Both Texas senators, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, were among the eighty-six senators who voted for the National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed into law on December 31, 2011. By the way, notice the timing of the law...it was passed and signed while most of us had a lot of other things going on in our lives. Not only that, the law was debated with very little fanfare and in hopes that we - the people - would hear very little about it before it was passed. And I must admit, I was caught sleeping on this one, so to speak. By the way, I commend those senators who stood up to the political pressure and voted against this terrible bill.
This law does a lot of things, but I am particularly alarmed about two things it does. One, it allows for the arrest and detention of American citizens without trial or any other due process, if the citizen is suspected of "supporting terror." The other thing it does is allows the military to make arrests in the United States RIGHT NOW, if so ordered by their commander, or the Commander In Chief, if HE so desires to give such order.
We, as citizens, are not supposed to be alarmed by this law, under the principle, I suppose, that if we have done nothing wrong, we have nothing to fear. Unfortunately, under this law, we may never know what we have done when THEY suddenly show up to arrest us. What I mean is that the definitions of "terrorist," "supporting terror," and "engaging in terrorist activities" have become so broad since the terrible events of 9-11, that basically anyone the "powers that be" decide is a terrorist can be arrested under authority of the NDAA.
Fortunately for those arrested under this Act, the detention ceases when hostilities cease. Ummm....wait a minute. When does the "War on Terror" cease? It has actually been on-going since the US Marines base in Lebanon was bombed, and since the attack on the USS Cole. And it continues now, these eleven years after the attack on the World Trade Center. In other words, if someone in the government or in the armed forces decides that a particular person has engaged in some sort of terrorist activity (even just READING about terrorists), that person could be arrested by the armed forces, spirited away, and never heard from again, until the War On Terror is over. Again, when will that ever be? There have been terrorists since America won its Revolution, and there will be such until the end of human life on this planet. So, once arrested under authority of the NDAA, a person can be held indefinitely with no recourse to "one phone call." There is no requirement that authorities allow the detainee to call a lawyer nor be allowed to even notify his family of his arrest. And there is no requirement that the person be placed in a local or state prison. Can you say Guantanamo Bay?
At one time, persons writing what I have just written would be called freaks, paranoid, crackpots, and so on. But now it has actually happened, with the blessing of your own senators and congressmen, more than likely. Your right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure is not only in jeopardy, it has been usurped completely. No, the police are constrained as ever by the Constitution, but your government at the national level now has the AUTHORITY to arrest you (they like to use the word "detain") whenever it feels the need. As time goes on, there is little doubt that both the definition of terrorism and terrorist will expand, AND the authority to "detain" American citizens will expand as well, to causes other than "terrorism."
Ironically, while most of America has shown little concern about this tragic loss of civil liberties, journalists and media around the world are decrying these things. Some articles in foreign media ask when will the Americans wake up and take back their freedom? At home, conservative people are forced to become "bedfellows" with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in order to combat the shredding of the United States Constitution. And some amateur commentators, including this one, are concerned that even writing in protest of NDAA and other such anti-American, unconstitutional laws might render them "potential terrorists," and as such, subject to unreasonable search and seizure, and ultimately to disappearance into some detention camp.
That brings me back to our "representatives" in Congress. I don't know about you, but I definitely did not request that my Senators and Congressman vacate or abridge my freedom in any way. I did not request the USA PATRIOT Act, nor any of the subsequent laws that quashed my freedom. Lest we forget also, our "open and transparent" President not only signed the extension of USA PATRIOT, but has also issued executive orders that curtailed our freedom as well. Mr. Obama, the most open and honest President in US history, has demonstrated his true colors by asserting that he, as President, has the right to order the arrest of anyone at any time, and (as was demonstrated recently) has the right to decide that American citizens can be killed without any sort of "due process" if they are deemed (by HIM or other combat commanders) to be "terrorists."
It seems that our representatives do not represent us. I say if they are not representing us, let us not keep electing them to office. Both Kay Bailey and John Cornyn are repeaters. They both voted for NDAA
Remember, no President or other elected official can (LEGALLY) constrain any of our rights, as these were granted by the Creator, not the government, and not even by the Constitution, which enumerates them. When our elected officials vote away our liberty, even while our men and women are fighting and dying for the liberty of people in foreign lands, is it not time to flush these politicians out of office forever? Is it not time to install in their place people who have read and understood the Constitution of the United States and who will honor their solemn oath to protect and defend it? Next time Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn ask for your vote, and tell you that they stand on their record, I hope you will look at their record in horror and disgust, and turn them out of office for good.
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