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Mojo’s Adam Serwer penned a must-read (emphasis added):
Bipartisan Approval for Targeted Killing of Suspected Terrorists
When it comes to targeted killing of American citizens, both major political parties have President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder’s back.
Top officials and legislators from both the Democratic and Republican party have expressed public support for the Obama administration’s drone strikes against American citizens who were suspected of terrorism abroad. It’s not just legislators either—a majority of Democrats and liberals approve of Obama’s targeted killing policy.
“The president of the United States has a responsibility, consistent with his legal authorities, to keep the country safe. And that’s what he did,” Bush-era Justice Department official Jack Goldsmith told NPR’s Tom Ashbrook Monday, while discussing the death of Anwar al-Awlaki, a suspected member of Al Qaeda and US citizen who was killed in a US government-directed drone strike. “Americans have been targeted and killed in past wars, in the Civil War, and in World War II as well, nothing like this kind of scrutiny has ever occurred before.“
John Bellinger, a top lawyer at the State Department during the Bush administration, wrote that Holder’s speech was “especially commendable for its detailed explanation of the U.S. laws applicable to targeting Americans who engage in terrorist activities outside the United States.”
John Yoo, the former Justice Department attorney who outlined the legal justification for Bush-era torture, mostly complained that Holder hadn’t given his former boss enough credit… {snip}
…Republicans aren’t the only one supporting the president’s policy on targeted killing. Appearing on CNN last Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said outright that he didn’t understand what Holder meant when he said that “due process” and “judicial process” were not the same, but that “I do know this: The American citizens who have been killed overseas who are terrorists, and, frankly, if anyone in the world deserved to be killed, those three did deserve to be killed.” …
As Col. Wilkerson noted above it is really Star Chamber time…!
When Power is Unaccountable: Why the NDAA is Unconstitutional…
Prof. Turley was just as blunt…
The NDAA’s historic assault on American liberty
By signing into law the NDAA, the president has awarded the military extraordinary powers to detain US citizens without trial…
National Defense Authorization Act Outrage Continues To Grow Online… Unfortunately, not enough outrage -online or otherwise- has been very forthcoming!
*gah*
7 Comments
Eric Holder’s claim is that the Constitution requires “due process” not “judicial process.” That claim, and the fact that his boss let it stand, casts both of them as ignorant fools. If you read the fifth amendment, you’ll note the highlighted portion of the text:
So, the Constitution does not merely guarantee “due process.” Rather, it guarantees “due process of law,” which sounds like “judicial process” to me. Perhaps the clever Mr. Obama and Mr. Holder can explain their distinction between “judicial process” and “due process of law.” I’d really like to hear it. And I’d also like to know why nobody else has called them on this.
Yo CT, not to belittle yer diary but, most of us well informed know this.
;-)
N I rcc’d it, highly, for the sourcing you use.
Thanks!
I could not agree less. Specifically, I take exception to “most of us well informed know this.” Of course, that depends on what “this” means, but most “of us well informed” missed that Holder left out “of law,” when he said: “‘Due process’ and ‘judicial process’ are not one and the same, particularly when it comes to national security.” The problem is that the fifth amendment requires “due process of law.” Now, how does Barack Obama’s Attorney General propose to grant “due process of law” without “judicial process.” Obama’s Star Chamber is definitely not “due process of law.”
Yo, CT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aBRRnWhbJM
Thanks!
I hope Harry Reid chokes to death on his fucking hypocrisy.
The banana republic approach is to kill all of the former administration officials. Can’t wait for that to happen.
Commended by war crime enablers, indeed what an honor. Welcome to the club.. oh wait, Holders been an honorary member for while, after Chiquita an all.
I hope to see pictures of them sitting in the docks at their trials. This will come back around.