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U.S. Constitution Title: OBAMA SIGNS ‘TRESPASS BILLÂ’ CRIMINALIZING PROTEST Amendment I – “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (MORAL LOW GROUND) President Obama has signed into law a bill that makes it a federal offense to protest wherever a person or event is under Secret Service protection, and there isn’t a singe story in the corporate mainstream media about it. RT reports that the Orwellian-sounding Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011, or H.R. 347 in Congress-speak, criminalizes any action which would “impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions, engages in disorderly or disruptive conduct in, or within such proximity to, any restricted building or grounds when, or so that, such conduct, in fact, impedes or disrupts the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions,” as well as behavior which “obstructs or impedes ingress or egress to or from any restricted building or grounds.” H.R. 347, casually called the ‘trespass bill,’ makes it a crime to “knowingly” enter a restricted area under Secret Service protection. The law slightly amends earlier legislation that made it an offense to knowingly and willfully enter such areas. The omission of “willfully” makes it much easier to prosecute protesters who don’t realize that they entered into a Secret Service-protected zone, which is easy to do since the Secret Service doesn’t always advertise their presence. The Secret Service protects not only President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and their families, but also former presidents, visiting foreign dignitaries, presidential candidates and a host of other figures and events. Under the new law, peacefully protesting any of these is now a federal offense. Say goodbye to “glitter-bombing” activists, Code Pink interruptions, Occupy mic-checks and pro-Palestinian disruptions of visiting Israeli leaders’ speeches. Of course, that’s probably why Obama is signing the law. This administration has arguably done more to eviscerate constitutional rights than any in living memory. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) authorized the indefinite military detention of American citizens without charge or trial. The contraception mandate trampled religious freedom. Attorney General Eric Holder last week announced that the administration has embraced the assassination of U.S. citizens without charge, trial or any form of due process. And now this. One cannot help but think that this new law targets the Occupy Wall Street movement, which is gearing up for a year of massive protests. There’s the NATO summit in Chicago in May, followed by the Republican and Democratic national conventions in the summer, then the 2012 general elections. H.R. 347 must certainly meant to have a chilling effect on constitutionally-protected free speech and assembly rights. Also troubling is the fact that the language of the bill is (intentionally?) vague, not defining what “impeding” or “disrupting” actually consists of. That could make it easier to prosecute anyone who the government decides to target. The odious measure was first passed by the Senate and then by the House of Representatives, which voted 388-3in favor of it. The only House members to reject this alarming evisceration of the First Amendment were two Tea Party Republicans– Reps. Justin Amash of Michigan and Paul Broun of Georgia, and GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul of Texas. Not one single Democrat voted “no.” So, to recap: your government can now lock you up indefinitely without charge nor trial, assassinate you if it deems you to be a threat and arrest and imprison you for up to 10 years for exercising your constitutional rights. God bless America. Here is the full text of H.R. 347: 112th CONGRESS 1st Session Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Capitalist Eric (#0)
Not surprised it is not being picked up by the state run Odinga media. The Soldier who murdered Afghan civilians is in the headlines, but I am curious about where are all the liberal anti-military hit squads are at right now? When Bush was in office these hit squads were all over Abu Ghraib and called for the resignation of Rumsfeld, Cheney and the President. They were calling for Congressional hearings into the Executive branch handling of the prisions. Interesting how silent these same groups are with Odinga in charge. They are happy and glad with the comments "a full investigation is in process." That was not good enough for these rabid liberals during the Bush admin. What hypocrisy. I also notice that there has been not one peep from the ACLU and ICLU on Gitmo since Odinga is in office. They are also silent on the continued CIA renditions ongoing. There was a NYTs or WP front page story every month on renditions when Bush was in office. I guess renditions are ok now and so is Gitmo.
Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For You are my praise. Jeremiah 17:14
On every front from violating our constitutional rights, to pork barrel spending, to creating new entitlement programs, Barak Obama is simply following George Bush's example.
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