Patriotboy Gets Serious 0
About legalizing torture.
Well said.
The basic values I love most, the ideals that made me proud to be an American, due process, habeas corpus, the proscriptions against cruel and unusual punishment and the use of coercion to compel confession were destroyed in the name of that kind of patriotism yesterday. Our America, liberal America, died with those ideals.
When the Founders wrote the Declaration, they wrote
Not some men. Not white men (though they weasel-worded on slavery). Not just “men we agree with.” The ideal, which they stated from their imperfect world: all men.
Now, the Declaration is not the Constitution.
The Constitution says, inter alia,
Article I, Section 9: The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. . . .
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
Now, there is no invasion. Invaders are not assaulting our beaches.
There is no rebellion. There is a threat, but it is localized outside of our borders.
But the current Federal Administration, with its pornographic fascination with causing pain to others, betrays the vision of Founders and steals our freedom, sells out the vision, sells out the heritage which has at one time made the United States of America, for all its faults, a hope for the world.
