By John Romano
(YBH) – Democratic party stalwart Nancy Pelosi voted for the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which codifies in law the U.S. government’s ability to detain American citizens indefinitely without trial. So did DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. Barney Frank and Charlie Rangel didn’t. On the Republican side, 143 members voted for it, including Majority Leader Eric Cantor. 43 other members voted no. The Democrats were split evenly at 93 “yeas” and “nays”.
In the Senate the vote was even more lopsided in favor of passage. It was affirmed 93-7. Democrat Tom Harkin and Republican Rand Paul stand out as the no votes along with Mike Lee (R), Tom Coburn (R), Jeff Merkeley (D), Ron Wyden (D) and Bernie Sanders (I). (It should be noted that Democrat Al Franken voted for the original bill, but later voted against the final bill. He then wrote an essay over at The Huffington Post decrying the bill even though he voted for it just two weeks prior. Pretty sneaky politicking in our book).
In short, the House and Senate voted in a bipartisan manner here. No finger pointing at just the “tea-baggers” or “left wing loons”.
President Obama signed the law on New Year’s Eve. Although the White House issued a signing statement disagreeing with some aspects of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), he signed the bill into law anyway. Earlier, he had threatened a veto over language that allowed the government to detain Americans without due process. Apparently, the threat was political theatre and not an act of principled leadership.
The passage of the NDAA, with the controversial detainee language included, begs all of us to ask ourselves the following question: how can America claim the moral high ground in the world if the things we encourage others to not do we do ourselves?
You see, we aren’t really different than any other country. As soon as 9/11 happened we started acting like every other tinpot dictatorship on the planet who felt threatened. If Syria doesn’t have the right to kill citizens that rebel against its rulers, why do we have the right to seize our own citizens and hold them indefinitely without trial? Of course Syria killing its own citizens is far worse, but are we really that far behind with the passage of the NDAA and Patriot Act before it? I don’t think so.
No matter how the White House spins this one, President Obama is responsible for signing into law a bill that gives himself and his successors the power to scoop you or your neighbor up and hold you without due process or access to a lawyer. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says that when an American citizen accused of terrorism asks for a lawyer they will be told to “shut up” and that, “you don’t get a lawyer.” Signing statements aside, apparently Barack Obama agrees.
Related posts:
- December auto sales seen up 9 percent
- Craftsman pulls lux tractor to Detroit auto show
- Audi CEO: Auto industry faces tougher year in 2012
John Romano is the publisher and editor of Yes, But However!, a musician, a former political correspondent for BBC Radio London, and a serial web entrepreneur. Follow him on twitter: twitter.com/yesbuthowever or John Romano on Google+John Romano article archive.
