Indefinite Detention for American Citizens
President Obama quietly signed the National Defense Authorization Act today, which makes it perfectly legal for his government and future administrations to detain American citizens indefinitely without due process. He said he had “misgivings” about several provisions in the bill and that he would work hard to ensure that the rights of Americans would be protected as his regime goes after suspected terrorists. I find that characterization disturbing given that it was the Obama administration that wanted indefinite detention for American citizens in the bill in the first place (here, here, here). Yet, this is the Obama spin. And the media is helping promote his position, so the message will resonate clearly among most Americans who are sleeping or who are simply suffering from the Stockholm Syndrome.
So, the battlefield for the never-ending war now includes the United States of America. One wonders who is fighting who at this point, though. Regardless, I suppose this latest move was inevitable, along with the multi decade destruction of American civil liberties from previous Democratic and Republican administrations. Actually, now that indefinite detention without due process is the law of the land, along with the current president who asserts the right to kill American citizens without due process (which Obama has done at least 3 times via drone attacks), I’m not sure what remains of the term “civil rights” in the United States anyway.
It’s clear the foundational documents of the country and the very liberties on which the nation stands are all very much at risk. If Americans can’t see the trend at this point then there is no hope. And aside from Ron Paul and a few others there was pretty much zero outrage about the crafting of the bill in the first place, and the mainstream media is (as usual) taking a pass as well. It really is a profoundly depressing start to 2012 in America — a country whose political class seems determined to recreate the dark circumstances of 1920s/30s Japan and Germany (see Noam Chomsky, Karel Van Wolferen, and Herbert Bix for more on that last point). Is this the HOPE and CHANGE Americans voted for in 2008?
