"We pledge allegiance to the Federal Government of the United State of America, and to the Republic- for which it used to stand, one nation, divided, without Liberty or Justice for anyone."
The bill was drafted in SECRET by
Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), before being
passed in a closed-door committee meeting without any kind of hearing.
The language appears in sections 1031 and 1032 of the NDAA bill.
“It
is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who
cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide
everything.” ~ Joseph Stalin
"It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder."
What is the NDAA?
The NDAA is an acronym for the "National Defense Authorization Act" which is an annual proposal regarding the Defense budget for the Department of Defense. This legislative process has been around since 1963- a year marked by the death of President John F. Kennedy, and also including his June 10th speech at the American University in D.C. regarding a new "Program for Peace": a proposed plan to ban nuclear weapons (Speech), and 2 of the most overrated films of all time: Hitchcock's "The Birds" and "Bye-Bye Birdie". This was a year that started with great promise for Americans and ended with several monumental tragedies and failures, the NDAA process being one of the latter.
Although each year the NDAA proposals have some measure that ends up being scrutinized for earmarks or some other unnecessary "special military project", this year's (2012) was especially criticized for a few of its provisions; namely sections 1021 & 1022. These sections, albeit hard to read without a B.S. degree in Poly Sci, essentially seek to limit the freedoms of the American people if our government decides to label one of us a terrorist by an ambiguous definition of who a terrorist may be. This definition was brought to us by the good folks at The Department of Homeland Security- George W Bush's pet project for political enforcement here in the states. First, I'll provide the sections taken verbatim from the NDAA 2012 below:
If you feel like you're going to go blind trying to both read and make sense of the lingo, then I suggest you check out the Wikipedia page regarding these sections HERE. The main points you want to understand within section 1021 is this:
Section 1021
NDAA text affirms the President's authority to detain, via the Armed Forces,
any person "who was part of or substantially supported AL-Qaeda, the
Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against
the United States or its coalition partners," and anyone who commits a
"belligerent act" against the U.S. or its coalition allies, under the
law of war, "without trial, until the end of the hostilities authorized
by the AUMF."
Doesn't sound so bad right? Wrong! In it's ambiguity of definitions regarding the underlined sections, what it is actually say is this:
"Anyone who commits an act contrary to the wishes of the State, shall be held without due process until the governing body deems that all hostilities of any kind, not necessarily related to the detainee themselves, has ceased- in other words, 'indefinitely'."
So, we've established that through its intentional ambiguity, the NDAA 2012 has an embedded clause that can initiate the indefinite imprisonment under military law of anyone it deems a threat to its purpose. But under our 5th, 8th, & 14th amendment rights to due process we cannot be denied our right to a fair trial, and this clause doesn't explicitly say "US citizens"! It's amazing how little 'half truths' can really confuse and blind people. It's true however, that the bill doesn't say that here and that we have the substantiated Constitutional right to a fair trial governed by our peers, not the federal government or the military.
Section 1022
The Cliff Notes of section 1022 regarding who may be detained are as follows:
"All persons arrested and detained according to the provisions of section
1021, including those detained on U.S. soil, whether detained
indefinitely or not, are required to be held by the United States Armed Forces.
The law affords the option to have U.S. citizens detained by the armed
forces but this requirement does not extend to them, as with foreign
persons. Lawful resident aliens may or may not be required to be
detained by the Armed Forces, "on the basis of conduct taking place
within the United States."
"Anyone who commits an act against the state including US citizens, and probably lawful resident aliens because we hate immigration, if deemed necessary by the military forces of the Federal government can be held indefinitely until such a time that some hostilities decease and when we are in a more favorable position granted that the detainee is still breathing in a Gitmo hole."
