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http://vimeo.com/33715315 Last Saturday, a contingent of Occupy LA posted up at the busy tourist intersection of Hollywood & Highland to inform passersby of what may be the most significant eradication of an individual's constitutional rights in my lifetime.
As of this writing, John McCain's "little ray of sunshine", also known as the National Defense Authorization Act, has passed the House 283-136, bearing sufficient enough revisions for the Obama Administration's "senior advisers" to withdraw a veto threat. There are conflicting claims that the controversial statute permitting the indefinite detention of US citizens was removed, but NPR and the Washington Post have reported the statute's language has simply been made vaguer rather than eliminated outright. From the Post:
The provision includes a Senate-passed compromise that says nothing in the legislation may be “construed to affect existing law or authorities relating to the detention of United States citizens, lawful resident aliens of the United States, or any other persons who are captured or arrested in the United States.”
Sounds promising, right? Except that the AUMF, passed shortly after 9/11, already grants the US Military the authority to indefinitely detain US citizens accused of terrorism. So by not affecting "existing law", they're simply codifying what has already been on the books, and been defended by the Bush and Obama administrations, for ten years. At the same time, the 2012 NDAA goes out of its way to include the United States as a battlefield in the War on Terror, effectively increasing the likelihood that this provision could be abused in the event of civil disorder (*cough* Occupy *cough*) or an economic collapse (lookin' at you, European sovereign debt crisis!)
None of this has escaped the attention of us Occupiers, who are already being labeled by certain Fox News pundits and police departments as "radical terrorists". Keep your eyes open for Obama's signature once this monstrosity comes out of committee, and don't bother turning on CNN to hear about it - cause, uh, y'know, Newt Gingrich!
- David Romanski
3 Comments
Hey Occupy ... Give it up!
Submitted by George Vreeland... on
Occupy Wall Street needs to shut its stupid mouth.
How dare they count every person in the ninety-nine percent they talk about as in with them.
They do not have a right to speak for me.
I like the rich.
Many of them started with nothing or almost nothing.
Steve Jobs and countless others became VERY rich after being very poor.
They did not complain.
They had ideas and went with them.
The top one percent creates jobs.
Our companies, stores, firms and on and on that employ millions were not started by poor people.
They were started by the wealthy.
Now, OWS states that the rich are our enemy.
Great, go against those who create so much.
Occupy Wall Street has got to be the most stupid bunch of idiots to ever band together.
They have no real clue as to what they are doing.
In Los Angeles, they accomplished nothing and left a mess that cost the city a lot of money.
In Seattle, OWS blocked docks and tried to prevent people from going to work.
Yet, they claim they want people to go to work.
The entire Occupy movement is a joke.
They talk for the entire ninety-nine percent, but of those ninety-nine percent of the people, about ninety percent are working.
I live in Beverly Hills and I'm doing fine.
I don't need Occupy Wall Street to tell me what to do.
George Vreeland Hill
GEORGE VREELAND HILL
OPPOSITION TO THE NDAA
Submitted by Rafael Arms on
This comment goes to freaking jackace George Vreeland, hey buddy unfortunately your to ignorant to understand the principles of this movement. Obviously your a coward and to scared to defend your constitution of the United States. Maybe you should keep your mouth shut. You have no part or saying in this discussion the occupy movement. These are the voices of frustrated citizens who have lost their homes, jobs, and more than you can say. Its an excited time in history, its exciting because it seems like the first time in my life the people are standing up to the gov't, standing up for the federal banks in a giant way. This is our time to take the power back, if the economy doesn't change and these people dont go back to work well what the fuck is going to stop them from escalating. And people like you I feel sad for your misunderstanding obviously you have been mislead by the 1% and dont follow within the footsteps of the greater good. But this well not stop until their is a change and difference forever. Its our duty to reclaim our democrazy and not let our fellow brothers and sisters die in vein. Of course its a difficult time, but we had difficult times in the past , and we well have difficult times in the future, but instead of feeling bitterness and hatred towards our govern we must make an effort to understand and apply our peace of mind. What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United states is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward on another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, which all of us love.
Statement adopted by Bill of Rights Day People’s Assembly
Submitted by StevenVincent on
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