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A Dark Day for Democracy

Yesterday, the US Senate voted in favor of S.3929,a bill to authorize trial by military commission for violations of the law of war, and for other purposes. You can read the actual bill here and also see which senators voted for it. It passed 65 to 34 meaning a bunch of Democrats, including my own Senator Bill Nelson, voted for it.

This will go down in history, along with the Japanese Internment of World War II and Gulf of Tonkin Act that got us into Vietnam, as among the worst and most regretted legislation ever passed.

This bill gives monarchial powers to a president who already believes he is king. It gives him the power to arrest you, an American citizen, for any reason, without having to show you the evidence (Habeas Corpus), and detain you for the rest of your life without charge or trial. Don't believe me? Read the bill! Your Senators voted for a bill that gives the president tyrannical powers. Read the bill!

It also immunizes the administration, retroactively, from prosecution for war crimes, essentially pardoning them for things they could be charged with under the war crimes act of 1996, but have yet to be charged with. This is an unbelievable act by congress who has, once again, abrogated their duty to the country and handed almost unlimited unilateral powers to the executive branch.

This president has added signing statements to hundreds of bills, during his term, stating that he reserves the right not to comply with the law if he interprets is differently. He will not add a signing statement to this one. This tells you that it is exactly what he wants and we should have every reason to now fear for our safety as Americans if we dissent, associate with dissenters, or do anything that could, in any way, be considered support for terrorism and under the powers the president now has, means whatever he wants it to mean (really) which could be as simple as disagreeing with his viewpoint. This blog could land me in Guantanamo Bay, or worse, with no legal recourse, for the rest of my life. Read the bill.

Your feckless, weak and useless Congress is handing the president power no other president (other than perhaps President Hussein), but no U.S. President has ever had. Goodbye bill of rights.

I hope and pray that those who are in a position to will challenge the constitutionality of this and have it thrown out by the courts. Obviously we, the people, either don't understand it, buy the bullshit, or just don't care, otherwise we'd grab our torches and pitchforks and head for Washington. Another hope is that the Democrats, worthless as they may be, win both houses of congress and put a stop to this insanity.

I called my Senator today, Bill Nelson, and told his aide that the only reason I am voting for him in November is because I am voting against Katherine Harris (can you imagine that train wreck as a Senator?). I am very disappointed today, and deeply concerned.