White House Kisses Goodbye to 5th Amendment
Todd says: The latest Executive Order from the War Criminal Administration facilitates and sanctions the taking away of property of anyone who is deemed to be "undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people". Left in those terms, it isn't too much of a stretch to envision this Administration deciding that any particularly vocal critic of the Iraq occupation is "undermining efforts" and thus a target for seizure of property or assets, Fifth Amendment be damned.
Isn't this a grand war! Boy, I can't imagine anything that's been executed better. The motivations were so clear.
Can I genuflect now?
(Sorry, I own a home.)
FYI
Fifth Amendment - Rights of Persons
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
1 comment:
I'm waiting, hopefully, for a lawyer friend of mine to look at this particular order. I want to know if this is completely different from other events of freezing assets of enemies of the state (such as Iran's during the hostage crisis) or not.
What worries me is that Bush seems to need a "new" order for everything, and I suspect it is because he augments what precedent had existed before. And it smells like Cheney to me, too.
Post a Comment