Bill Allows Military to Imprison US Citizens without trial

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Maerj
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Post by Maerj »

Goliath wrote:@ Maerj: You're also gonna love this commentary about OWS:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/MmusrhoEPyU" frameborder="0"></iframe>

That was awesome, thank you for posting that!
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Post by dvdjunkie »

Has anyone gone back and looked to see where this article originated. I did and now it all makes sense because it is nothng but propaganda and I think the rest of you political enthusiasts should research also.

The "RT" in the heading means "Russia Today", and the article now makes no sense because we would have to have a bill proposed before our Congress and a National Vote taken before something like this could ever happen.

Now I understand more about what is going on, and I will a little more careful about what I read and make sure that I know the source before jumping to conclusions.

And I think, and this is just my opinion for what it is worth, those of you who sound like a broken record when it comes to what is happening in America need to do some research and write to your Congressman or Senators and ask them what is going on. You would be very surprised at what replies you get.

I, for one, will now from this day forward boycott anything that is headlined by "RT" (Russia Today).
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Post by Lazario »

I was equally skeptical of this article / believing it wholeheartedly.
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Post by Goliath »

dvdjunkie wrote:Has anyone gone back and looked to see where this article originated. I did and now it all makes sense because it is nothng but propaganda and I think the rest of you political enthusiasts should research also. [...]

Now I understand more about what is going on, and I will a little more careful about what I read and make sure that I know the source before jumping to conclusions.
What I have been talking about in this thread, which is the unconstitutional power accumulated by the president under George W. Bush (and continued by Obama) to decide, without providing any proof in court or even without any charges brought against a person, to declare any person, including US citizens as "enemy combatants" and have them assissinated. As has happened before, as evidence by the Salon.com article I posted, but that case has been all over the media. I also talked about Guántanamo Bay, where some hundreds have been held and are still being held for years without due process, without any charges against them, without access to a lawyer or a jury of their peers. That is not the rule of law. That's a violation of the Constitution and every human rights treaty the US has ever signed. It's illegal and it's morally wrong.

And that has nothing to do with 'Russia Today'. And if you believe that your own US mainstream media is more trustworthy than 'Russia Today'... well, all I can say is: sweet dreams!
dvdjunkie wrote:And I think, and this is just my opinion for what it is worth, those of you who sound like a broken record when it comes to what is happening in America need to do some research and write to your Congressman or Senators and ask them what is going on. You would be very surprised at what replies you get.
You mean you still believe what those people tell you? The same people who are being bribed, bought and controlled by multi-billion dollar corporations --and I'm talking both parties here? These people don't represent you. They represent big pharma, big agriculture, Wall Street and the banking business. Wake up and smell the coffee. This is not the 1950's anymore, when you probably got politically aware.
dvdjunkie wrote:I, for one, will now from this day forward boycott anything that is headlined by "RT" (Russia Today).
I wish you'd do the same with Fox News and all the other mainstream media. I could give you some good suggestions for alternative news sources if you wish to. But they're not gonna chant "USA, USA, USA!"

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Post by Goliath »

^ God, I've missed The Daily Show! I really should start watching again. Sad that it takes a comedy show to adress these kinds of issues.

But that part where he said that any person could be held "until the War on Terror is over" and "hostilities have ended"... that's 1984, man. Orwell wasn't writing fiction after all. It was seen in its time as a critique of Soviet Russia, but 'Big Brother' turns out to closer to home than I'm sure even he could think of.

"The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous. Hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. This new version is the past and no different past can ever have existed. In principle the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or East Asia, but to keep the very structure of society intact."
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Post by Maerj »

I'm glad someone posted the daily show link, DVD Junkie, you should really watch that, it shows the people who came up with that crap law and you will see that its for real.

Also, I have written to all of my reps and was surprised by the responses. Basically its always "thanks for your interest and time but unfortunately I am going to vote the way I want to anyway." There are some good ones out there but this 97-3 vote shows how few there are.
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Post by Super Aurora »

Maerj wrote:I'm glad someone posted the daily show link, DVD Junkie, you should really watch that, it shows the people who came up with that crap law and you will see that its for real.

