During a 90 minute meeting with human rights advocates today, President Barack Obama said that he was considering coming up with some sort of “preventive detention” system which would provide him a legal basis to detain suspects as a threat without having to charge them with any crimes.
The meeting was intended to be “off the record,” but some of the participants left seriously concerned that the president, who only last week resumed the long criticized system of military tribunals for suspects at Guantanamo Bay, was now looking for ways to hold people legally without having to present any evidence of wrong-doing.
I find myself wondering a lot lately. How can people discuss an issue while removing left/right bias? The most common idea I have is to ask a perspective provoking question, “If Bush had tried this, would you oppose, support, or accept this the same way?”
Author of “Reparations and America’s 2nd Civil War
Reparations and America’s 2nd Civil War: Malensek, Scott: 9798864028674: Amazon.com: Books
Illegal, UnConstitutional and No Way…
So what is so bad about this? The Obama’ Retention System will be good for all!
Obama is the all knowing and all seeing! He’s the Messiah – the most Merciful One!
He cares about you and me – he’s looking out for us. He knows what you need!
Obama is going to take your pay and return some of it so you can live and feed your family.
Obama is going to tell you how to live on the money he gives back to you!
Obama is Our Savior! The Messiah is here!!!
I like that anti-war dot com is the one raving against this, and if you go to their site…they’re already freakin about Obama’s prep for war on Iran
I can’t be sure whether he’s talking about war or law enforcement. The use of the terms “suspect” and “detention” make it sound as though it’s a law enforcement policy, but these may just be habits of speach. The looney left has been confusing the two, ever since President Bush started capturing prisoners.
If President Obama is referring to captured enemies, this is much ado about nothing. It’s alwasy been accepted universally (except by a few kooks) that captured enemies may be held for the dureation. An enemy soldier may be perfectly honorable, and not guilty of anything; it’s still universal practice to hold him until there’s an exchange, or the war’s over. This may actually be just a sop to his sillier supporters, to try to fool them into thinking that something’s changed, so President Obama can continue the policy of President Bush, but the lunatic fringe will calm down.
If he’s talking about law enforcement, he’s talking about suspending the writ of heabus corpus. The Constitution allows this, but only under specific circumstances. Is he talking about invoking the exception that’s already there, amending the Constituion, or ignoring it completely? I can’t tell from the reported statement, but the distinction is important.
Preventive detentions…..
“Preventive” detentions…..
Where have we seen this before?
Hmmmmm….
Oh, that’s right….FDR did that with the Japanese.
Old Trooper — Unconstitutional — So what?
We will have to detain all NRA members. just to be safe … Hey they are on the DHS terror watch list.
This ZERO is nuts. Does he want to start a civil war? Don’t answer.
Aye Chihuahua…. Amen…
Un Constitutional then and Now.
Obama, the Non Constitutional Scholar, most likely Non American Citizen, Affirmative Action Pretender in Chief.
Some city in Kenya is missing it’s Village Idiot. They can find him in DC.
bill-tb..the day that I take orders from You is only in your dreams…
Believe it.
I can NOT WAIT to see the dueling speeches today. So many gardening chores to do outside, great weather, but to watch Obama squirm and defend his carrying on of Bush policies while trying to bash Cheney….omg,
-wait, WAIT!!! OMG, I’ve gotta go to the store and get more popcorn!!!
Scott,
You’ll love this:
The Big Zero’s still speaking… no, make that pontificating. The question from even his own Congress is simple. “What’s the plan, Zero?”
What does he give them? Moral platitudes, sketchy analysis of what must have been a piss poor lawyer about rule of law. i.e. the “criminals”, as he keeps calling them, must have their day in court and US federal laws and moral foundations upheld.
First of all, they aren’t “criminals” and jihad isn’t a law enforcement issue. Secondly, if he’s so all fired adamant of upholding law, how does he justify allowing those have trained in terror training camps, or affiliated with designated terror groups to enter the US?
If he does so… against current law… what happens if and when a US federal court, rejecting key evidence, doesn’t convict them? They are on US soil… are they free to apply for a job at the local Mickey D’s? Can they now fight any deportation attempts? Afterall, the POTUS, himself, brought them in with utter disregard for US law.
Most of these men have never set foot on US soil. Therefore I find it hard to believe they have broken “federal” laws as Obama portrays. They are enemy combatants… not POWs. They Waffen-SS. There are merely gangs of thugs, bent on transforming borderless lands into third world country conditions under strict Shariah law.
What’s really irritating is seeing the manifestation of our public education system in the past decades. A “pass the buck/it’s all Bush’s fault” mentality stands before me, occupying my White House. We have the perfect, whiny citizen with an out of control ego who believes he can do no wrong. It’s always someone else’s fault. Our POTUS. And our fault for allowing our school system to churn out grads with irresponsibility and social justice as their diploma.
I am nauseated by what I hear coming from this man. As I said, the question was simple, Zero. What’s the plan? No one gets a plan, we get lectures on how awful the previous administration was… despite the fact he’s still following almost every bit of it to the letter when it comes to detainees, indefinite detention, no Constitutional rights on Bagram soil (but not Gitmo?), and military commissions.
And those idiots in the audience can’t figure that out. They had their prozac for breakfast.
off planet please
Simple Solution. Military Tribunals held, Due Process and 7.62 x 51mm justice served up at dawn on Memorial Day.
Done deal…no further debate or hand wringing. A fate determined and a lesson for Jihadis…
no Media coverage just Justice done and GITMO closed, unless Pelosi wants to get a tan.
Word, we’ve been saying that here at FA for over a year now.
And Old Trooper…while I can totally see the merit and value in either an outbreak of 7.62mm cerebral hemorrhages OR 9mm, or whatever….I still think a new prison built just for the GWOT (“overseas combat operations” to those on the left). Put it up on the most northern piece of American territory in Alaska. No sun for 6months, no cool Caribbean breeze during outside time, and popsicles won’t be treats anymore. No cable TV, no tv, no satellite, no books, nothing. Just a cell and and 45min walkaround time in an empty room w flickering flourescent lights ala Joe vs The Volcanoe. Expensive, yes, worth the media’s time to report on? Nope. Sadistic? In the worst.
so my boy scout troop will be preventively detained for exercising our our former Constitutional rights?
Isn’t this the same type of law enforcement program that the Nazi’s used against the Jews and Gypsies?