Sunday, August 05, 2007

Oh my God; look at this

You simply must read the article "In Bush We Trust - Or Else" by John Diaz. It is absolutely terrifying:

It doesn’t require a subpoena of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales or a brave whistle-blower to find President Bush’s latest affront to the U.S. Constitution. It’s in plain view on the White House Web site: “Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq.”

This far-reaching order of July 17 may be Bush’s most brazen defiance of the Constitution, which is no small feat for an administration that thinks it can set its own rules on electronic surveillance, torture, kidnapping, rendition, and the designation of “enemy combatants” who can be arrested on U.S. soil and held indefinitely without judicial review.

This one is a frontal assault on the Fifth Amendment, which decrees that the government cannot seize an individual’s property without due process.

Under Bush’s executive order, the U.S. government has endowed itself with the authority to freeze the American assets of anyone who directly or indirectly assists someone who poses “a significant risk” of committing a violent act that has the purpose or effect of threatening the Iraqi government, the “peace and stability” of the country or the reconstruction effort.
...
Fein said the sanctions against suspected violators would amount to “a financial death penalty.” The executive order not only calls for the freezing of assets of anyone who directly or indirectly aids our enemies in Iraq, it prohibits anyone else from providing “funds, goods or services” to a blacklisted individual. In other words, a friend or relative could have his or her assets seized for trying to help someone whose bank account is suddenly frozen. An attorney who offered legal help could risk of losing everything he or she owned.
...
The targets of the property seizures, even American citizens, would not be given any advance notice or opportunity to challenge the government’s action in court. The American Civil Liberties Union has noted that an order this sweeping could encompass “entirely innocent” activities such as an donations to humanitarian relief groups that indirectly provide what the U.S. government decides is “material support” to supporters of the insurgency.

After I read this stuff I could hardly breathe. We no longer have constitutional government. I am stunned and horrified.

2 comments:

  1. Makes you wander what posesses any Bushite to call themselves "American."

    Shame...

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is why I think more and more of us need to stand up to this monstrosity.

    Freedom isn't free... this is no yellow ribbon slogan or a call to soldiers- this is a call to the People!

    Over half the country is fed up with this nonsensical Iraq mission- what're they gonna do? Arrest us all? Freeze ALL our assets?

    Keep strong in the face of fascism!

    ReplyDelete

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