This section clearly opens the door to holding US citizens violating heir Constitutional rights including the right to Due Process and the right to not have to suffer Cruel and Unusual Punishment. Where did I get that last portion from? Please watch below:
I got it straight from the Ass's mouth. You see 1022 points out that anyone detained under these provisions will be held by the military as someone who acts against the wishes of the state, a terrorist. Military detainees don't go to the county jail or even the state prison, those are for criminals and minorities; no, they go to a military prison. Furthermore, since the detainee will be labeled a terrorist and become a source of possible information for our government, they will do what they've been doing since we invaded Afghanistan- they'll hold them indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay; it's become the status quo. For good reason, it's not on US soil. It's a military occupied zone. This means that the "law of the land" provisions in our constitution can be twisted so that they don't apply, even to US citizens. This is why the international community despises our practices there. It's also why Obama originally tried to close it until both sides of the political agenda showed him who's boss.
Again, it doesn't sound so bad- we can trust our government, right? Their not going to deny anyone their civil liberties! Well, just look a few generations ago and ask any African American citizen about their bountiful liberties. But President Barack Obama assured us that US citizens under his administration would not be detained...and government always keeps its word! You're right; he did make a nice quaint little memo that doesn't mean anything, and as for trust- just ask the Native Americans about that. They have a wonderful story to tell that will bring tears to your eyes, in fact a "Trail" of them. Obama said however, that his administration would not abuse the power- this has no bearing on the next president's administration.
"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
The extreme nature and ambiguity of these provisions is an obvious threat to not just our liberty, but the liberty of future generations- all for the sake of some false sense of security. Denying a man Liberty has never brought security to any society in history. Instead, it's been the catalyst for riots & revolutions, exactly like the revolution that lead to our founding.
I think Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson said it best:
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
~Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania Assembly: Reply to the Governor, November 11, 1755
"I Would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much Liberty than to those attending too small degree of it."
~Thomas Jefferson
What did they mean?
Liberty, which is Personal Freedom as defined in and protected by the US Constitution, is not without its flaws (we have the Freedom to be ignorant like Sen. Graham), but it allows for the greatest good and grants the common man the right to become whatever he wishes; it is far better to have an excess of Liberty, for better or worse, than it is to have less in the name of false security; since the best security is Liberty itself- its natural state is opposing oppression, tyranny and inequality. Once you put a limit on Liberty, you put a limit on the potential of all people, especially those with good intentions, even though you're trying to address the minority who may have bad intentions. Most people, not just in America but also world-wide, are good people. To take away their Liberty and weigh them down with more government in order to deal with the vast minority who oppose the law and abuse those Liberties is essentially Socialism. In Socialism, as with the Public Education system, we are all treated as the lowest common denominator. So therefore, since an overwhelmingly vast majority of people are good and don't abuse their Liberty, but a few are bad and do, then the Liberties of all must be sacrificed to address those few. This is not what America was founded upon; in fact it is what it was founded against. Our Constitution speaks to the limited powers of Government, which have gone abused over the past century, and the undeniable rights of American Citizens, and in abstract all men and women regardless of citizenship.
"Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood."
-- John Adams, 1765
"The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free,
neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits."
--Thomas Jefferson
Time magazine called the protester the person of the year for 2011, but if the US government and Obama Administration continue with its campaign against American freedom, defying corruption with demonstration as such will be outlawed in only a matter of time in the USA.
Concerned over how very real the collapse of the US Constitution is
because of Congress’ passing of the National Defense Authorization Act,
the NDAA, global activists with the on-line collective Anonymous have
proposed a national day of action against the controversial legislation
to occur within next month.
Hacktivists had initially proposed a massive campaign against the act
for January, but have now moved the protest to launch on February 3. [Gannett]
What Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham have to say for themselves
"National Socialism as a matter of principle, must lay claim to the right to force its principles on the whole German nation without consideration of previous federated state boundaries, and to educate in its ideas and conceptions. Just as the churches do not feel bound and limited by political boundaries, no more does the National Socialist idea feel limited by the individual state territories of our fatherland. The National Socialist doctrine is not the servant of individual federated states, but shall some day become the master of the German nation."
~ Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler.
Contrary to his 2008 campaign, Senator John McCain has proven that he is a big government fascist who believes that Might makes Right and that the military/government can solve all of our problems. By his drafting in secret the very clauses that seek to 'limit' our freedoms, John McCain has not only reaffirmed his distorted views on personal Liberty and Freedom, but he has also disgraced his record as a defender of those Freedoms as a military vet. This isn't something I say lightly as it carries a lot of weight and consequence, but never-the-less it is he who has proven it true.
