According to the Attorney General, you have no rights.

[theweaselking]

Watch on YouTube

US Attorney General insists that nowhere in the Constitution of the United States are people ever granted the right of habeas corpus.

I mean, it's CERTAINLY not in the Fifth Amendment, which explains that you are never to "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law", or the Sixth, which says that "in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense."[1]

So, read that again: The ATTORNEY GENERAL has just stated, outright, that the fifth and sixth amendments DO NOT APPLY TO AMERICANS, in his opinion, and that you have *no* right to a trial, or to a defense, or to know why you've been imprisoned, and not even a right to *only be imprisoned for a provable reason*.

He's just openly declared that he thinks it's legal for the USA to "disappear" citizens.

You *do* remember that Halliburton was contracted billions of dollars last year to build konzentrationslager on US soil, right?

How's that water, hmm? Still as cold as it was when you got in? Are you sure? Those are definitely little bubbles forming all around you. What's that white misty stuff streaming up over your head?


[1]: And let's leave alone Article I, Section 9 of the core document, shall we?

Comments

[jrolsma.livejournal.com]

This offends me to the depths of my soul. I cannot possibly express to you the feeling of helplessness this group of tyrants gives me but I can tell you that I am as vocal as I can be about it. Unfortunately, not many people listen to the rantings of a minor member of the country.

Time to make those emigration plans for when my daughter graduates from high school. Is it wrong to start counting down at 10 years to go?

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I don't think you've got 10 years.

Do you own a gun?

[jrolsma.livejournal.com]

Not one of my own. The bf has one and I will be learning to hunt this year. I start shooting lessons in February.

I'm not taking any chances.

[fortysevenbteg.livejournal.com]

I notice Alberto has that patented Bush Smirk™ down pretty good.

[matgb]

Tinfoil hat might not actually be needed in this case, I think this one might actually be true.

Still, fortunately thee and me don't live there.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Why would I need a tinfoil hat or a "might be"? That's the Alberto Gonzales and Arlen Specter, and he says, right out, that Americans don't have a right to habeas corpus just because the Constitution prohibits taking away the right to habeas corpus.

#1: There's no tin foil hattery involved.
#2: A tangent - "OMG A CONSPIRACY THEORY" in no way dismisses the need to answer the questions raised in a perfectly reasonable request, dammit.

[fortysevenbteg.livejournal.com]

I'm not well versed in the details of all this (a fact I'm not proud of, but I do try to learn when I can), but for Alberto's statement to be true, wouldn't that imply that we've never officially been granted that right, and that all these years it's been invoked and granted only because other people interpreted it just as Specter did?

[matgb]

John? This is me agreeing with you.

The concentration camps thing may be a little nutty, but I can't see any legitimate use for them, hence I think this one might actually be true.

Anyway, 1.30am, me sleep now...

[zibacco.livejournal.com]

Ignorance at that level is beyond astounding. In fact, habeas corpus is the only right specifically mentioned in the main body of the Constitution. The rest were added as amendments.

Article I, Section 9: "The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

Even then it falls under "Limits on Congress", which would seem to imply that the Legislature, not the Executive, has the power to suspend in the case of invasion or rebellion.

[larabeaton.livejournal.com]

I think that you are being rather generous at stating that this is "ignorance". I read this as more "we know we're doing something flagrantly illegal, and we're trying to weasel out of it".

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Why are you so mean to weasels?

[goblinpaladin.livejournal.com]

Advance Australia Fair.

[Mind, we don't even have a Bill of Rights, so I shouldn't gloat too loud. We also don't really care if our citizens are caught up in your witch terrorist-hunt.

Y'know what? Nevermind. Screw Australia Fair.]

[zenten.livejournal.com]

I have to wonder though, if nothing actually goes to a real trial, what can be done about it? (besides arresting those involved for kidnapping and assault of course)

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

It depends.

The system relies on at least *some* of the people not being Good Germans. The question of what you can do about it depends entirely on how many and who - whether you've got a legislative solution, or only a rebellious one.

[eididdy.livejournal.com]

I like how he caught himself (and was cut off by Specter) right as he said "suspended." In order for something to be suspended, it has to be in effect. You can't suspend my Canadian citizenship because I don't hold Canadian citizenship. You can suspend my driver's license because I have a driver's license to suspend.

[anivair.livejournal.com]

Note that, according to gonzales, you also do not have the right to bear arms. It just says that nobody could take that right away if you had it, but it doesn't give it to you.

I wonder if the constitution grants him immunity from a nuttkick?

[mrbankies.livejournal.com]

I wonder if the constitution grants him immunity from a nuttkick?

Nope, but if you did, the constitution (according to Gonzo) lets him lock you up for the rest of your life without due process. I'd skip the nuttkick, however richly deserved it is.

[sivi-volk.livejournal.com]

Both kali_kali and I are planning to get our firearms licenses once we get a free weekend (or maybe in April, May), and I'm trying to rope ashiikankwe into it too.

I used to be very anti-gun, but the last six years or so have caused some changes in my mindset.

[jrolsma.livejournal.com]

I used to be very anti-gun, but the last six years or so have caused some changes in my mindset.

This could have been said by me. I was very much against keeping guns in my house, especially with a small child living here. I've known kids who killed themselves playing with a gun they got due to careless storage.

Unfortunately, my concern about personal safety and other issues has completely changed my mind. I want to be able to hunt and also shoot a handgun. Sad, sad times.

[aimisdirty.livejournal.com]

Good for you. If you want to learn to use firearms in a tactical context, let me know.

[itlandm.livejournal.com]

You know what REALLY creeps me out about the current situation? The fact that the Republicans are unfazed by the rebellious electorate. It is as if Rove (or whoever is behind him again if he's not Palpatine) has a foolproof way to make sure no Democrat is ever elected president. After concentrating more and more power in the Executive, how can they know that the Lefties are not going to turn the table on them? They must know something they're not telling, or they would be frantically dismantling the budding dictatorship before it falls into the wrong hands.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

A lot of Americans were saying "See? The blatant fraud of the last three elections wasn't blatant in 2004! That means you were all just paranoid!"

I say "2006 meant absolutely nothing beyond an opportunity to let the Republicans blame the Democrats for all their wrongdoing for two years, before they bring out the fraud in the election that actually matters: 2008".

Given that nobody thought the Democrats would take both houses, and by the time the Senate was at risk it was too late to use any of the easy cheating methods even if it had been worth the risk? I think the plan was to let this one be legit so they could deny cheating in 2000, 2002, and 2004, and so they could keep the cheating methods in place for 2008.

[ironphoenix.livejournal.com]

You can see Gonzales' smile appear as he realizes that he can sidetrack the debate into the whole explicit h.c. rights thing and away from the substance of the discussion, which is the conduct of the Administration and the DoJ.

He's not actually saying what he believes people's rights to be; he's making a technical legal argument to sidetrack debate, and succeeding.

Calling him an asshole would be an insult to an important body part.

[netdef.livejournal.com]

What I find really disturbing, in addition to the dismal opinions expressed by our Attorney General, is the fact that NONE of the major US media cartels gave this more than a 14th page blink -- if that much.

There was far better coverage on this found from other countries, like New Zealand, or independents, like the FEP.