FOR INDEFINITE DETENTION
by Dan Johnson, ©2013, PANDAunite.org
If you haven’t seen this viral letter from a college student challenging his classmates to look into the 2012 (National Defense Authorization Act) NDAA and NSA, you should. Here’s an excerpt:
“The National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, gives the Department of Defense its annual budget, and it contains a few alarming sections…Uncle Sam wants the power to lock you up and throw away the key.
It was said once in Rome that “the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.”
That was said by Juvenal, not long before the Roman Republic’s collapse and the short-lived autocratic reign of Julius Caesar. We are on the precipice of our own collapse, and we care more about the football team’s standing in the polls and getting our 50 cent shots at Reggie’s.“
Read the rest here: http://www.lsureveille.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-students-are-worried-about-the-wrong-things/article_af61f4b8-50c0-11e3-b3dc-001a4bcf6878.html
Secondly, you have probably gotten at least one email, and a call about the First National #takeback call, and the alternate if you can’t make the first. The times are below, don’t forget to mark your calendar. We’ll be discussing the past successes of this campaign, the future, and rolling out our brand new coalitions page, designed to connect you with people across the spectrum to support your #takeback campaign in your town.
Dates and Times
Primary Call
Monday, November 25th
8PM Eastern Time/5PM Pacific
Phone: 559-726-1200
Code: #270082
Secondary Call
Monday, December 2nd
8PM Eastern Time/5PM Pacific
Phone: 559-726-1200
Code: #270082
Of course, we always try to save more great news for last. This week alone, two Congressmen have come out against the 2014 NDAA for doing nothing to prohibit or repeal the indefinite detention provisions in the 2012 NDAA.
The first, Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA):
“During consideration of the Fiscal Year 2014 NDAA on June 13, 2013, I supported an amendment offered by Representative Adam Smith, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Armed Services, to strike Section 1022 of the FY12 NDAA and amend Section 1021 to eliminate indefinite military detention of any person detained under Authorization for Use of Military Force Authority in the United States…”
and the second, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX):
“I was not able to in good conscience vote for the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act in committee. The language of the 2012 NDAA, carried over into the 2014 bill, represents an intolerable infringement of the Constitutional rights of American citizens. Nothing in the Constitution allows the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, and yet this bill perpetuates that purported authority. We must protect the Due Process rights of every American.”
We’ll see you Monday,
(P.S., A U.S. Senator is attempting to legalize NSA internet spying in the 2014 NDAA. Add this to indefinite surveillance, no fix for detention, and this year’s NDAA will be a doozy. We’ll release a report on this soon, keep an eye on these updates.)
Dan Johnson
Founder, PANDA
People Against the NDAA
http://www.pandaunite.org
567-201-5432
