Race to Tyranny?

From the Patriot Act of 2001 to the NDAA of 2011. 

"President Barack Obama and all viable Republican presidential candidates have something in common, and it’s pretty important: They’re generally supportive of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Act basically cements the idea that the president can detain anyone around the world, indefinitely."

"There’d been a ton of confusion over the bill (whether or not it includes American citizens in its detention language, whether or not there was any cause for concern at all) and Obama even cited reservations with the language of the bill (since it limited his Power To Fight The War On Terror) but, nevertheless, offered his signature while vacationing in Hawaii just a couple days ago.

Only one presidential candidate has mentioned the NDAA by name: Ron Paul. And he’s against it (among other things). He said the bill will accelerate the country’s “slip into tyranny” and assures “our descent into totalitarianism” is well on its way." Randy LoBasso

"The bill is a serious violation of First Amendment human and civil rights, including freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and the legislation could potentially hinder the movements of both Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party  movement, as well as quash attempts from the whistleblowers in independent news media from exposing corruption from within the government." Dave Smith.

Many were wrong thinking Mr. Obama would veto it. 


10th Anniversary of War On Terror
January 11, 2012 marks the 10th anniversary of "war on terror" detainees at Guantanamo. We're not going to let this day pass quietly.

We haven't forgotten President Obama's pledge to close Guantanamo, one of his first acts as president. Nearly three years later, the President has failed to keep his end of the bargain.

Even worse, President Obama has yet again relented to extremists in Congress. On New Year's Eve, he signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law, along with its appalling detention provisions.

We lost that fight, but there's reason for hope. The battle over the NDAA united activists across the ideological divide, who put differences aside and came together to oppose the NDAA.

January 11th isn't just any anniversary. This year, it's a critical moment to rise up against a shameful decade of human rights abuses perpetrated in our name. We can't let the recent outrage against the NDAA simply ebb away -- help us channel this passion into a movement rededicated to closing Guantanamo!

Guantanamo is a costly human rights catastrophe. Military and intelligence experts have repeatedly asserted that Guantanamo and the violations it stands for are immoral, illegal and counterproductive to US national security.

There is a simple solution to closing Guantanamo -- either charge detainees and give them a fair trial in US federal court, or release them.

Sign our petition to tell President Obama that we are tired of his excuses. Guantanamo must be closed.

For many, the New Year holiday embodies humanity's hopes for the future. Here's to 2012 -- and with your help, this could be Guantanamo's final year.

Sincerely,

Zeke Johnson
Director, Security with Human Rights Campaign
Amnesty International USA

Please see the attached link.  Perhaps some of you were unaware of my current job. After you read this, please remember that I am talking about fellow human beings, with friends, loved ones and families who miss them.  Those who are guilty of crimes should be charged and tried - those not, released.  Ten years is long enough for this nightmare.  

The entire military commission system, including Guantanamo, is a perversion of justice, a huge waste of taxpayer resources, and most importantly - COUNTERPRODUCTIVE.  

Do not focus of those few "who have returned to the fight" (but a handful of those released).  Instead, think of the thousands of children, brothers, friends and others whose hatred for the U.S. mounts daily as their detained loved one remains in the gulag. And how you would feel about a nation that held them, or you, on mere suspicion, without charge, for ten years. 

Due to space limits, the beginning and end of my article was cut by the editors.  I started out discussing whistleblower Thomas Drake, who lost his job at NSA for speaking out about government misconduct and Constitutional violations.  I said that I shared his crisis of conscience. I concluded with this: "And when they declare martial law and come for you and me, who then will speak out?"

Lt. Col. Donna Lorraine Barlett

Washington, DC - 1-5-12. With U.S. troops now gone from Iraq and starting to come home from Afghanistan, the Obama administration is planning to cut the Army by 80,000 soldiers, taking it below 490,000, and the Marine Corps by 20,000, taking it to 182,000, officials said.

"Liberal leaders strongly support the words of Judge Anna Diggs Taylor's ruling: "It was never the intent of the framers to give the president such unfettered control, particularly when his actions blatantly disregard the parameters clearly enumerated in the Bill of Rights. The three separate branches of government were developed as a check and balance for one another.”

Where were they during the Clinton administration?

We have had a huge number of allegedly liberal Democrats in both houses of Congress who were willing to cede immense power to President Clinton, then suddenly discovered civil liberties during the Bush administration.

Here, for example, is a statement made by Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick to the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee on July 14th, 1994:

"The Department of Justice believes, and the case law supports, that the president has inherent authority to conduct warrantless physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes, and that the President may, as has been done, delegate this authority to the Attorney General." Deborah White.

Where are the liberals leaders today?