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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBlack Agenda Report: Eric Holder Tortures the Constitution
Eric Holder Tortures the Constitution
Black Agenda Radio commentary by Executive Editor Glen Ford
March 7, 2012
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made the Constitution scream, in an effort to justify his presidents claim to the power of life and death over any inhabitant of the planet, including citizens of the United States. Discovering presidential powers never before revealed, Holder severed citizens rights to due process from the judicial process. Access to the courts is not required, when the president is judge, jury and executioner.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder this week attempted to explain how the U.S. Constitution allows the American president to be a law unto himself to be judge, jury and executioner. Those are the powers that President Obama claims are inherent in his office: the right to kill at will, based on evidence only he is fit to examine and assess. This is a system of law without courts, without evidence that either the public or the condemned person has a right to see, or to contest. One man, with the power of life and death over any inhabitant of the planet, including citizens of the United States.
With the passage of preventive detention without trail or charge, and President Obamas claim to have sole power to target any human being for death, the rule of law has been eviscerated, abolished by presidential decree and congressional acquiescence. A pillar of civilization has been toppled, but most people in the United States appear not to have noticed.
It turns out that due process of law is not what we thought it was, these last two centuries. Attorney General Holder defended the presidents authority to summarily execute, without sanction of the courts, or formal charges, or even evidence of crime, persons designated by him as enemies of the United States. You cant get more king-like than that. Holder acted as if hed found a previously undetected loophole in the Constitution. Due process and judicial process, he said, are not one and the same, particularly when it comes to national security. According to Holder, The Constitution guarantees due process, but it does not guarantee judicial process. In other words, the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee people access to the courts, even if they are targeted for execution. If that were true, it would be a worthless Constitution, but the U.S. Supreme Court has convincingly ruled, in a 2004 case, that citizens who are detained as enemy combatants have a right to confront the government on the facts of the matter before a neutral decision maker that is, before a court of some kind. Certainly, such rights would apply to someone the president wants killed.
Listen or read the full commentary at:
http://blackagendareport.com/content/eric-holder-tortures-constitution
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Black Agenda Report: Eric Holder Tortures the Constitution (Original Post)
Better Believe It
Mar 2012
OP
Holder also defended not using courts to imprison and/or kill citizens. Did you miss that part?
Better Believe It
Mar 2012
#3
Of course. Black Agenda Report and Glen Ford are Republican agents organized by Karl Rove
Better Believe It
Mar 2012
#6
And some charge progressives with being paranoid about government surveillance!
Better Believe It
Mar 2012
#9
FarLeftFist
(6,161 posts)1. Why do people conveniently leave out this part of his speech:
But surveillance is only the first of many complex issues we must navigate. Once a suspected terrorist is captured, a decision must be made as to how to proceed with that individual in order to identify the disposition that best serves the interests of the American people and the security of this nation....
Our criminal justice system is renowned not only for its fair process; it is respected for its results. We are not the first Administration to rely on federal courts to prosecute terrorists, nor will we be the last. Although far too many choose to ignore this fact, the previous Administration consistently relied on criminal prosecutions in federal court to bring terrorists to justice. John Walker Lindh, attempted shoe bomber Richard Reid, and 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui were among the hundreds of defendants convicted of terrorism-related offenses without political controversy during the last administration.
Over the past three years, weve built a remarkable record of success in terror prosecutions. For example, in October, we secured a conviction against Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab for his role in the attempted bombing of an airplane traveling from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. He was sentenced last month to life in prison without the possibility of parole. While in custody, he provided significant intelligence during debriefing sessions with the FBI....
In addition to Abdulmutallab, Faizal Shahzad, the attempted Times Square bomber, Ahmed Ghailani, a conspirator in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, and three individuals who plotted an attack against John F. Kennedy Airport in 2007, have also recently begun serving life sentences....
I could go on. Which is why the calls that Ive heard to ban the use of civilian courts in prosecutions of terrorism-related activity are so baffling, and ultimately are so dangerous. These calls ignore reality. And if heeded, they would significantly weaken in fact, they would cripple our ability to incapacitate and punish those who attempt to do us harm.
Simply put, since 9/11, hundreds of individuals have been convicted of terrorism or terrorism-related offenses in Article III courts and are now serving long sentences in federal prison. Not one has ever escaped custody. No judicial district has suffered any kind of retaliatory attack. These are facts, not opinions. There are not two sides to this story. Those who claim that our federal courts are incapable of handling terrorism cases are not registering a dissenting opinion -- they are simply wrong.
In other words, a good deal of AG Holder's speech was defending the use of civilian courts to try terrorism suspects. "Justifying continuation & expansion of Bush admin "war on terror" policies"? Erm...not so much.
Our criminal justice system is renowned not only for its fair process; it is respected for its results. We are not the first Administration to rely on federal courts to prosecute terrorists, nor will we be the last. Although far too many choose to ignore this fact, the previous Administration consistently relied on criminal prosecutions in federal court to bring terrorists to justice. John Walker Lindh, attempted shoe bomber Richard Reid, and 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui were among the hundreds of defendants convicted of terrorism-related offenses without political controversy during the last administration.
Over the past three years, weve built a remarkable record of success in terror prosecutions. For example, in October, we secured a conviction against Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab for his role in the attempted bombing of an airplane traveling from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. He was sentenced last month to life in prison without the possibility of parole. While in custody, he provided significant intelligence during debriefing sessions with the FBI....
In addition to Abdulmutallab, Faizal Shahzad, the attempted Times Square bomber, Ahmed Ghailani, a conspirator in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, and three individuals who plotted an attack against John F. Kennedy Airport in 2007, have also recently begun serving life sentences....
