Behind Closed Doors: Congress Trying to Force Indefinite Detention Bill on Americans 7DEZ11

INDEFINITE DETENTION (opposed by all the heads of the federal law enforcement, intelligence and military departments and agencies), without charge and trial, a tactic used by every repressive, undemocratic, totalitarian regime in the world, is now a very real threat to everyone in America and to Americans no matter where they are. All it will take is for someone in power to not like what you are doing for you to be accused of terrorism or supporting terrorism and our government will be able to arrest you and turn you over to the military to be imprisoned. No civil rights, no human rights. The government will be able to imprison you for as long as they want. If this bill is passed how will we be any different than the prc, Russia, Cuba, Vietnam, any of our Persian Gulf allies, any of the brutal dictatorships anywhere else in the world? Our Constitution will have lost all relevance, the Bill of Rights will be meaningless. This one piece of legislation is more of a threat to our Republic than hitler or communism was, more of a threat than terrorism ever will be. This is not a slippery slope that will erode our civil liberties, it will drag the nation over a cliff, destroying our Bill of Rights; no habeas corpus, no speedy trial, no Miranda Rights, no ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Sens carl levin D MI and john mccain r AZ and rep buck mckeon r CA are the architects of this assault on our freedom and civil liberties and human rights and they with their spineless colleagues are waging a vicious propaganda war of fear, ignorance and prejudice to sway the American people to support them. They are using the same tactics hitler and his nazi party used on the German people during an economic crisis in the 1930's to destroy their republic and unleash a reign of terror on the German people that lasted until the end of WW II. We must not let that happen to us. Click the link below to contact Congress and tell your Senators and Representative to vote against this bill, and then if it is passed tell President Obama he must veto it for the sake of the nation. This from the ACLU......

Maybe you spent the last weekend shopping for gifts, writing out holiday cards or studying for final exams. For most of America, the end of the year is a busy time. In Congress, this is a season usually spent trying to jam through bad bills while they hope no one is looking.
The Senate voted last Thursday to pass S. 1867, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which would authorize the president to send the military literally anywhere in the world to imprison civilians without charge or trial. Prison based on suspicion alone. The power is so sweeping that the president would be able to direct the military to use its powers within the United States itself, and even lock up American citizens without charge or trial.
No corner of the world, not even your own home, would be off-limits to the military. And there is no exception for American citizens. Section 1031 — one of the indefinite detention provisions — of the Senate-approved version of the NDAA has no limitations whatsoever based on geography, duration or citizenship. And the entire Senate bill was drafted in secret, with no hearing, and with committee votes behind closed doors.
I'm not sure which was more surprising — that the majority of senators ignored the pleas of countless constituents, or that they also ignored every top national security official opposed to the provisions. Opposition to the detention provisions came from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, CIA Director David Petraeus, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, White House Advisor for Counterterrorism John Brennan, and DOJ National Security Division head Lisa Monaco. The Senate ignored them all.
Back in May, the House of Representatives passed its own version of the NDAA, which had a provision authorizing worldwide war wherever any terrorism suspect resides, even if there is no threat to America or Americans. Buried in the bill is a sentence that lets the president order the military to lock up without charge or trial American citizens and anyone else he decides is a suspect, even if the person is right here in America or in such friendly countries as Canada, Great Britain, or France.
Now, the two bills are in conference committee. The chairmen and ranking members of the Armed Services Committee — known as "the Big Four" — have been having one secret meeting after another over the past few days to quickly write a final bill. Who are the Big Four? From the Senate, it is Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) who were the very two who had secretly written the Senate indefinite detention provisions. The third member is the House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), who is the person who wrote the House indefinite detention provisions without so much as a hearing. And the fourth member is the House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who courageously fought the indefinite detention provisions on the House floor.
That's 3-1 for indefinite military imprisonment without charge or trial. There's good reason to worry about what the Big Four do in their secret meetings.
What happens next? First, there will be a more formal House-Senate conference in the next few days to put an official stamp of approval on what the Big Four wrote in secret. And then the bills will be on the floors of the House and Senate by early next week.
Their plan is to move very, very fast. Congress certainly has earned a reputation for being slow, but the plan for the NDAA is to jam it through the House and Senate with as little debate as possible. But you can help stop them.
Amazingly, as soon as a week from today, a final bill could be passed by Congress and headed to President Obama's desk. His White House has repeatedly threatened to veto the NDAA if these dangerous provisions stay in the bill.
But should it really come to that? Congress itself should come to its senses and ditch the indefinite detention provisions. And just as importantly, Congress should listen to you and every other American on what we all as Americans want for our country. Secret deals for indefinite military detention without charge or trial? Tell Congress we are better than that. It's not who we are as Americans, and it is not the country or the world we want to pass on to our children and grandchildren.
Now is the time to act and contact your senators and House member. Tell them vote "NO" on the NDAA if it includes indefinite detention without charge or trial.