I’ve said it before on BoingBoing but this bears repeating, our constitution and bill of rights constrain what our government is allowed to do. They limit the powers of government and those limits do not end at the border. Protections afforded the people are afforded all people - not citizens or people already within the U.S. but all people everywhere. Our government has no legitimate powers which would allow them to strip you of your rights under our laws over the technicality of location or country of origin.
We have let these basic principles wither on the vine and become mired in bureaucratic double speak, policy, and procedure but they are still very much part of who we are as a nation.
If Putin the Emperor, then I’d say Trump is Admiral Motti. Let the force choking begin.
They have tried to rewrite the bill of rights. Go look at how they changed it on the white house website. They took out “the people” and substituted citizen.
I agree with all that you said about the constitution, but these are people who do not think any of that applies to the President and executive branch. We have to push back against them or they’ll keep doing things that trample on the constitution.
I found this https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/constitution but that doesn’t actually have the text but it sure says citizens a lot. Not sure who wrote it or when so I can’t speak to changes or anything like that.
Happily we have three branches of government for just this reason but you are right. We have to insist upon our rights and the limits of governmental power or we will lose them.
Compare that with LOC bill of rights page, which has the original text - [ETA - sorry, that’s the national archives page, not LOC - I’ve visited both and should know the difference!]:
Now… the Washington Examiner is saying that it’s more FUD:
But they are a conservative leaning paper, so take that as you will, I guess.
One branch of which is appointed by the executive branch, and the other of which has shown a lack of spine for a while now.
So I don’t know. I hate to be alarmist here, but I’m personally feeling pretty alarmed.
Alarm may be called for but I don’t think that the website should necessarily be a cause for it.
No, I get that the text is not the same. In truth, that page does not seem at all to me like it is pretending to be the text of the bill of rights but rather a short and simple explanation for them. It’s fairly obvious that it’s just a short summary so I would feel dishonest to say they had changed anything or are attempting something nefarious.
Are they simply appointed by the executive branch or does the executive branch nominate them and then the legislative branch confirm the nomination for the appointment to take place? “he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint … Judges of the supreme Court…”
Fair and true enough. Though I’d still argue that saying citizen over the people matters. It has the makings of a legal distinction that the white house might wish to make, which is that the BOR represents rights for citizens only, rather than legal residents or visitors. How that is interpreted is up to the judicial branch and as far as I know, they have done so broadly in support of rights for everyone in the US, not just citizens (well, except for all the times they did not, Plessy V. Ferguson, etc).
You know congress… do you trust them right now? Really? Because they are not making a good showing of having spine and a willingness to stand up to Trump so far.
I would take it even further. Our laws do not say anything about the laws governing how our government operates cease at the border. I believe extrajudicial execution of non-citizens outside of the U.S. is illegal since the government cannot take away life without due process of law no matter who the person is or where they are located. It should be noted however, that with a declaration of war, the due process requirements for foreign military are met.
Never have never will but I do have strong faith in the politicians desire to continue to act within their best interest.
Unfortunately, I don’t think many of them see that as being with us, but with their own or corporate interests. If they think that backing up Trump will be in their best interest, they’ll do it.
I just read through the document. Holy crap what a disaster. I lost count every time it used the word “cyber” as some sort of nebulous catch-all term.
This statement really jumped out at me: “The Internet is a vital national resource”. Yet the appointed FCC chief has stated he wants to roll back laws classifying Internet as a utility.
Believing they are losing the messaging war with progressives, a group of prominent conservatives in Washington—including the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and journalists from Breitbart News and the Washington Examiner—has been meeting privately since early this year to concoct talking points, coordinate messaging, and hatch plans for “a 30 front war seeking to fundamentally transform the nation,” according to documents obtained by Mother Jones. Inside Groundswell: Read the Memos of the New Right-Wing Strategy Group Planning a “30 Front War” – Mother Jones
