Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Remember just a few weeks ago when the right-wing was all in a tizzy about the village idiot Aqua Buddha, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), and his filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan for CIA Director over the use of drones in the U.S.? There was a lot of highfalutin talk from these right-wingers about the constitutional rights of American citizens on American soil — when they thought they were talking about far-right fringe groups like white supremacists, Christian nationalists, the militia movement, and gun worshipers and fetishists.
Then came the Boston Marathon bombing.
The 19-year old Boston Bomber suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is a naturalized American citizen. He possesses the same constitutional rights as any natural born American citizen. A naturalized American citizen does not lose his constitutional rights any more than a natural born American citizen who is a terrorist, Timothy McVeigh for example, loses his constitutional rights.
But the "war on terror" twins, Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, are once again seeking to redefine the constitutional rights of American citizens under the rubric of their Neocon "war on terror." They would declare criminal actions an "act of war" for convenience sake and to declare American citizens on American soil an "enemy combatant" in order to deprive American citizens of their constitutional rights.
Americans have more to fear from the "war on terror" twins, Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, than any wingnut conspiracy theory about President Obama using drones to kill American citizens on American soil. This pair of assholes actually wrote their bastardization of the Constitution into law, and the U.S. Supreme Court took a pass on its constitutionality. This threat is genuine.
Steve Benen wrtes, The legal process ahead for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev:
The broader question — I'm reluctant to call it a "debate" since the
path seems so obvious — is what happens after that. Sens. John McCain
(R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have some thoughts on the matter.
Two powerful GOP senators are calling on the Obama administration to
treat the captured suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings as an "enemy
combatant" and deny him counsel even though he is reportedly an American
citizen. […]Regardless his citizenship status, McCain and Graham say Dzhokhar
Tsarnaev gave up his rights to a criminal trial when he allegedly
participated in the bombings."Under the Law of War we can hold this suspect as a potential enemy
combatant not entitled to Miranda warnings or the appointment of
counsel," McCain and Graham said.
McCain and Graham are playing a dangerous game here. In
case anyone's forgotten, we're talking about an American citizen,
captured on American soil, accused of committing a crime in America.
These Republican senators are arguing, in effect, that none of this
matters anymore.
The same week in which Senate Republicans
insisted that the Second Amendment is sacrosanct, McCain and Graham are
arguing that the Fourth Amendment is a nicety that the nation must no
longer take seriously.
By all accounts, the Obama administration is prepared to ignore the senators' suggestion.
Even if authorities determine that the Tsarnaevs received support
from an overseas terrorist organization, the Obama administration
official said the government will not seek to declare him an enemy
combatant and try him before a military commission, as it has done with
senior al Qaeda officials captured overseas and imprisoned at the
Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Administration officials see that
scenario as a non-starter, the official said, particularly given the
fact that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is an American citizen, naturalized last
September.
That's encouraging. Even for those on the right who are
indifferent to civil liberties, the fact remains that civilian trials
for terrorist suspects have proven to be an effective method of trying,
convicting, and sentencing criminals, including accused terrorists.
Military commissions, meanwhile, have proven to be an ineffective method.
When
it comes to national security, foreign policy, and counter-terrorism,
McCain and Graham have a track record of being remarkably wrong with
incredible consistency. The more the Obama administration ignores their
advice, the better.
The sooner the "war on terror" twins are no longer in office, the better off this nation will be.
UPDATE: Little Lindsey Graham, John McCain's puppet boy, fancies himself a psychic. Maybe he should get himself one of those late night TV ads for the psychic hotline.
One suspect is dead, and the other suspect is in serious condition and unable to speak, according to numerous media reports. Nobody knows what was the motive of the Boston Bombers. Nobody.
But Little Lindsey Graham went on FAUX News (where else) on Saturday, and matter-of-factly stated that the captured Boston bombing suspect was motivated by radical Islam and on a "jihad mission."
Graham Claims Suspected Boston Bombers ‘On A Jihad Mission’:
"Ask the people in Boston. Radical jihadists are trying to attack us
here at home. Every day we face threats from radical Islamists and they
are coming through our back yard and trying to radicalize American
citizens," the senator said. "The reason we wanted to capture him alive is find out about the attack
and find out who he trained with and what connections to … terrorism."
Little Lindsey Graham doesn't know what the bombers motive was any more than you or I do. He went on FAUX News to feed their paranoid programming about radical Islam and Sharia law which is a regular feature on FAUX News. Always an asshole.