This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

So Long, Freedom

On December 31, 2011, President Obama signed into law a provision of the NDAA allowing him to indefinitely detain US citizens without benefit of trial or representation.

While most of us exercised our right to party, celebrate, and reminisce a law was quietly signed into law stripping away some of our most fundamental rights as guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.

Shocked? Of course you are, most American mainstream media isn't covering this event. In fact, you probably didn't even know that both of Pennsylvania's senators voted for it.

Yet, ignorance of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), does not make it less real. Sure, the NDAA has been in existence for the past 48 years; but, this year's act came with the rights crushing provision - something absent from a bill intended to fund our military and other defense agencies previously.

Find out what's happening in Dormont-Brooklinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Now, before you think I'm the kind of girl that wears tin-foil hats and thinks that the government is out to get me - I'm not. I promise you, I'm really, really not. However, I've read enough Orwell, and taken enough Logic classes to know a scary, unavoidable slippery slope when I see one.

I might be alright with this if it allowed for representation. I might be okay if there was a provision for any rights of the person detained - however, there are none. Under Presidential Authority the government can detain you for any reason it deems threatening for as long as it likes without telling a single soul. If you don't find that frightening you might find a very happy life in places like Cuba, China, and certain parts of Africa.

Find out what's happening in Dormont-Brooklinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

I urge everyone to do their research on this topic, don't take my word for it; after all, you have the internet! Contact your representatives and tell them exactly what they've done (and then act on it, don't re-elect people who want to take away your rights!) This isn't 'just' Patriot Act level snooping - this is the ability to put people in very dark places for very long periods of time and never telling a single soul.

As a friend of mine said - I used to have rights, I'm going to miss them. So are you.

 

Editor's note: A Huffington Post article, "Obama Signs Defense Bill Despite 'Serious Reservations,'" that includes a link to the text of the bill is available by clicking here.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?