America Is Preparing to Murder Its 5th Citizen by 'Remote Assassination'

[markpkessinger]

85. Actually, the word 'citizen' is beside the point in this context . . .

. . . The Fifth Amendment does not apply to citizens only, but to all "persons" under U.S. jurisdiction. The text reads:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

(Emphasis added.)

It may well be that this person has "taken up arms against the U.S., and that in so doing he has renounced his citizenship, but those are questions to be determined by due process of law, not by presidential fiat.

And your faith that President Obama would never exercise this (extra-constitutional) authority improperly (which statement itself is rather oxymoronic, but I'll leave that lie for the moment) is all well and good, but would you be as comfortable with, say, a future Dick Cheney-like President possessing that power? The problem that arises when Presidents claim some new authority for themselves is that such authority is virtually never ceded or relinquished by their successors.