if you won't speak up for your rights, who will?
an article in today's paper written by matt appuzzo of the a.p. snapped me out of my laziness of writting about the bush administration and its attacks on the constitution of the united states.
the constitution was written with the idea of restricting the power of the central government over the citizens. with it's checks and balances, advice and consent and the bill of rights the constitution was written for the citizens. the framers knew the horrors of the powers of an unchecked king and wanted to be sure that those powers were never invested in single person in the united states.
now with that being said, let me go to the article:
ali saleh kahlah al-marri arrived in the united states on sept. 10th, 2001 with his wife and 5 children.
he is a u.s. resident and is being held in a south carolina military brig. he is the only enemy combatant held on u.s. soil instead of being held off shore where geoge w. bush says the constitution "does not apply."
authorities say he is an al-qaida sleeper agent, researching poisonous gasses and plotting a cyberattack.
government lawyers told federal judges BUSH CAN SEND THE MILITARY INTO ANY U.S. NEIGHBORHOOD, CAPTURE A CITIZEN AND HOLD HIM IN PRISON WITHOUT CHARGE, INDEFINITLY.
see, apparently in the minds of the bush-cheney cartel, the constitution doesn't apply here in the united states as well.
al-marri's lawyers say that as long as the president can arrest and detain any citizen any time he wants and hold them without charges for any amount of time NOBODY IS SAFE.
i would say that is accurate, wouldn't you?
now if this guy is guilty of what they say, bring him to trial, convict him and put him in a federal prison and throw away the fucking key.
however: let us look at something that apparently the bush administration either hasn't looked at or has decided (bush is the decider after all) that it doesn't apply to them: it is called the VI admendment.
"in all criminal prosecutions, the accued shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense."
admendment V says, in part, "no PERSON ...be deprived of life, liberty, or prperty, without due process of law."
dr. martin luther king, jr. said, "an injustice to one is an injustice to all."
i say we must start speaking out against those who would strive to deprive any of us of any of the rights granted under our constitution. if you don't speak out, who will?
remember, once again, this man has been accused of "researching" and "plotting", he is not accused of "doing." researching and plotting are nebulous terms and could be used against any of us for any reason if this kind of thing is allowed to go unchecked. he has been locked up now for 7 years and this is the first i, personally, have known about it.
if you won't speak up, who will? who are you counting on to defend your rights? george bush? lots of fucking luck.
the constitution was written with the idea of restricting the power of the central government over the citizens. with it's checks and balances, advice and consent and the bill of rights the constitution was written for the citizens. the framers knew the horrors of the powers of an unchecked king and wanted to be sure that those powers were never invested in single person in the united states.
now with that being said, let me go to the article:
ali saleh kahlah al-marri arrived in the united states on sept. 10th, 2001 with his wife and 5 children.
he is a u.s. resident and is being held in a south carolina military brig. he is the only enemy combatant held on u.s. soil instead of being held off shore where geoge w. bush says the constitution "does not apply."
authorities say he is an al-qaida sleeper agent, researching poisonous gasses and plotting a cyberattack.
government lawyers told federal judges BUSH CAN SEND THE MILITARY INTO ANY U.S. NEIGHBORHOOD, CAPTURE A CITIZEN AND HOLD HIM IN PRISON WITHOUT CHARGE, INDEFINITLY.
see, apparently in the minds of the bush-cheney cartel, the constitution doesn't apply here in the united states as well.
al-marri's lawyers say that as long as the president can arrest and detain any citizen any time he wants and hold them without charges for any amount of time NOBODY IS SAFE.
i would say that is accurate, wouldn't you?
now if this guy is guilty of what they say, bring him to trial, convict him and put him in a federal prison and throw away the fucking key.
however: let us look at something that apparently the bush administration either hasn't looked at or has decided (bush is the decider after all) that it doesn't apply to them: it is called the VI admendment.
"in all criminal prosecutions, the accued shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense."
admendment V says, in part, "no PERSON ...be deprived of life, liberty, or prperty, without due process of law."
dr. martin luther king, jr. said, "an injustice to one is an injustice to all."
i say we must start speaking out against those who would strive to deprive any of us of any of the rights granted under our constitution. if you don't speak out, who will?
remember, once again, this man has been accused of "researching" and "plotting", he is not accused of "doing." researching and plotting are nebulous terms and could be used against any of us for any reason if this kind of thing is allowed to go unchecked. he has been locked up now for 7 years and this is the first i, personally, have known about it.
if you won't speak up, who will? who are you counting on to defend your rights? george bush? lots of fucking luck.
posted by Ron Shock | 9:36 AM
1 Comments:
The Bush administration's reaction to terrorism has pushed America closer to the sort of society the Terrorists want. It would be better for a terrorist to succeed than for the rest of us to lose our right to due process if the administration decides to claim that one of us is a terrorist.
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