Health & Fitness
On the Erosion of Liberty
So now it's OK for government to kill its own citizens without a trial? That's what U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says and neither the Republicans nor the Democrats are telling him he's wrong.
U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, says that our government may legally kill a U.S. citizen if that person is actively involved in planning to kill Americans. Furthermore, the government isn’t required to provide any proof that the citizen was planning to kill Americans either before terminating the suspected killer or after. Holder did specify that the governmental killing must take place in a foreign country. Why that makes a difference, I have no idea. He also said that this new governmental power just was applicable to suspected members of Al Qaeda.
There’s no “Al Qaeda” exception in the Constitution. There’s no “in a foreign country” exception either. The constitution says that a U.S. citizen cannot be denied his right to life without due process. Despite what Holder says, a secret meeting of government agents to talk it over does not constitute due process.
Some of you may say, “But we have to be safe. Better to kill the suspected terrorist first before he can kill us.” Really? That’s how it’s going to be? We’re going to allow the military, the CIA, the police to decide what we’re planning to do and then kill us before we can carry out our alleged evil deed? Many countries have let their government assume this power in the past. It hasn’t turned out very well.
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Fear destroys liberty. Fear of potheads, fear of gangsters, fear of global warming, fear of terrorists, fear, fear, fear. I’m no fan of global warming, terrorists, gangsters, or potheads either. But I’m not willing to quietly give up my liberty to protect myself from them.
A U.S. citizen ought to at least get a trial before being killed. What kind of a country have we become to allow this to happen?