Daniel Ellsberg and NDAA and detention

**patfromlogan** · Posted On: 3/30/2012 11:42am

Us oldies know about Daniel Ellsberg. In 1971 he risked doing 35 years in prison by leaking the Pentagon Papers, the 7000+ a top-secret Pentagon study of U.S. government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War (that made clear many of the US government's lies). They went after him, but it backfired for Nixon; Nixon's illegal attempts to nail Ellsberg helped bring Nixon down. Nixon's wiretapping and having the CIA question Ellsberg's doctor and other actions, however, now are legal. Ellsberg has been one my heroes for many years. We were lucky enough to hear him speak in SLC a few years ago. His case is somewhat tragic because he read the documents before the Gulf of Tonkin incident and if he'd release them the escalation of the Vietnam War might never had occurred.

"Everything that Richard Nixon did to me, for which he faced impeachment and prosecution, which led to his resignation, is now legal under the Patriot Act, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)." Daniel Ellsberg.

The Trojan Horse was National Defense Authorization Act for the 2012 fiscal year, or the H.R. 1540. The NDAA is nominally the bill that funds Dept of Defense.

Back in 2001, Bush enacted the Patriot Act. This allowed the government to spy on citizens, monitoring their activities in order to discern whether or not someone is a terrorist. It brought about changes in law enforcement that allowed agencies to search phones, financial records, etc.

One of the most controversial aspects of the law was the authorization of indefinite detention of non-U.S. citizens. Immigrants suspected of being terrorists would be detained without trial until the War on Terrorism finished.

Obama, picking a day when it would not be noticed in the news, New Years Eve, December 31st, 2011, signed the new NDAA. Many, like Daniel Ellsberg, claim that the new NDAA allows indefinite detention of American citizens. In reading and re-reading section 1022 I, and many in congress, find it legally vague. An analysis of the language is found in http://www.salon.com/2011/12/16/thre...etention_bill/

excellent essay on Ellsberg, Nixon, Obama and what the **** is going on: http://perpendicularnews.com/home/category/america/war/

further stuff (I haven't watched the videos so don't blame me):

ACLU
http://www.aclu.org/blog/tag/NDAA
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/press...gns-the-ndaa-i
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/12/14/u...tragedy-rights
NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD
http://www.nlg.org/news/announcement...aa-provisions/
JONATHON TURLEY
http://jonathanturley.org/2012/01/02...l-act-of-2011/
GLENN GREENWALD
http://www.salon.com/2011/12/16/thre...etention_bill/
THE NEW YORK TIMES
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/op...ever.html?_r=1
JUSTIA
http://verdict.justia.com/2012/01/02/the-ndaa-explained
NATURAL NEWS
http://www.naturalnews.com/034538_ND...etainment.html

**nils** · Posted On: 3/30/2012 12:15pm

Obama never fails to irritate - that guy who claims to be a liberal democrat, who won by propagating civil rights, who has a nobel-peace-prize, who was the hope to bring the USA back to Democracy and to a sensible foreign policy, is the one who turned civil rights back to the middle ages.

I hate irony in history.

**JohnKenner** · Posted On: 3/30/2012 3:34pm

Originally Posted by nils

Obama never fails to irritate - that guy who claims to be a liberal democrat, who won by propagating civil rights, who has a nobel-peace-prize, who was the hope to bring the USA back to Democracy and to a sensible foreign policy, is the one who turned civil rights back to the middle ages.

I hate irony in history.

I guess at this point, I have no belief that there is any difference between republicans and democrats. They say different ****, but its all just lies.

In the end, the party they represent is that of the US government, once elected. And the patriot act is oh-so-good for the US government.

**itwasntme** · Posted On: 3/31/2012 10:52am

Originally Posted by JohnKenner

I guess at this point, I have no belief that there is any difference between republicans and democrats. They say different ****, but its all just lies.

In the end, the party they represent is that of the US government, once elected. And the patriot act is oh-so-good for the US government.

Partly right. They also represent the lobbyists that "donate" countless dollars. And there hasn't been republicans or democrats in some time now. About the only thing these two parties differ on anymore is abortion, I'm surprised they can even make a campaign, oh wait, their campaigns only consist of belittling the opponent, that's how it works! Our elections are like the Jerry Springer show and the debates are like the part where the audience asks questions but usually they just wanna take a stab at somebody on national television, the closing comments of course are Jerry's Final Thought.

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**nils** · Posted On: 3/31/2012 1:01pm

The situation is similar in europe, but here we at least have the slight hope that the smaller parties win influence (the pirate-party for example) - not a real hope, but a slim chance to solve current problems with the democratic instruments.

On the other hand, this system leads to the fact that even the dumbest idiots will recognize that the current state of affairs is disastrous.

**itwasntme** · Posted On: 3/31/2012 1:21pm

We have Ron Paul, but its hard to say if he's just the Antichrist or if he's really the hero we so desperately need.

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**nils** · Posted On: 3/31/2012 1:30pm

^The last assumed hero running for president was Obama - and see how that turned out.

But I do believe that Ron Paul would be the best possible outcome. He might just be one of that strange kind of politician who actually wants to improve the situation of the people he represents.

Plus all the other candidates range from laughingstock to american Ahmadineschad.