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Detainees Are Not Persons—This means you!
by Jim Davidson
jim@vertoro.com

Attribute to The Libertarian Enterprise

The Obama administration coerced the Supreme Court to make the following ruling: anyone the president declares to be an "enemy combatant" who is detained by the USA military government is not a person. Therefore, such unpersons have no rights, no protections under the constitution.

You are all slaves. Stop working, and you are the enemy. Stop paying taxes, you are the enemy. Stop obeying mindlessly, you are the enemy.

The government of the United States of America has declared war on you, time and time again. The war on drugs is a war on the American people. The war on terror is a war on the American people. And, of course, given that "we the people" did "ordain and establish this constitution for the united States of America" there is no question that the government is making war on the United States. Those who run the government are committing treason, and are traitors.

Last Tuesday, William Fisher gave this report at Antiwar.com.

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal Monday to review a lower court's dismissal of a case brought by four British former Guantanamo prisoners against former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the detainees' lawyers charged Tuesday that the country's highest court evidently believes that "torture and religious humiliation are permissible tools for a government to use."

...Channeling their predecessors in the George W. Bush administration, Obama Justice Department lawyers argued in this case that there is no constitutional right not to be tortured or otherwise abused in a U.S. prison abroad.

The Obama administration had asked the court not to hear the case. By agreeing, the court let stand an earlier opinion by the D.C. Circuit Court, which found that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act—a statute that applies by its terms to all "persons"—did not apply to detainees at Guantanamo, effectively ruling that the detainees are not persons at all for purposes of U.S. law.

The lower court also dismissed the detainees' claims under the Alien Tort Statute and the Geneva Conventions, finding defendants immune on the basis that "torture is a foreseeable consequence of the military's detention of suspected enemy combatants."

Here are some protections the constitution was supposed to provide to any person:

Article one section three, the Senate is to conduct all impeachments "And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present."

Immigration fees maybe charged but, "Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person."

"The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

"Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court."

"The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted."

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." (Used to be called the fourth amendment. Void where prohibited.)

"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

So, all those things you would expect a person to have, to be, and to get, gone with the declaration of the president. Not just this president, but any president from now on.

Curiously, the eighth article of the Bill of Rights doesn't even mention persons:

"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

As you can see from the way it is worded, the obligation not to require excessive bail, not to impose excessive fines, and not to inflict cruel and unusual punishments is a moral obligation on every single person in the national government at any level. And, as you know, these three rules are now routinely ignored. The IRS imposes excessive fines. Every federal court imposes infinite bail. Every federal agent, every member of the military, every park ranger inflicts cruel and unusual punishments.

So, there you have it. The fine handiwork of Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, finally revealed for what it is: tyranny. The constitution isn't worth the powder it would take to blow it to Kingdom Come.

And you, you little maggot, what are you going to do about it? Not a thing. You are going to stare at your computer screen, close this tab, and find some good porn. Or a nice tune. Or some funny video with a cat. Screw yourself, maggot.

Me, I kind of like it better this way. I mean, I've never really liked the fact of tyranny, or the reality that the USA government is run by traitors who are engaged in tyranny. But at least now we all know the truth. At least this way, there is a kind of brutal honesty to it.

You have no rights. You have no freedom. There are no constitutional protections. With the flick of a few computer keystrokes, the president or his minions can declare you an enemy combatant. An unperson.

Straight out of 1984 The future is a boot, smashing a human face, forever.

Jim Davidson is an anti-war activist involved in the divestment project detailed at divestfromdeath.wordpress.com. He is also an author and entrepreneur. His latest book Being Sovereign is now available from Lulu.com and should be available, soon, from Amazon.

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