Personally, with the threat of a chemical or biological cloud raining down on our heads, I won't die any happier knowing every one of my constitutional rights were preserved.
Detainment for an unlimited period of time seems necessary at this time...
...I'm not too worried about the future misuse of unlimited detainment, since the threat of terrorism makes any future questionable now.
I strongly disagree with every statement made above. Unlimited detainment is absolutely insane. This means that if the FBI wants to hold you without charge indefinitely, all they have to do is point the finger at you and say "terrorist." Do that and adios habeus corpus, one of the absolutely fundamental rights in any free society. Everyone thinks it will never be you, until that one day arrives, and, surprise! it is. Never forget the Draconian measures passed by a rubber-stamp Parliament in Hitlerite Germany circa 1933 under blanket authorizations during a "state of emergency." The protections built into our Constitution are there for a reason. Toss them out with reckless disregard for the calamitous consequences and our future is ruined before the terrorists do anything at all. If the FBI need new powers then they need to be specifically targeted. From where I stand, much of the legislation now being proposed is not narrowly and specifically defined, but would broaden the powers of the Executive branch and law enforcement authorities to such a degree that our great system of checks and balances between the three branches of government would be placed at grave risk.
The fact is many of the laws on the books right now are sufficient. There are judges on call 24 hours a day to issue court orders without any delay. These decisions are the preserve of qualified judges. I for one find it a nightmare scenario that police are given the power of judge and jury in this way. They do not have the right and they are not qualified to make these decisions. I agree that wire-tapping should be person-specific and not based on telephone numbers, but as for unlimited detainment that is ridiculous. On the other hand, I do believe the Congress should immediately pass laws making threats of violence against the United States government or its citizens a federal crime with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years (and permanent expulsion from our territory if he/she who is found guilty is a foreign national). Threatening chaos, mayhem and murder is not constitutionally protected free speech; no way, it is incitement to riot and criminal assault.
Careful, my friends. Giving away our rights so carelessly can lead to far greater trouble down the road. We need to target the terrorists, carefully, and not risk that the Executive Branch is given such enormous authority (which surely will not be easily rolled back later on) that these statutes could be abused in the future to target and squelch legitimate debate and dissent in our great nation. We do that and we are headed towards becoming a police state. That was not the general idea on that September day in Philadelphia 214 years ago. We need to roll back terror; let us not roll back the rights which arm us against it and all other forms of tyranny. |
