{"id":12954,"date":"2011-11-29T15:12:00","date_gmt":"2011-11-29T23:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=12954"},"modified":"2011-11-29T15:16:25","modified_gmt":"2011-11-29T23:16:25","slug":"senate-upholds-unconstitutional-detainment-provision-in-defense-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/29\/senate-upholds-unconstitutional-detainment-provision-in-defense-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Upholds Unconstitutional Detainment Provision in Defense Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wrote today about the dangerous provision of the current defense bill<\/a> that would\u00a0drastically expand the Defense Department\u2019s ability to indefinitely detain terrorism suspects, shifting that responsibility from traditional domestic law enforcement to the military.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Senate is going to vote on whether Congress will give this president\u2014and every future president \u2014\u00a0the power\u00a0to order the military to pick up and imprison without charge or trial civilians anywhere in the world,\u201d\u00a0according to the American Civil Liberties Union\u00a0<\/a>(ACLU). \u201cThe power is so broad,\u201d they claim, \u201cthat even U.S. citizens could be swept up by the military and the military could be used far from any battlefield, even within the United States itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senator Mark Udall proposed an amendment to this monstrosity that would essentially strip the bill of these expanded powers. The Senate rejected that amendment today in a 61-37 vote. So the provision granting the military broad powers to detain terrorism suspects without due process even if they are American citizens on American soil remains (although, as I wrote here, the president has vowed to veto it<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Rand Paul gave a damn good speech against the provision today, although he eventually was on the losing side. John McCain, the scoundrel, who co-authored the provision rambled on in his authoritarian way (via Hit & Run<\/a>):<\/p>\n