Editorial
Demolishing Due Process
It is ironic but perhaps sadly appropriate that Attorney General Eric Holder would choose a law school, Northwestern University, to deliver a speech earlier this month in which he demolished what was left of the rule of law in America.
In what history likely will record as a turning point, Attorney General Holder bluntly explained that this administration believes it has the authority to use lethal force against Americans if the President determines them to be a threat to the nation. He tells us that this is not a violation of the due process requirements of our Constitution because the President himself embodies "due process" as he unilaterally determines who is to be targeted. As Holder said, "a careful and thorough executive branch review of the facts in a case amounts to 'due process.'" That means that the administration believes it is the President himself who is to be the judge, jury, and executioner.
As George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley wrote of the Holder speech:
"All the Administration has said is that they closely and faithfully follow their own guidelines — even if their decisions are not subject to judicial review. The fact that they say those guidelines are based on notions of due process is meaningless. They are not a constitutional process of review."
It is particularly bizarre to hear the logic of the administration claiming the right to target its citizens according to some secret selection process, when we justified our attacks against Iraq and Libya because their leaders supposedly were targeting their own citizens! We also now plan a covert war against Syria for the same reason.
I should make it perfectly clear that I believe any individual who is engaging in violence against this country or its citizens should be brought to justice. But as Attorney General Holder himself points out in the same speech, our civilian courts have a very good track record of trying and convicting individuals involved with terrorism against the United States. Our civilian court system, with the guarantee of real due process, judicial review and a fair trial, is our strength, not a weakness. It is not an impediment to be sidestepped in the push for convictions or assassinations but rather a process that guarantees that fundamental right, to be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
I am encouraged, however, that there appears to be the beginning of a backlash against the administration's authoritarian claims. Just recently I did an interview with conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham who expressed grave concern over using these sorts of tactics against Americans using the supposed war on terror as justification. Sadly, many conservative leaders were silent when Republican President George W. Bush laid the groundwork for this administration's lawlessness with the PATRIOT Act, warrantless wiretapping, indefinite detention without trial and other violations. Similarly, as Professor Turley points out, "Democrats previously demanded the 'torture memos' of the Bush administration that revealed poor legal analysis by Judge Jay Bybee and Professor John Yoo to justify torture. Now, however, Democrats are largely silent in the face of a president claiming the right to unilaterally kill citizens." The misuse of and disregard for our Constitution for partisan political gain is likely one reason the American public holds Congress in such low esteem. Now the stakes are much higher. Congress and the people should finally wake up!
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Posted by SwifterMan on 03/21/12 03:11 AM
. . .
On the 23. day of march, in 1933 - Adolf Hitler adopted the "Ermächtigungsgesetz", a law that would give him the power to do, what he later did . . .
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The PATRIOT ACT of mass murderer George W. Bush is a comparable law, giving authority to criminal laws.
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Will the US end up like Nazi-Germany ?
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Posted by Joelg on 03/21/12 12:13 AM
They say: He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword. What goes around comes around.
Right now they feel all powerful as judge, jury and executioner. By what they are doing to others can be visited upon them and their kin just as easily, once they dispense with the law and create new lawless processes that might later be adopted against them.
Perhaps that is why they say: Treat others as you would like to be treated. Karma, cause and effect. What you do may come back to haunt you. Right now the world is their killing ground and they may feel all powerful. But history tells us that the tables can turn abruptly.
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Posted by gmallast on 03/20/12 11:16 PM
There is no excuse. What 'due process' means was clearly defined in Chapter XXXIX of Magna Charta:
Chapter XXXIX, Magna Charta, 1215, reaffirmed 1297 and many more times:
'No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or be disseised of his freehold, or liberties, or free customs, or be outlawed, exiled, or otherwise destroyed; nor will we not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either justice or right.'
Justice Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634), Institutes, 1642, 1797, gloss on Article XXXIX of Magna Charta:
'Upon this chapter, as out of a roote, many fruitful branches of the law of England have sprung….
…2. No man shall be disseised, that is, put out of season, or dispossessed of his free-hold (that is) lands, or livelihood, or of his liberties, or free-customes, that is, of such franchises, and freedoms, and free-customes, as belong to him by free birth right, unless it be by the lawful judgment, that is, verdict of his equals (that is, of men of his own condition) or by the law of the land (that is to speak once for all) by the due course and process of law.:
Justice Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634), Institutes, 1642, 1797:
'Every oppression against law, by colour of any usurped authority is a kinde of destruction….and it is the worst oppression, that is done by colour of justice.'
