In 2008 I voted for President Barack Obama. I volunteered for Barack Obama. I was one of the millions of Americans who believed that he would bring about the kind of change this country needed after the horrendous reign of George W. Bush. I wanted him to be the leader this country desperately wanted him to be.
Now, with the swipe of a pen, President Obama will destroy everything we have worked for. He is set sign into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which states that American citizens can be held without charges or trial indefinitely if they are deemed to have committed “belligerent acts” against the United States.
US citizens can be considered enemy combatants and be held without any recourse. He will essentially be turning America into a potential police state.
The bill is intended for al Qaeda terrorist and their “allies.” Originally there was a provision that excluded American citizens. We would not be subject to this law.
However, there are reports that the White House specifically asked that language that would have protected US citizens from this law be taken out. He wanted to make sure all citizens were subject to this law.
There is absolutely no excuse for this. I would expect this from John McCain or Rick Perry or any other Republican out there. But to have President Obama pushing for this legislation is a slap in the face to all his supporters and a serious attack on the US Constitution.
Now some of you will think I am overreacting to this. But ask yourself this, what would you be saying about this if a Republican president had done this? I would be reacting the same way.
Attacks on our liberties and freedoms need to be stopped no matter who is in office. This is not a time to be partisan.
Any time the government can determine who is a “threat to national security” and hold them indefinitely without trial moves us one step closer to a dictatorship.
And that is not hyperbole. That is history. Who is to determine which people are threats? I might be considered giving the “enemy” support just for writing this article. And if there is another Republican president like Bush in the White House how much would he abuse this law to attack his (or her) political enemies?
I really hope that President Obama will reconsider his support for this bill and veto it. If he doesn’t, he will be continuing the erosion of our rights that started under the Bush Administration.
I could forgive him for not closing Guantanamo Bay like he promised. I could forgive him for caving in on health care reform. But I can never forgive him for this. And no one else should forgive him either.
If President Obama does indeed sign this bill into law not only will he tarnish his legacy but even worse, he will lose my (and many others) vote.
