets done in this town without my hand in it, NOTHING!"
"No one is above the law" The voice replied. Silence followed. Minutes ticked by.
"What do you want?" Senator Bacon realized that bargaining and anger didn't affect his captors.
"Simply to do the job that you gave us to do." The voice said.
"What job did I give you to do?" The Senator asked, bewildered. He may have known the Prince wasn't entirely a savory character, but that is just the cost of doing business in the Middle East right? The Senator couldn't recall hiring the services of a terrorist cell or mercenary group to do anything....
Footsteps came slowly around until a man in uniform, three stars on his chest came into the light of the single bulb.
"We are to detain all who are suspected of terrorism and supporting terrorism." The Lieutenant General smiled a weary smile. "And you have already admitted to supporting terrorism. Unfortunately I cannot let you have a phone call or access to a lawyer since it would tip of your terrorist buddies. The good news is that this is all perfectly legal. You made it so."
"I demand to see an attorney." Senator Bacon felt dead calm.
"That is impossible Mr. Bacon." The 3 Star replied. "You will be held until we feel we have a case strong enough to go to trial."
"But that could take YEARS!" the Senator wailed.
"It took us years to get Jose Padilla, but we got him."
"But I'm up for re-election in 18 months!" The senator couldn't imagine what was happening to him. The law was supposed to PROTECT people from bad guys who wanted to blow them up, not a crooked politician who threw some business to a Saudi Prince who had arranged for several boys to entertain him on his last trip to Riyad...
"You are a terrorist supporter, not a sitting US Senator." The 3 Star walked back into the shadows behind the former Senator Bacon.
"Stop Tape" The 3 Star said. "Seriously Ben, what the heck did you think would happen when you turned the military into your personal attack dogs? I told you it was a bad idea two years ago. I'll let Melinda and the kids know you are all right but will be incommunicado for a while. It is the best I can do. Start Tape"
The 3 Star walked out. Ben Bacon knew where he was now, in a field outside Fort Lee, in an impromptu detainee camp where thousands of others had already been processed. Taken into custody and whisked away to Gitmo or some foreign country for interrogation. Ben Bacon knew for the first time in his life true powerlessness.
The truth of the matter stunned Senator Bacon into silence. The light went out, and Senator Bacon was thankful for the darkness so he could weep unobserved. Unobserved save for the IR camera recording his every tear.
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