Barack Obama wants to be V. I. Lenin. Apparently Mr. Holder wants to be his Felix Dzershinsky. And then there is Mitt Romney the Republican Tweedledee to the Obama Tweedledum. Dr. Paul may have been the world's last chance to be saved from universal tyranny and death. After all, as that great loving, kindly, gentle, compassionate, egalitarian socialist Joseph Stalin said, 'Death solves all problems. No man; no problem.'
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Posted by fabien_hug on 03/20/12 10:36 PM
But absent Ron Paul, who'll write and talk about that in DC? About nobody and that's frightening.
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Posted by bewer on 03/20/12 09:53 PM
Our Constitution is not discussed in schools routinely either, which is no surprise when the rulers desire sheeple, not citizens. I would bet there will be no changes in response to what Holder said in his speech.
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Posted by oldman67 on 03/20/12 07:19 PM
My guess is that few know about the Defense Production Act committee and its 17 members. Add to that, the Patriot Act, the NDAA and the NDER program an di would say Americas move into socialism is a reality. how manuy know that 27 members of Wall St. now reside in high positions in both Obama's cabinet and administration. Obama is not in control, Wall St. is.
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Posted by chrisstrings on 03/20/12 06:27 PM
Part of the problem is that so many of today's young people are ignorant of the Constitution... many do not even know what the 1st amendment means... .This country was set up with a system of checks and balances to prevent any one branch (or person) from becoming the end-all, say-all
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Posted by Chemist on 03/20/12 06:01 PM
Except for Dr. Paul as one of the few lone holdouts, the Republican and Democratic parties have become just 2 sides of the same broken, worthless coin. A failed system. No longer performing to the original intent.
Election funding and advertising has been taken over by special, very well funded interests, where a small cabal of men donate all the millions needed to get the same dismally failed policies and politicians reelected. The candidates who are supported as such draw only tiny crowds in their campaign trail. Hundreds at best. Meanwhile Ron Paul consistently draws thousands while the last embedded reporter pulls out, despite the throngs!!! Further proof that the mainstream media is utterly complicit, and in fact acting now more as a ministry of propaganda for the Federal Government! This government has, in turn, been taken over by international financial interests, who, in turn, only want to see the destruction of our economy, our currency, and our way of life so that the NWO can be expediently established with no questions asked.
But when a President of The People rises, then the oligarchs quake and do what they can to supress this. Evidence what you see (or actually don't see) on the media now!
Sadly, even when "the people" believe they are electing new candidates that promise to "shrink the size of government" it doesn't happen. This is because the elected officials, largely, become corrupted and assimilated into the corrupt mechanisms all around them at the Federal level, resulting in no change actually taking place. In fact the opposite takes place, and the Federal Government grows larger, as it has been consistently doing for recent memory.
A revolution is the only option, since the best options are not being provided to the people, and we are headed for financial and societal disaster. More and more enlightened individuals are seeing it, however. And Ron Paul is certainly opening up many eyes! That goodness for the Internet Reformation!!
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Posted by budwood on 03/20/12 06:00 PM
You're correct, Kenn. No necessarily stupid. More like just not caring because they live in a linear world. That means that today is the same as yesterday and tomorrow will be the same as today.
Well, as many are finding out, this tomorrow is becoming much different from yesterday and sequentially we (collectively) are coming to the end of the good-time-days. Actually, I look forward to a bit more challenge because such is when a bit more opportunities pop-up. And, although I find being a "keyboard commando" (as you put it) is in a small way gratifying, I am poised to be a bit more of a man of action. No, I am not a change-the-world type of person, but I'm able to change my immediate world, as that's where it's at.
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Posted by EdwardUlyssesCate on 03/20/12 05:58 PM
Dear Citizens: If you really want Ron Paul policies to become reality (and I do) then you will focus your energies on turning Congress into a REAL House of Representatives to support him. Help make sure the 99% ARE represented from your district, and remove the sociopaths (of any party) out of the way. Then these policies and other legitimate concerns will be heard and voted on. No more "we have to pass this to find out what's in it" nonsense. Right now, career representatives depend on financial sociopaths for finance, and therefore cast their votes for the 1%. If 51% of the districts were represented by non-sociopaths, you wouldn't be on the menu anymore.
