Next Evil Act: Stripping Americans Of Citizenship

By James Donahue

First it was the National Defense Authorization Act, cleverly attached by Senate Republicans to a military appropriations bill that literally blackmailed President Barack Obama to sign it. This wicked little piece of legislation now gives the military the power to arrest and detain Americans both at home and abroad without formal charge or even a trial if suspected of “terrorist” activity.

Now Congressmen Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Charles Dent (R-PA) are co-sponsoring the Enemy Expatriation Act. If this piece of legislation makes its way through the two houses and gets attached to something that blocks a presidential veto, it will give the federal government the power to strip Americans of their citizenship without being convicted of hostile acts against the United States.

Both of these bills are steering this nation into a strange form of dictatorial power over its citizens by stripping even more of their Constitutional rights.

As blogger Stephen D. Foster Jr. wrote in his analysis of the Lieberman-Dent bill: “You can be stripped of your nationality for engaging in or purposefully and materially supporting hostilities against the United States.” He suggests that since the “War on Terror is a little ambiguous and encompassing, any action could be labeled as supporting terrorism. Since the Occupy movement began, conservatives have been trying to paint the protesters as terrorists.”

And there, in a nutshell, may be the heart of the thinking among the secret power figures that are controlling the minds and hearts of our “elected” member of Congress. What better way to stop the Occupy movement than with military force if they can make it legally possible.

And you can be sure that the thugs that have been controlling the reins of our government want the Occupy Movement stopped. That is because the movement is coming from the grass roots, it is growing and it is beginning to have an impact.

The people have been stripped of the wealth that was once shared among all who wished to work for a decent wage. In most areas they have been stripped of their right to collectively bargain, they have lost the good paying jobs they once enjoyed, their health insurance has disappeared as have vacation and sick time benefits. Many have now lost their homes and the quality of life they once enjoyed. The only thing keeping them going have been the state and national unemployment and jobless benefit programs, and most Republican legislators threaten to take that away as well.

If the Office of Homeland Security is given the power to sic the military on the Occupy protesters, branding them as terrorists, we predict a bloody rebellion not unlike what we have been witnessing in Egypt, Syria, Iran and other places in the world. Hungry, homeless and desperate people have nothing to lose and they will rise up against tyranny.

We saw it happen last year in Egypt and Libya. Our own Civil Rights Movement brought about change, as did the apartheid movement in South Africa. Mohandas Gandhi successfully led a peaceful revolution against British Rule in India early in the Twentieth Century. The French rose up against the ruling class during the French Revolution. Our own nation was founded by revolution against the British crown.

It all boils down to this. Angry mobs of people in open revolt will stand up against great armies with pitchforks and stones to fight for equality whenever injustice occurs. Sometimes it takes a while before something triggers the revolt. But sooner or later it begins.

The street revolts that began in Tunisia in December, 2010, leading to the overthrow of long-time dictator Zine E. Abidine Ben Ali, appears to have triggered similar revolts known as the Arab Spring throughout the Middle East. Now we read of demonstrations in the streets of Moscow, Yemen, Sudan and places few of us have ever heard of in the Far East.

While Americans have been quickly losing their rights as free citizens, and a police/military type of system appears to be rising up with the help of advanced technology designed for crowd control, we may still possess the right of free elections. And the Occupy Movement may just be enough to bring about changes needed in state and national governments this year to stop the insanity before there is bloodshed on our streets.

But the provisions that allow our military to arrest, jail and take away the citizenship of Americans without due process must not be allowed to stand in the laws passed by our twisted-minded legislators.