NP: Alienation and Sedition Act?

[Mark Kohut]

Only made aware of this by the plist, one of my thoughts is that
the Repubs---w/ Dem Levin?? Is that right? --and some hawks added
this to force Obama to be 'against the troops' if he vetoed.......

He's gotta tell them to do it again without that.....if it comes out
of House with that provision....which seems likely, I guess......

----- Original Message -----
From: Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
To: David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
Cc: Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net>; pynchon-l at waste.org
Sent: Thursday, December 1, 2011 1:46 PM
Subject: Re: NP: Alienation and Sedition Act?

The language is ambiguous. Lawyers love ambiguous language precisely
because it is so easily manipulated. I agree with Obama on this one,
that to err on the side of caution is the preferred action. Better not
to allow the language in such a bill.

On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 9:28 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_12/detainee_policy_gone_horribly033822.php
>
>
> On Tuesday 60 members of the United States Senate voted to preserve a
> provision in the National Defense Authorization Act — that would be
> the bill that funds the Pentagon — allowing the U.S. military to pick
> up and detain, without charges or trial, anyone suspected of
> terrorism, including American citizens, and to restrict transfers of
> prisoners out of Guantanamo Bay. Specifically, 60 senators voted
> against an amendment that would have invalidated the part of the bill
> which empowers the president and the military to detain anyone they
> suspect was involved in the 9/11 attacks or supports al-Qaida, the
> Taliban, or “associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against
> the United States or its coalition partners.”
>
> President Obama has said he will veto the larger bill if the detainee
> provision remains intact, but that hasn’t been enough to sway the
> Senate.
>
> Just 38 senators did the right thing when the measure reached the
> Senate floor. One of them was Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who explained
> to his colleagues just how significant this step is.
>
> ” [W]hat we are talking about here is that Americans could be
> subjected to life imprisonment. Think about that for a minute. Life
> imprisonment. Without ever being charged, tried, or convicted of a
> crime. Without ever having an opportunity to prove your innocence to a
> judge or a jury of your peers. And without the government ever having
> to prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. I think that denigrates
> the very foundations of this country.”



-- 
"Less than any man have I  excuse for prejudice; and I feel for all
creeds the warm sympathy of one who has come to learn that even the
trust in reason is a precarious faith, and that we are all fragments
of darkness groping for the sun. I know no more about the ultimates
than the simplest urchin in the streets." -- Will Durant