Today, 135 years to the day after the last American President (Ulysses S. Grant) suspended habeas corpus, President Bush signed into law the Military Commissions Act of 2006. At its worst, the legislation allows President Bush or Donald Rumsfeld to declare anyone — US citizen or not — an enemy combatant, lock them up and throw away the key without a chance to prove their innocence in a court of law. In other words, every thing the Founding Fathers fought the British empire to free themselves of was reversed and nullified with the stroke of a pen, all under the guise of the War on Terror.
Jonathan Turley joined Keith to talk about the law that Senator Feingold said would be seen as "a stain on our nation's history."
Turley: "People have no idea how significant this is. Really a time of shame this is for the American system.—The strange thing is that we have become sort of constitutional couch potatoes. The Congress just gave the President despotic powers and you could hear the yawn across the country as people turned to Dancing With the Stars. It's otherworldly..People clearly don't realize what a fundamental change it is about who we are as a country. What happened today changed us. And I'm not too sure we're gonna change back anytime soon."
R.I.P. Habeas Corpus On Tuesday, October 17, 2006, another nail was pounded into freedom's coffin when President Bush signed the Military Commissions Act into law. Within the Act, the 800-year tradition of Habeas Corpus -- the right of the accused to face their accuser in court -- was essentially eliminated.
While much of the mainstream media glossed over this news with a disinterested yawn, one brave commentator made no bones about the magnitude of this treachery. Watch MSNBC's Keith Olbermann at http://tinyurl.com/yk6osh as he comments on this appalling development. If you do nothing else, WATCH THIS VIDEO! It will make your blood boil, to say the least.
In another video from MSNBC's "Countdown," Olbermann interviews Jonathan Turley, Professor of Constitutional Law at George Washington University ( http://youtube.com/watch?v=P25QkFZ-0zk ). Turley points out that even giving "material support" (such as a donation) to an organization that has been deemed "terrorist" can get you designated an enemy combatant as well. And who determines which organizations are associated with terrorism? The president alone.
We are no longer standing at the precipice of a tyrannical dictatorship -- we've stepped off the edge. The United States is gleefully skipping down the same path as the former Soviet Union, China, and Nazi Germany. "The Most Free Country on Earth" is now merely a phrase of propaganda, not reality.
Still don't believe it? Check out our "Police State" page at http://www.jpfo.org/policestate.htm . We're constantly adding new articles -- too many, we believe -- that document our slide into a tyrannical, dictatorial regime. Articles like this:
Tracking your movements on the internet? Is this what our country is about -- quietly acquiescing as the American Stasi monitors your communications?
IT IS NOT!
America is about the Bill of Rights, that document which specifically states that there are rights upon which the federal government _cannot_ infringe. The Military Commissions Act essentially guts the Bill of Rights, and it is up to us, The People, to demand that our government follow its own charter.
JPFO is constantly exhorting our supporters to celebrate Bill of Rights Day each December 15. But is that enough? EVERY day should be Bill of Rights Day. When we think about our rights once a year (or less), this is the result.
Send this alert to everyone you know, regardless of political affiliation. Celebrate Bill of Rights Day on December 15 (we have many ideas which you can use at http://www.your10rights.com/bord.html ). But most importantly, demand that your rights be respected. There are only 56 days until December 15, Bill of Rights Day. Will you celebrate its true spirit ... or the hollow farce our government wishes to make of it?
Remember, if you don't defend your rights, don't complain when you lose them.
