Lotsa Luck

Let’s suppose just for the moment that there really are bogeymen witches anarchists communists terrorists out to get us.

Of course that's bullshit.

But let's just suppose.

And let’s suppose just for the moment that it’s ok to have the Army come in, kick down their doors and grab them in the middle of the night, and whisk them away to some secret dungeon where they can be held forever, tortured until they confess to something, or just killed.

You know, just like the Nazis do in those old WWII movies?

Here's my question: What happens if they grab the wrong guy?

What if there are TWO guys named Joe Smith?

And what if they live in the same town?

And what if they are both about average height and weight, both married with two kids (a son and a daughter) and both drive a black Subaru.

But let's say Joe Smith the Terrorist has blue eyes and blonde hair, while Joe Smith the NON-terrorist has brown hair and brown eyes.

Don’t you think that Joe Smith the non-terrorist should have a right to go before a judge and show that he’s not the guy they’re looking for?

Shouldn’t the authorities have to prove they’ve got the right guy?

I mean, even if you don’t think an alleged “terrorist” deserves due process, what about the poor, completely innocent sap who gets picked up by mistake?

Are you going to argue that we should just "detain" (Newspeak for "kidnap and falsely imprison") everybody named Joe Smith, just to be on the "safe" side?

Or are you going to argue that the government – in this case, the military -- never makes a mistake?

Let me remind you that FUBAR, SNAFU, Charlie Foxtrot, and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot are all terms that originated in the military. If you need further confirmation, talk to some veterans. You’ll discover that “military precision” is another oxymoron (from the Latin, meaning, “ a moron dumber than an ox”).

The NDAA doesn't just include the most vile and repugnant prima facie violation of the US Constitution since the Fugitive Slave Act.

It includes bits that, back home in Chicago, we would call "just plain fucking stupid."

What are you going to do about it?

sj