The Lesser Of Two Apocalypses
Hey folks! Guess what? We’re about to be totally screwed.
How many of you have heard of the NDAA?
Under this bill, as it is currently being passed, the government will be given the ability to arrest American citizens and detain them indefinitely without a trial. All they have to do is accuse you of aiding terrorists or participating in terrorism. Then they get to hold you in Gitmo, or some other type of hellhole “until hostilities subside”. Which means, if you’re waiting for the end of The War On Terror, you’ll be in there for life.
Here’s a fun fact! Guess who is officially being classified as having ties to terrorism? Occupy Wall Street. Yep! Purposefully interfering with the profitability of large corporations and banks is now being called terrorism.
Here’s some more fun stuff. Do you remember Barack Obama? Yeah, that cool guy that said a bunch of really neat stuff that inspired so much hope back in 2007 and 2008! Well, he originally said he wouldn’t sign off on the NDAA if it allowed for the detention of American citizens. But then he changed his mind and announced that he would be signing it anyway.
Occupy Tampa has just announced that the entire Occupy Movement will campaign against Obama’s reelection if he signs this bill into law.
Here’s a petition if you think Obama’s even listening to us anymore.
13 Senators voted against this constitutional train wreck. They were:
Cardin (D-MD)
Coburn (R-OK)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Durbin (D-IL)
Franken (D-MN)
Harkin (D-IA)
Lee (R-UT)
Merkley (D-OR)
Paul (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Sanders (I-VT)
Wyden (D-OR)
Of course it’s no surprise to see Bernie Sanders or Al Franken voting against something like this, but did you see Rand Paul in there too? The vote tally against this bill, while being horrifyingly low in number, is surprisingly bipartisan.
I really hate to say it, but it looks like we’re screwed. This bill virtually flew through congress and has the Obama administration biting at the bit to sign it into law. It’s times like this that make me wonder if maybe there actually was something to all that BS about FEMA camps.
So let’s assume a worst case scenario is in play and look at the the situation regarding our upcoming presidential candidates. If Obama signs this into law, it’s safe to say he doesn’t care about liberty, The Constitution, The Bill Of Rights, or Occupy Wall Street.
It depresses me, but the only presidential candidate that stands firmly against the NDAA is Ron Paul. Believe me when I tell you it hurts me to see myself typing that.
Obama or Ron Paul. A smooth talker who is showing over and over that he cares nothing whatsoever for preserving our personal liberties against the likes of The Patriot Act or the NDAA. Or a free market oriented bigot that wants to throw sick and old people onto the mercy of charities and churches.
One one hand, we’ve got Obama who won’t aggressively destroy the social safety net, yet he concedes to nearly every Republican hostage threat that comes across his desk. He also enthusiastically extended the Patriot Act (TWICE!) and will probably sign off on the NDAA. Oh, and let’s not forget how he authorized drone attacks into multiple sovereign countries and only recently “removed all troops” from Iraq only because they absolutely demanded it.
On the other hand, we’ve got Ron Paul. A racist homophobe that thinks the free market should be able to usurp common human decency and pretty much anything that was accomplished during the Civil Rights Movement. Not only that, he thinks that poor sick and dying people should look to churches and charities for help instead of the federal government. And he wants to privatize (AKA totally destroy) our current social safety net. But he wants to end all wars immediately and restore all liberty that we’ve lost due to The Patriot Act, The War On Terror, and all that crap.
Don’t get me wrong here. I know that if Ron Paul got his way, I’d probably be dead within a couple months due to absolutely no health care. But it’s getting harder and harder for me to see how Obama has become anything other than a well-spoken and apologetic version of Dubya.
Do I choose constitutional liberty and peace, or lip service to progressive ideals that caves every time Republicans list their demands?
Do I choose death by lack of health care, or indefinite detention for supporting OWS and subsequent death by Gitmo or worse case scenario, extradition and enhanced interrogation techniques? (for more info see Bradley Manning)
I just want a candidate that will give me Hope. Oh yeah… we had that already.
`Love the cartoon. Says a lot.
The verbiage of the NDAA is disturbing, but somewhat rednundant. The executive branch has already HAD all of these powers for ten years under the Patriot Act. They grate against my sense of what should be legal, but it’s not like we’re living in Stalinist Russia or 70’s South America where people have been just disappearing.
Again, it’s disturbing, but there are bigger fish to fry… and amongst the candidates for president right now, there’s no one I’d rather have as a chief fry cook than Barack.
Just sickening! I will just again have to vote at last minute the lesser of two evils.And there is no way I am voting for Libertarian let alone Republican! Other than that I could pull a George Carlin…hell my voting rights are being held hostage under a microscope here by Gov. Dick Scott anyway and he is cutting 2 billion on medicaid and other needed programs so soon Florida will be infested in crime from desperate people! The U.S. Attorney general is investigating this but you know that could take years.
I still believe this is not all who are planning to run for presidency. There has to be someone else waiting to jump in…got to be!!!!
Glad to see my guy Sanders on the ball! Moving to Vermont keeps looking better-n-better! Sigh..I love my ocean though!
Thanks for the insight.
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OR LIBERAL..either way what will it hurt, we are already in high risk! I think they would do better job for human rights and fix the countries economic issues! :entertained:
If Obama was to turn around the economy and help rebuild America. January 2009 he would have ended the Bush Tax Cuts and would not have allowed the Republicans to consistently and redundantly use the same bargaining chip in debate after debate, only to pull it away when the Democrats were compromised.
Never let the Democrats do to you, what you would rise up against the Republicans doing.
The constant reinforcement of these laws that strip the core of our liberty is bad news folks. Very bad. The magna carta was a big deal fought for and finally won and extended to “the commons”. The king can’t throw you in the dungeon forever without due process of law. There must be charges and a trial. There must be proof.
Reversing these provisions in the Patriot Act was one of the reason I voted for Obama. That was my”hope”.
Instead the law has gone even further and American citizens can now be legally killed on the say so of one man with no proof of guilt.
Shame on the Democrats. Shame on Obama. Shame on the American people for tolerating this and more. We are still torturing and using “special rendition”. Has a Democrat in the White House mattered?
The “Magna Carta” ideal that no one may be thrown in the dungeon without due process of law is FUNDEMENTAL. It is a bedrock principle for all modern civilized nations. The notion that they “aren’t using it MUCH” misses the point. The point is is is now LEGAL to arrest and permanently detain with no charges and no trial and no proof. Why any would consider this a small matter is beyond my comprehension.
As almost always, I’m with Spicy Fruit Compote.
The reason only a very tiny % of people fulfill their civic duty to join civil/human rights groups is,
“What men value in this world is not rights, but privileges.”
– Henry Louis Mencken