After a weekend of consideration....
....it appears that "We the People" and the Constitution no longer matter.
I've had several days to digest the killing of Anwar Awlaki and Samir Khan. Both American Citizens.
This country has been very inconsistent in how it deals with it's terrorists and now the right to a fair trial is a fantasy idea reserved for "what if's" from the Twilight Zone.
Consider that Obama and Holder rushed out to read that idiot "underwear bomber" his Miranda first thing before he was even questioned and he wasn't even an American. Also, they both wanted to bring most of the captured terrorists, also non-Americans, up from Club Gitmo to make sure they got a fair trial.
They had Nidal Hissan, of Fort Hood Shooter fame, dead to rights with dozens of witnesses to verify he was the killer and yet he gets a trial, as he should.
But the first two (again, both American citizens, even if they were traitors) were just killed outright, without the benefit of a trial. That makes Obama (the federal government) the Judge, Jury, and Executioner all in one. That's not supposed to be the way it works. I think it's called the 6th Amendment.
I admit that I do not mourn that Awlaki assumed room temperature last Friday. I don't like terrorists, period, but these were Americans. Consider this bit of wisdom from this old WW2 poem by Martin Niemoller. I've used it before. I'll use it again now.
....it appears that "We the People" and the Constitution no longer matter.
I've had several days to digest the killing of Anwar Awlaki and Samir Khan. Both American Citizens.
This country has been very inconsistent in how it deals with it's terrorists and now the right to a fair trial is a fantasy idea reserved for "what if's" from the Twilight Zone.
Consider that Obama and Holder rushed out to read that idiot "underwear bomber" his Miranda first thing before he was even questioned and he wasn't even an American. Also, they both wanted to bring most of the captured terrorists, also non-Americans, up from Club Gitmo to make sure they got a fair trial.
They had Nidal Hissan, of Fort Hood Shooter fame, dead to rights with dozens of witnesses to verify he was the killer and yet he gets a trial, as he should.
But the first two (again, both American citizens, even if they were traitors) were just killed outright, without the benefit of a trial. That makes Obama (the federal government) the Judge, Jury, and Executioner all in one. That's not supposed to be the way it works. I think it's called the 6th Amendment.
I admit that I do not mourn that Awlaki assumed room temperature last Friday. I don't like terrorists, period, but these were Americans. Consider this bit of wisdom from this old WW2 poem by Martin Niemoller. I've used it before. I'll use it again now.
The Atlantic article which Curtis posted asked the following question:
ReplyDelete"But now comes a momentous change in policy with serious implications for the Constitution's restraint on executive power, and Obama refuses to allow his lawyers' arguments to be laid out on the table for the American public to examine." What doesn't he want to get out?
To which I replied
The fact that there is no legal justification, but by saying there is and keeping it secret, then he can kill me next for what ever reason he deems sufficient.