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Posted by bob on 03/20/12 03:46 PM
Dear Dr. Ron Paul,
If you care about America, this year, you must run for the White House as an independent candidate.
Why?
* Staying inside the Republican party, will not change anything. Both Republican and Democratic Parties are owned by the same Zionist Banking Oligarchy/Mafia.
* Any delegates you may have will not change a thing. The Party election platform (you have no chance to influence) is a totally useless/propaganda piece of paper.
* Staying in the Republican party and participating in a fraud called a Presidential election, you will only mislead American people implying that they have a choice to influence their future through a ballot box but they don't have. This is just a bogus game. You know this very well.
* By leaving the Republican Party, you will not necessarily help Obama. Contrary to this, since you will not get any hard-core republican votes but you will attract an army of independent voters who otherwise would vote for Obama.
Dear old man, this is you last chance of doing something good for your country.
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Posted by Abu Aardvark on 03/20/12 01:20 PM
This just in:
'HOT: Bernanke in Panic'
Click to view link
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Posted by rossbcan on 03/20/12 12:10 PM
In case anyone cares to ponder the stupid question of the difference between "rule of law" and "rule of those who abuse law for predatory gain", well, ponder no more:
Click to view link
sieg obaminator
not so long ago, judges were hung by the neck until dead for rationalizing "some are less human than others" and, the "final solutions" that this "decree of truth" led to by those who claim to follow reason in all but basic assumptions.
tick, tick, the fuse it lit.
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Posted by Mark M on 03/20/12 10:55 AM
and you will not hear anything from the establishment so long as it remains inexpedient for its members to act. There is no leadership today except where individuals, such as yourself, decide to speak out. I encourage you to go to your local town meetings and speak. Talk with your neighbors, family and friends about what you think is wrong. This will inform you and them about what is correct and have the added benefit of providing clarity so that you are prepared for what may come. And please, for those who think repeating Charlie Heston about cold dead hands is preparation, do not fool yourself into thinking you'll squeeze if the thugs come knocking. Each of us must be in a right mind about who we are, how we've come this far and how we will proceed. An aggressive fiction will not suffice - prepare to reason. The glaring flaw in the progressive control agenda seems to be that it lacks an intellectual foundation.
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Posted by kenn on 03/20/12 10:19 AM
@ Lapetus
""How can Americans be so stupid?""
They're not... They just don't care... ... about too much of anything. A testament to government edumacation I suppose. They live in a pretend society complete with a pretend government and pretend elections. It is too late for them and as such,,, probably for us keyboard commandos...
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Posted by Rrust on 03/20/12 10:02 AM
WILDLY OFF-TOPIC:
Joe Salerno has written an amazingly good primer on free-market money.
I don't have much luck posting links here, so go to the Mises Institute site. --Perhaps a useful tool for those who have friends and family who need a bit of *education* (smile) on what free-market money is about… as simple useful tool for thriving societies.
Anyone who thinks that the "cashless society" is a wonderful idea might benefit from a look-in here.
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Posted by kenn on 03/20/12 10:02 AM
If they feel comfortable passing legislation and color of legislation (EO) to murder and incarcerate and plunder then making it illegal to discuss these assaults on forums like this will certainly come to pass.
Then what?
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Posted by oneman on 03/20/12 09:47 AM
This latest E.O. signed by Obama seems to me nothing new. Instead, it would appear to be something of a reaffirmation of standing E.O.s - dating back to at least FDR, and based on the WWI era "Trading with the Enemy Act".
In 1973, the U.S. Congress reported, that, having ceded so much power to the executive, they were nearly powerless to correct the situation. Perhaps, this link might make things a bit clearer:
Click to view link
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Posted by Iapetus on 03/20/12 07:01 AM
You neither see nor hear anyone in the corrupt main stream speak about the atrocities Ron Paul is constantly reminding us of. I'm talking about those who the Republicans are placing on the altar, Romney, Santorum and Gingrich. Have any of them spoken out about the NDAA or the recently signed National Defense Resources Preparedness Executive Order? How can Americans be so stupid? How can they vote or if the elections are rigged, how can they continue to hold their heads high? How can they stand by and not say anything about the demise of the rule of law. They took an Oath which they are not upholding. Arrest them all including the President and everyone else in Congress that is standing idly by and not asserting the power we gave them to overturn such laws and mandates.
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