Ron Paul Schools Dems; Stands Up Against Terror Hysteria

Posted by Joshua Holland at 1:00 PM on October 22, 2007.

Behind the Ron Paul sensation is a desperate desire for someone, anyone, to stand up and call "bullshit" on the "War on Terror" and all that it has entailed, from illegal surveillance of citizens and nightmarish foreign adventures to an executive branch mad with power and drunk on its sense of entitlement.

Last week Paul, whose opposition to much of the 20th century makes him terrible on just about every issue which touches the political economy and whose Birchian isolationism leas him to embrace conspiracy theories about shady cabals of globalists undermining American sovereignty and sapping our precious bodily fluids (not to mention his little white supremacy problem), simply schooled Democrats on how to roll back the disasters of the Bush era introducing the "American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007."

Some highlights of the act [HT: Steven D at Booman Trib]:

(a) Findings- Congress makes the following findings:

(1) Unchecked power by any branch leads to oppressive transgressions on individual freedoms and ill-considered government policies.

(2) The Founding Fathers enshrined checks and balances in the Constitution to protect against government abuses to derail ill-conceived domestic or foreign endeavors.

(3) Checks and balances make the Nation safer by preventing abuses that would be exploited by Al Qaeda to boost terrorist recruitment, would deter foreign governments from cooperating in defeating international terrorism, and would make the American people reluctant to support aggressive counter-terrorism measures.

(4) Checks and balances have withered since 9/11 and an alarming concentration of power has been accumulated in the presidency based on hyper-inflated fears of international terrorism and a desire permanently to alter the equilibrium of power between the three branches of government.

(5) The unprecedented constitutional powers claimed by the President since 9/11 subtracted national security and have been asserted for non-national security purposes.

(6) Experience demonstrates that global terrorism can be thwarted, deterred, and punished through muscular application of law enforcement measures and prosecutions in Federal civilian courts in lieu of military commissions or military law.

Then the nitty-gritty:

(a) The Military Commissions Act of 2006 is hereby repealed.

(b) The President is authorized to establish military commissions for the trial of war crimes only in places of active hostilities against the United States where an immediate trial is necessary to preserve fresh evidence or to prevent local anarchy.

(c) The President is prohibited from detaining any individual indefinitely as an unlawful enemy combatant absent proof by substantial evidence that the individual has directly engaged in active hostilities against the United States, provided that no United States citizen shall be detained as an unlawful enemy combatant.

(d) Any individual detained as an enemy combatant by the United States shall be entitled to petition for a writ of habeas corpus under section 2241 of title 28, United States Code.

SEC. 4. TORTURE OR COERCED CONFESSIONS.

No civilian or military tribunal of the United States shall admit as evidence statements extracted from the defendant by torture or coercion.

SEC. 5. INTELLIGENCE GATHERING.

No Federal agency shall gather foreign intelligence in contravention of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.). The President's constitutional power to gather foreign intelligence is subordinated to this provision.

SEC. 6. PRESIDENTIAL SIGNING STATEMENTS.

The House of Representatives and Senate collectively shall enjoy standing to file a declaratory judgment action in an appropriate Federal district court to challenge the constitutionality of a presidential signing statement that declares the President's intent to disregard provisions of a bill he has signed into law because he believes they are unconstitutional.

SEC. 7. KIDNAPPING, DETENTIONS, AND TORTURE ABROAD.

No officer or agent of the United States shall kidnap, imprison, or torture any person abroad based solely on the President's belief that the subject of the kidnapping, imprisonment, or torture is a criminal or enemy combatant; provided that kidnapping shall be permitted if undertaken with the intent of bringing the kidnapped person for prosecution or interrogation to gather intelligence before a tribunal that meets international standards of fairness and due process. A knowing violation of this section shall be punished as a felony punishable by a fine or imprisonment of up to 2 years.

Steven asks the obvious question: "Why wasn't this the first piece of legislation proposed by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid when they assumed control over the House and Senate, respectively?" The answer is fairly obvious: Paul can propose it and it plays to his reputation as the cantankerous oddball of the GOP, but Dems are terrified of being called soft on anything, and they’re right in their belief that if they offered this kind of plain, commonsense measure, it would be twisted into the "I Love Osama Judicial Activism and Forced Abortions for Everyone Act" by the beltway press simply because it was proposed by Dems and the media loves stories about supposed Democratic weakness.. The sad truth is that it’s become a systemic problem — their fear compels them to embrace even the most unpopular and illiberal policies if they sound tough, and to run away from confrontation on issues that should be slam-dunks like opposing torture and warantless wiretapping.

Tagged as: paul, american freedom agenda a

Joshua Holland is an editor and senior writer at AlterNet.