"This is turning legislation related to our national defense and military preparedness into a vehicle to force a partisan agenda through the Senate. What's worse, the majority leader is pushing this controversial agenda under the cover of supporting our troops, knowing that the National Defense Authorization Act is a must-pass bill, and whatever else is in it will inevitably become law as a result."
— John McCain about the National Defense Authorization Act / September 16, 2010
Oh the irony!
"The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants."
"There’s a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the
enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the
military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend
to become the people."
~ Commander Adama "Battlestar Galactica" - Why not? : )
to become the people."
~ Commander Adama "Battlestar Galactica" - Why not? : )
"The two enemies of
the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the
chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version
of the first."
~Thomas Jefferson
Senator Lindsey Graham really doesn't need any special introduction to point out his flawed character and unscrupulous views on American Liberty, The Constitution, and Freedom; he does a good job of this on his own.
"To the critics, some of your criticism has been unfounded, but you have
the right to be a critic. You live in the state called live free and
die; let me remind everybody, being a critic, and being able to speak
your mind, sometimes people have to die." --United States Senator Lindsey
Graham from South Carolina (11-29-2011 U.S. Senate Debate regarding
NDAA)
“Death solves all problems - no man, no problem.” ~Joseph Stalin
In a clip on Fox News’ show, Freedom Watch, Sen. Lindsey Graham is quoted, “The homeland is part of the battlefield, and people can be held without trial whether an American citizen or not.”
“We don't do Lincoln Day Dinners in South Carolina. It's nothing personal, but it takes a while to get over things.” ~Lindsey Graham
President Bush has shown great leadership. He has said that the 21st century will
not be ruled or dictated by terrorists, dictators, and murderers. He is
absolutely right. God bless him for his resolve. ~Senator Lindsey Graham
"A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader." -- Samuel Adams, 1779
"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it."
"Any excuse will serve a tyrant."
~Aesop
"All those who seek to destroy the liberties of a democratic nation ought to know that war is the surest and shortest means to accomplish it."
~Alexis de Tocqueville
"Is
life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?
Forbid it, Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me,
give me liberty or give me death!" -- Patrick Henry
Other World Leaders who did the same thing
What country can preserve its
liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people
preserve the spirit of resistance?
~Thomas Jefferson
 |
| Joseph Stalin |
 |
| Muammar Gaddafi |
Notice they're all wearing Military Uniforms?
 |
| King George III |
 |
| Adolf Hitler |
"Beware the Military Industrial Complex"
~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
“An evil exists that threatens every man, woman and child of this great
nation. We must take steps to ensure our domestic security and protect
our homeland.” – Adolf Hitler
“Everyone imposes his own system as far as his army can reach.”
~ Joseph Stalin
"There is no state with a democracy except Libya on the whole planet."
~ Gaddafi
"A traitor is everyone who does not agree with me"
~ King George III, just before the American Revolution.
Closing Thoughts
“Of liberty I would
say that, in the whole plenitude of its extent, it is unobstructed action
according to our will. But rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to
our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not
add “within the limits of the law,” because law is often but the tyrant’s will,
and always so when it violates the right of an individual.”
~Thomas Jefferson
"Our own Country's Honor, all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions -- The Eyes of all our Countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings, and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the Tyranny mediated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world, that a free man contending for Liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth." ~ George Washington, 1776
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
~Abraham Lincoln
"That these are our grievances which we have thus laid before his majesty, with that freedom of language and sentiment which becomes a free people claiming their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate." ~ Thomas Jefferson, 1774
"The
battle, Sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the
brave. Besides, Sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it,
it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in
submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on
the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable; and let it come! I repeat, Sir,
let it come!"
~ Patrick Henry
"Some people in this chamber love the Constitution more than they love the safety of this nation. We should all send President Bush a letter thanking him for protecting us." ~Senator Jeff Sessions, 2007
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