Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)Chris Hedges: Why I知 Suing Barack Obama [View all]
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/16Published on Monday, January 16, 2012 by Truthdig.com
Why Im Suing Barack Obama
by Chris Hedges
Attorneys Carl J. Mayer and Bruce I. Afran filed a complaint Friday in the Southern U.S. District Court in New York City on my behalf as a plaintiff against Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to challenge the legality of the Authorization for Use of Military Force as embedded in the latest version of the National Defense Authorization Act, signed by the president Dec. 31.
The act authorizes the military in Title X, Subtitle D, entitled Counter-Terrorism, for the first time in more than 200 years, to carry out domestic policing. With this bill, which will take effect March 3, the military can indefinitely detain without trial any U.S. citizen deemed to be a terrorist or an accessory to terrorism. And suspects can be shipped by the military to our offshore penal colony in Guantanamo Bay and kept there until the end of hostilities. It is a catastrophic blow to civil liberties.(Photo: AP / Dusan Vranic)
<edit>
But I suspect the real purpose of this bill is to thwart internal, domestic movements that threaten the corporate state. The definition of a terrorist is already so amorphous under the Patriot Act that there are probably a few million Americans who qualify to be investigated if not locked up. Consider the arcane criteria that can make you a suspect in our new military-corporate state. The Department of Justice considers you worth investigating if you are missing a few fingers, if you have weatherproof ammunition, if you own guns or if you have hoarded more than seven days of food in your house. Adding a few of the obstructionist tactics of the Occupy movement to this list would be a seamless process. On the whim of the military, a suspected terrorist who also happens to be a U.S. citizen can suffer extraordinary renditionbeing kidnapped and then left to rot in one of our black sites until the end of hostilities. Since this is an endless war that will be a very long stay.
<edit>
Fear is the psychological weapon of choice for totalitarian systems of power. Make the people afraid. Get them to surrender their rights in the name of national security. And then finish off the few who arent afraid enough. If this law is not revoked we will be no different from any sordid military dictatorship. Its implementation will be a huge leap forward for the corporate oligarchs who plan to continue to plunder the nation and use state and military security to cow the population into submission.
more...
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
109 replies, 15619 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (90)
ReplyReply to this post
109 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
And in the signing statement he says his administration will work on repeals of certain provisions.
FarLeftFist
Jan 2012
#59
one of our members got a letter from his rep, swearing that, during conference, the reference to US
niyad
Jan 2012
#3
As was Hedges. Chris Hedges was against the war before it started, and was one of the most
Puregonzo1188
Jan 2012
#29
Hedges lost his job at the NYT despite his Pullitzer BECAUSE he spoke out against the Iraq invasion.
snot
Jan 2012
#63
No, because like the rest of us at that time, he thought we had options, that once we elected
sabrina 1
Jan 2012
#68
As an #Occupier who is watching increasingly militarized police harass and profile us
Fire Walk With Me
Jan 2012
#11
That' a weird thing to say. You forgot the IMHO, because there is no way you could possibly know.
FarLeftFist
Jan 2012
#32
How would this signing statement affect future (possible malicious) administrations?
annabanana
Jan 2012
#51
Tee-hee. Hedges is "working within the system" as the moderates advise.
Tierra_y_Libertad
Jan 2012
#8
It'll be thrown out. It's PR is all. Govt officials have immunity from litigation...
Honeycombe8
Jan 2012
#15
Do you think it might have at least some merit simply because some of the language/definitions
BrendaBrick
Jan 2012
#46
Could a class action suit be filed by the American People, who I would think do have standing
sabrina 1
Jan 2012
#70
He's a citizen, that's all the standing he needs if he can show how this law applies to him.
sabrina 1
Jan 2012
#71
I know. These threads are always a rich and satisfying source of unintentional DUzys
Number23
Jan 2012
#49
Well, having read the complaint, I'm inclined to think Chris Hedges needed a publicity stunt.
msanthrope
Jan 2012
#43
You don't know Chris Hedges obviously. Before making any more statements like this, which is
sabrina 1
Jan 2012
#72
Well, you can't say people didn't try to help you maintain some iota of credibility.
sabrina 1
Jan 2012
#96
Agree, but I think they view themselves as true patriots, much like those who are for
gateley
Jan 2012
#94
Well, I'll stop trying to give them even a modicum of the benefit of the doubt --
gateley
Jan 2012
#97