I'm not locking this, because I meant to lock one post, then I didn't, then I went and locked it, and... yeah. What I'm going to post I want as many people to see as possible.
The United States is scaring the hell out of me.
The government accuses people of terrorism and renders them to other countries, where they are tortured.
Ann Coulter's book "Treason" directly identifies anyone holding a liberal opinion as a traitor to the US. We know Ann Coulter is a nutjob, but so is Rush Limbaugh, and look at how his vitriol has affected people's opinions.
Jose Padilla is an American citizen. He has been accused of conspiring with al-Qaida, but has not been charged or brought to trial. He has been imprisoned for nearly 3 years.
How long will it be before Coulter's opinions become the opinions of half the country? If I were accused of conspiring with al-Qaida, would people believe it, because I've spoken out against the Bush administration? Would I be classified as an enemy combatant, denied a chance to defend myself, and shipped off somewhere to be tortured?
We aren't that bad now. But things can get that bad if we don't speak out. I beg all of you to go to Congress.org and write to your senators, your representatives, and the President. Tell them that every American citizen has the right to due process of law. Tell them that you abhor torture under any circumstances. Tell them that what makes our country great is our Constitution, and its application to every citizen, no matter how heinous the crimes he or she is accused of. And tell them that you will be watching to see what they do and say.
Please. It'll only take a few minutes. And this is vital to get our country back on the right path.
First they came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.
Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945
The United States is scaring the hell out of me.
The government accuses people of terrorism and renders them to other countries, where they are tortured.
Ann Coulter's book "Treason" directly identifies anyone holding a liberal opinion as a traitor to the US. We know Ann Coulter is a nutjob, but so is Rush Limbaugh, and look at how his vitriol has affected people's opinions.
Jose Padilla is an American citizen. He has been accused of conspiring with al-Qaida, but has not been charged or brought to trial. He has been imprisoned for nearly 3 years.
How long will it be before Coulter's opinions become the opinions of half the country? If I were accused of conspiring with al-Qaida, would people believe it, because I've spoken out against the Bush administration? Would I be classified as an enemy combatant, denied a chance to defend myself, and shipped off somewhere to be tortured?
We aren't that bad now. But things can get that bad if we don't speak out. I beg all of you to go to Congress.org and write to your senators, your representatives, and the President. Tell them that every American citizen has the right to due process of law. Tell them that you abhor torture under any circumstances. Tell them that what makes our country great is our Constitution, and its application to every citizen, no matter how heinous the crimes he or she is accused of. And tell them that you will be watching to see what they do and say.
Please. It'll only take a few minutes. And this is vital to get our country back on the right path.
First they came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.
Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945
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