John McCain Decides Constitution No Longer Applies

Of all the Republicans in the Senate, I would expect John McCain to know better than this. The war hero, who was captured by the Vietnamese after his plane was shot down during the Vietnam War, was held as a prisoner of war for years. He was tortured and subjected to things too horrific to even list in this publication. So, of all the people in the Senate, you'd think McCain would be the most ardent opponent of indefinite jail terms, arresting people without warrants, and socking them away in some military prison camp indefinitely. Yet, here he is, in all his senile glory, advocating a bill that would allow the government to take anyone — EVEN AMERICAN CITIZENS — and put them in jail forever, without a trial. The bill is the National Defense Authorization Act, S. 1867. Section 1031 of the bill gives the President and the Armed Forces a blank check for doing damn near whatever they please. They can detain anyone who they believe (without proof, mind you) was involved in the 9/11 attacks, or helps the Taliban, or Al Qaeda, or “associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners.” That's language loose enough to drive a truck through. Under those conditions, anyone who takes to the streets to oppose the government could be considered a terrorist and detained indefinitely. The hundreds of Occupy movements? All they have to do is call them terrorists and boom — they're in Guantanamo Bay. Somehow, the bill manages to gets worse from there. That bill also empowers the President to detain these people indefinitely without trial or to try them before a military court or to transfer them “to the custody or control of the person's country of origin, any other foreign country, or any other foreign entity.” In other words, the government has a whole host of choices to which they can send you when they decide your protesting makes you a threat to the United States. Guantanamo Bay? Maybe. How about Saudi Arabia? How about Qatar, where we've been stashing suspects for a decade. How about Abu Dhabi, where former Blackwater (remember those scumbags?) CEO Erik Prince has set up a brand new mercenary company for hire? All of these, and more, are possible if this bill passes. Sen. Rand Paul (Ron Paul's son) introduced an amendment to delete this section entirely. Tuesday, Paul had this exchange with Senile Senator John McCain, who is one of the co-sponsors of the bill. Sen. Paul: “My question would be under the provisions would it be possible that an American citizen then could be declared an enemy combatant and sent to Guantanamo Bay and detained indefinitely.” Sen. McCain: “I think that as long as that individual, no matter who they are, if they pose a threat to the security of the United States of America, should not be allowed to continue that threat.” Wow. I can say, without hesitation, that my reading of the bill tells me that I should consider moving somewhere else. Many people have accused me of being a traitor, or of being a danger to the United States because I advocate political positions that are unpopular. I protest the government. I often think the government we have is evil, corrupt, and should be replaced en masse. All of these things could be twisted to construe me as a terrorist, as a threat to America, and land me on a one-way trip to Guantanamo Bay, should this bill pass. Rep. Ron Paul calls this bill “one of the most anti-liberty pieces of legislation of our lifetime.” He says it's “destructive of our Constitution.” And he is right. I may not agree with Ron Paul on a lot — I've said before that his economic plans would be a disaster for the country — but he is 100 percent correct on issues of liberty and the Constitution. Americans cannot and should not be subject to indefinite detention without just cause, without a speedy trial, and for political reasons. If this government cannot abide by the Constitution, then it should be replaced — with force, if necessary — as soon as humanly possible. Like my stories? You can subscribe for my free newsletter here. Read more of my stories at Benzinga. You can also reach me by email john@benzinga.com or on twitter @johndthorpe.