Also, I have written to all of my reps and was surprised by the responses. Basically its always "thanks for your interest and time but unfortunately I am going to vote the way I want to anyway." There are some good ones out there but this 97-3 vote shows how few there are.
That right there shows how shitty careless our politicians are.
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Post by Maerj »

Super Aurora wrote:
Maerj wrote:I'm glad someone posted the daily show link, DVD Junkie, you should really watch that, it shows the people who came up with that crap law and you will see that its for real.

Also, I have written to all of my reps and was surprised by the responses. Basically its always "thanks for your interest and time but unfortunately I am going to vote the way I want to anyway." There are some good ones out there but this 97-3 vote shows how few there are.
That right there shows how shitty careless our politicians are.
And they wonder why people are protesting! I think that one of the worst things that politicians are doing, or more accurately not doing, is listening to the people. All these protesters out there not one politician has stopped to say 'What is wrong? Why are you guys out here? What do you want, how can we help?"

Nope, instead they get shot at, beaten, tear gassed, evicted and tortured. The LA people who got arrested were taken to a warehouse, hand cuffed, forced to kneel for 7 hours with no food, water or medical attention. Continuing to not listen will only make this movement grow larger.
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Post by ajmrowland »

^erm.....................some of that's news to me.
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Post by Maerj »

What part?
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Post by ajmrowland »

mostly the LA thing. I dunno what to make of it.
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Post by Maerj »

Its a tactic to scare people into not protesting anymore. I'm not surprised by it, look at this article from the LA Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld ... 4348.story

Predator drones being used right here in the US.

Anyway, I forget where I found the account of the LA protesters but I'll try to see if I can find it for you. I follow a lot of the Occupy accounts on twitter and watch the Livestream and Ustreams, where the protests are streamed live. Its can be a task trying to keep up with all of it but it gives you a much more accurate account of what is going on than the news does.
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Post by singerguy04 »

I originally thought this had no chance being signed into law, but after some researching into how the bill was secretly passed through the Senate and how supportive both Republicans and Democrats seem to be of the bill I have this dreadfull feeling that the death of our American Democracy is upon us.

This bill is essentially a jump into dictatorship in the U.S. and if the president does sign this bill, it will be proof that we have trully lost sight of what the "american dream" was.

This is a disgusting turn in politics, and I don't know of anything we can do at this point. I feel like one of those crazy people you see on the streets that are crying "the end is nigh!", but seriously what else am I supposed to think when we are seriously looking at a law that will strip people of their constitutional rights? On top of that, it's being done completely under our noses by people we've elected into office.

I understand that we are scared as a people, why wouldn't we be? We've been attacked by terrorists, our economy is shaky at best, the climate is changing, and China is quickly rising to de-thrown us as the greatest economic power among many other things. This is no reason to undermind the foundations of our country and ignore our basic human rights.

I'm praying that this crisis is averted. I'm praying that we (the american people as a whole) wake up and see this is what is happening so that we're not completely blind sided by the consequences of this bill. I'm praying for the future of this country. If this is where we're at now... I can't imagine where we'll be in the near future.


P.S. I know that at first read I may seem like I'm over exaggerating the situation, but seriously ask yourself and consider what this bill means and what can happen legally under it. Does it scare you in the least? It really should.
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Post by Goliath »

singerguy04 wrote:I originally thought this had no chance being signed into law, but after some researching into how the bill was secretly passed through the Senate and how supportive both Republicans and Democrats seem to be of the bill I have this dreadfull feeling that the death of our American Democracy is upon us.
Like I said before in this thread: that died a long time ago, either in 2000 when the Supreme Court ruled for an unelected president, or even further back in 1963.
singerguy04 wrote:This is a disgusting turn in politics, and I don't know of anything we can do at this point. I feel like one of those crazy people you see on the streets that are crying "the end is nigh!", but seriously what else am I supposed to think when we are seriously looking at a law that will strip people of their constitutional rights? On top of that, it's being done completely under our noses by people we've elected into office.
The problem is three-fold:

1. Roughly 50% of the people in the US don't vote and/or are not politically active. It's much easier to get away with things like this when half the population simply doesn't care.