I could go on. Which is why the calls that Ive heard to ban the use of civilian courts in prosecutions of terrorism-related activity are so baffling, and ultimately are so dangerous. These calls ignore reality. And if heeded, they would significantly weaken in fact, they would cripple our ability to incapacitate and punish those who attempt to do us harm.
Simply put, since 9/11, hundreds of individuals have been convicted of terrorism or terrorism-related offenses in Article III courts and are now serving long sentences in federal prison. Not one has ever escaped custody. No judicial district has suffered any kind of retaliatory attack. These are facts, not opinions. There are not two sides to this story. Those who claim that our federal courts are incapable of handling terrorism cases are not registering a dissenting opinion -- they are simply wrong.
In other words, a good deal of AG Holder's speech was defending the use of civilian courts to try terrorism suspects. "Justifying continuation & expansion of Bush admin "war on terror" policies"? Erm...not so much.
Better Believe It
(18,630 posts)3. Holder also defended not using courts to imprison and/or kill citizens. Did you miss that part?
EFerrari
(163,986 posts)8. I watch what he does, not what he says. Rec.
FarLeftFist
(6,161 posts)11. Watch what he does: 9 out of 10 times they're prosecuted. Watch closer.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)2. Well,
"Black Agenda Report" and "by Executive Editor Glen Ford"
...this only means one thing to me. Anti-Obama tool: http://www.counterpunch.org/2007/06/14/obama-s-siren-song/
Also, Obama (nor Holder) didn't "claim to have sole power to target any human being for death"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=430608
JoePhilly
(27,787 posts)4. Looks like a site that Karl Rove set up.
Stay home black dems ... Obama hates you!!!!
Booo!
Swede
(33,288 posts)5. I think BBI is torturing the google finding opinion pieces negative to Obama.
nt
Better Believe It
(18,630 posts)6. Of course. Black Agenda Report and Glen Ford are Republican agents organized by Karl Rove
Darn. Who would have thunk? Thanks for the objective and factual information. Glad you're not engaged in a smear campaign or personal attack. Someone who can't refute the commentary might engage in such behavior.
Here's some more information on the right-wing Republican background of Black Agenda Report's editor, Glen Ford, which you didn't provide. BBI
Glen Ford worked as a newsperson at four more local stations: in Columbus, Georgia, Atlanta, Baltimore where he created his first radio syndication, a half-hour weekly news magazine called Black World Report and Washington, DC. In 1974, Ford joined the Mutual Black Network (88 stations), where he served as Capitol Hill, State Department and White House correspondent, and Washington Bureau Chief, while also producing a daily radio commentary. In 1977, Ford co-launched, produced and hosted Americas Black Forum (ABF), the first nationally syndicated Black news interview program on commercial television.
ABF made Black broadcast history. For the next four years, the program generated national and international headlines nearly every week. Never before and never since had a Black news entity commanded the weekly attention of the news services (AP, UPI, Reuters, Agence France-Presse even Tass, the Soviet news agency) and the broadcast networks.
In 1987, Ford launched Rap It Up, the first nationally syndicated Hip Hop music show, broadcast on 65 radio stations. During its six years of operations, Rap It Up allowed Ford to play an important role in the maturation of a new African American musical genre. He organized three national rap music conventions, and wrote the Hip Hop column for Jack The Rappers Black radio trade magazine.
Ford co-founded BlackCommentator.com (BC) in 2002. The weekly journal quickly became the most influential Black political site on the Net. In October, 2006, Ford and the entire writing team left BC to launch BlackAgendaReport.com (BAR).
Ford was a founding member of the Washington chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ); executive board member of the National Alliance of Third World Journalists (NATWJ); media specialist for the National Minority Purchasing Council; and has spoken at scores of colleges and universities.
Now how much more right-wing Tea Party can one get than that? BBI
Here's some more information on the right-wing Republican background of Black Agenda Report's editor, Glen Ford, which you didn't provide. BBI
Glen Ford worked as a newsperson at four more local stations: in Columbus, Georgia, Atlanta, Baltimore where he created his first radio syndication, a half-hour weekly news magazine called Black World Report and Washington, DC. In 1974, Ford joined the Mutual Black Network (88 stations), where he served as Capitol Hill, State Department and White House correspondent, and Washington Bureau Chief, while also producing a daily radio commentary. In 1977, Ford co-launched, produced and hosted Americas Black Forum (ABF), the first nationally syndicated Black news interview program on commercial television.
ABF made Black broadcast history. For the next four years, the program generated national and international headlines nearly every week. Never before and never since had a Black news entity commanded the weekly attention of the news services (AP, UPI, Reuters, Agence France-Presse even Tass, the Soviet news agency) and the broadcast networks.
In 1987, Ford launched Rap It Up, the first nationally syndicated Hip Hop music show, broadcast on 65 radio stations. During its six years of operations, Rap It Up allowed Ford to play an important role in the maturation of a new African American musical genre. He organized three national rap music conventions, and wrote the Hip Hop column for Jack The Rappers Black radio trade magazine.
Ford co-founded BlackCommentator.com (BC) in 2002. The weekly journal quickly became the most influential Black political site on the Net. In October, 2006, Ford and the entire writing team left BC to launch BlackAgendaReport.com (BAR).
Ford was a founding member of the Washington chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ); executive board member of the National Alliance of Third World Journalists (NATWJ); media specialist for the National Minority Purchasing Council; and has spoken at scores of colleges and universities.
Now how much more right-wing Tea Party can one get than that? BBI
ProSense
(116,464 posts)10. No, but
"Of course. Black Agenda Report and Glen Ford are Republican agents organized by Karl Rove"
...Glen Ford is still an asshole.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=436251
girl gone mad
(20,634 posts)7. Wow.. talk about your nutty conspiracy theories.
Woo!
Better Believe It
(18,630 posts)9. And some charge progressives with being paranoid about government surveillance!