1984 or 1776?

president obama just signed a bill into law known as the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA for short. You can read pretty much everything you need to know about it HERE.

one of the things that the 5th ammendment to the US constitution guarantees is the right of due process. that means if you stand accused of a crime, you have a right to a trial, legal representation, etc. the government cannot throw someone in jail for no reason. or even if their is a reason, they can't just keep them in jail indefinitely without giving a trial. however, this new bill gives the government the right detain indefinitely anybody who they consider a terrorist. while this may sound ok to some people, what's discomforting especially is that the definition of a "terrorist" is incredibly broad. if a US citizen is detained as a terrorist, the government, by law, doesn't even have to state the charges, i.e., the reason for detainment. let alone a trial.

i just sent this message to my representatives in congress:

I am incredibly upset that you voted for the NDAA bill. This bill deprives citizens of their constitutional right to due process. How can a public servant who swears an oath to protect the constitution sleep soundly at night when you vote to tear it to shreds?

i don't care if this bill would help fight terrorists. i don't care if the passage of this bill were to somehow magically end Al Qaeda. i don't care how many lives this bill theoretically "saves". by taking away our right of due process to save lives, you are inadvertently throwing away the lives of those who have fought and died in defense of those rights.

shame on you [representative name]. shame on you. i promise that i will be voting against you in the next election.