Monday Machination: What the Hell is Going On?

A friend of mine sent me an article yesterday that pisses me off and scares me at the same time. Apparently, when the National Defense Authorization Act went through the Senate recently, an amendment (Section 1031), made at the last minute that may authorize (or require by orders) U.S. military to detain American citizens arrested on American soil indefinitely, wormed its way through too.





The NDAA  is legislation enacted every year to specify a budget and expenditures of the U.S. Department of Defense. It has been on the books for several decades, nearly 50 years I believe. This amendment, Senate Amendment 1456, to NDAA  is unconstitutional unless they plan to repeal the 6th amendment.

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.

Oh yea, get rid of the 14th amendment too since it supplements the 6th amendment concerning due process.

Section 1:

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Well damn. Looks like they'll have to repeal the 5th amendment also.

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.

Any others? I'm sure I missed a few. That pesky "life, liberty, or property without due process of the law" keeps popping up. Pretty much, they just need to toss out the entire damn Constitution and start over. Am I right here?


NDAA is now in the hands of the House of Representatives under the name H.R. 1540. For the life of me, I cannot fathom how this bill ended up with 93 "yea's" from our Senators. Unless they (or their interns, I should say) did not actually read all of it. Legislative literature is incredibly boring and difficult to read. If this were a case study or a high school debate, I could forgive error in judgement. But this is federal law we are talking about. You can follow the progress of this bill by going here and searching for H.R. 1540 or S 1867. Find other articles here, here, and here. Can anyone say Presidential Veto? I sincerely hope so.


So I have just one question: What the hell is going on?


Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS