Bill 1867

[Nosi]

If your family member is one of the people who write those hyperventilating political e-mail forwards that everyone else suffers from, please tell him/her to stop.

I may as well tell England not to get wet.

 

[gumboot]

The problem comes when the military functions become blurred with law enforcement functions.

There's no reason why the problem need arise, given that Section 1031 explicitly states that nothing in said section affects existing US laws. Which would include Posse Comitatus.

Basically, all 1031 and 1032 do is clarify the powers that already exist under the Laws of War by introducing specific US legislation on the matter. Nothing has actually changed in that regard; because the US is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions these laws were applicable before this Bill was passed.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

There's no reason why the problem need arise, given that Section 1031 explicitly states that nothing in said section affects existing US laws. Which would include Posse Comitatus.

Basically, all 1031 and 1032 do is clarify the powers that already exist under the Laws of War by introducing specific US legislation on the matter. Nothing has actually changed in that regard; because the US is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions these laws were applicable before this Bill was passed.

If you can call any criminal activity an act of war the line is blurred. The holding of US citizens at Gitmo blurred the line between "existing US law" and these kinds of military arrests.

Some people are rightly concerned about a dangerous trend here, and history both recent and not so recent supports the legitimacy of their concern.

 

[gumboot]

If you can call any criminal activity an act of war the line is blurred.

They're not trying to do this.

The holding of US citizens at Gitmo blurred the line between "existing US law" and these kinds of military arrests.

It's not a military arrest, it's a military capture, and one of the things this law really clarifies is that Bush's attempts to fiddle the system are not okay. The Supreme Court already slapped him down, but this indicates the legislature and the judiciary are on the same page.

Some people are rightly concerned about a dangerous trend here, and history both recent and not so recent supports the legitimacy of their concern.

The only people concerned here are people who either haven't read the bill or don't understand it. Their concerns are baseless. This law serves to prevent the sort of "outside the law" behaviour that the Bush administration tried and failed to slip past the Supreme Court.

 

[Oystein]

If your family member is one of the people who write those hyperventilating political e-mail forwards that everyone else suffers from, please tell him/her to stop.

Not a family member, but a good friend (who I also have serious crush on) forwarded a German translation of this piece by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger at NaturalNews.com, via Facebook:
http://www.naturalnews.com/034291_SB_1867_war_on_terror.html
It's been mirrored at Prison Planet.
Here is some of the garbage Mike Adams writes:

Occupied America: Senate bill 1867 would allow U.S. military to detain and murder anti-government protesters in American cities

I don't know if you're all getting this through your heads yet, but Senate Bill 1867 -- the National Defense Authorization Act -- would openly "legalize" the U.S. government's detainment and murder of OWS protesters and the assassination of talk show hosts, bloggers, journalists and anyone who holds a so-called "anti-government" point of view.
...
If this bill passes and is signed into law, it would mean that America's war machine could then be turned against the American people -- liberal, conservative, libertarian... it doesn't matter. If you question the government, you are suddenly an "enemy combatant" and they will cite this law as the legal justification for putting a bullet in your head, fire-bombing your little protest group, or literally running over you and your buddies with tanks.
...

No idea what dark hole he pulled that crap from.