2. The two-party system. I've seen liberals cheer when they realized all the Republican candidates were dolts and far-right nutjobs. Why? This doesn't give Obama and the Democrats any incentive at all to move to the left. Over the last 30 years, the Democrats have moved to the right and the right has moved into a mental hospital. There's no real choice anymore.

3. Money in politics. Congressional approval rates are among 13%, but most Congressmen are very popular in their own state. Both things can't be true at the same time. They remain unchallenged and unseated because they get enough money in for 'their' state. And remember that most people in the Senate are millionairs. Why should they care about you instead of their "base", their fellow millionairs? Plus, Congressmen are on the phone begging for donations half of the time. Can't work for the people like that, can you?

What can be done? Expecting anything from electing another person president is useless. There simply aren't any FDR's and JFK's anymore. The few politicians actually working for the people are being marginalized and ridiculed in the media. I think what's needed is a new American revolution.
singerguy04 wrote:I understand that we are scared as a people, why wouldn't we be? We've been attacked by terrorists, our economy is shaky at best, the climate is changing, and China is quickly rising to de-thrown us as the greatest economic power among many other things. This is no reason to undermind the foundations of our country and ignore our basic human rights.
Well, that's what the power elites count on: keeping people scared and confused in order to push through measures that benefit them and set us commoners on a disadvantage. Crises are either manufactured ('the war on terror') or real crises are being exploited in order to ram through legislation that otherwise, under normal circumstances, never would've passed. You see it in Europe right now, where national parliaments are being stripped of their sovereignty in order to give more power to the European Commission in Brussels.

We're being told that, to save the Euro, we simply have no other chance than to allow Brussels technocrats to dictate how to run our countries and our economies --meaning, raising retirement age; making it easier for companies to lay off workers; having one similar tax system in all 27 countries; privatization of government tasks etc. All under the guise of "preventing a new collapse" like Greece, Italy, Portugal and Ireland, by avoiding too big deficits. But only in Greece the cause of financial implosion was the deficit. And the people who are now prime minister of Greece and Italy (Monti and Papademos) are the same people who worked for Goldman Sachs while that bank was lending billions of dollars to those countries when they knew they would never be able to pay those loans back. The foxes are now in charge of guarding the henhouse. And the measures they're proposing to "level the deficit" are not hurting big business or the rich elite, but the ordinary worker and the massive wave of privatizations of government tasks in southern Europe will only benefit the private sector.

All these measures would have been unthinkable under normal circumstances, but, like with this bill and so many other bills in the US (Patriot Act, anyone?), they're made possible by, and accepted by the general public, because we're confused and scared and most of us are made to feel (by our politicians and the media, which are either lazy and dumb or complicit) we simply have no other choice in the face of these crises and therefore, most accept it.

This is called "the shock doctrine". The term is coined by Canadian activist and writer Naomi Klein. Like I said, it works like this: shock the people into a panic and confusion and then use that opportunity to pass measures that benefit the power elites. Her book of the same name has been turned into a very good documentary, too.

A short version of that film:

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Post by singerguy04 »

Here's an official petition against the bill! We need to sign and pass it along! Conveniently enough, we're not given much time to complete the petition.

https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#! ... s/GLfhBn6D
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Post by Maerj »

Sorry, those petitions do nothing. If you do get a response its extremely condescending and basically tells you 'no.' That is the gov't's MO nowadays. Goliath is pretty much right in what he wrote above. Contact me in PM and we can we discuss further, if you would like.


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Post by Goliath »

^ Why do it in private? I think it's extremely important to discuss these matters in public. Like the video above said: spreading information is the best weapon we have against these horrible policy ideas.
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Post by Maerj »

Goliath wrote:^ Why do it in private? I think it's extremely important to discuss these matters in public. Like the video above said: spreading information is the best weapon we have against these horrible policy ideas.
Well, just in case he wanted to go into more depth than we are here. Just opening it up, if they are interested.

Oh, I read that there is a bit of a media blackout on this but the House voted for the NDAA, so the only one left is the President. Unfortunately, I also read that the Pres is the one who wanted the bill to *include* American citizens in it, so he may not veto it afterall.

:(
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Post by ajmrowland »

I'll let Hagrid say it, "AN OUTRAGE! A SCANDAL!"
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