The federal bench is no bastion of liberty, but to the extent that it throws the occasional impediment in the way of executive power — something Congress seems little inclined to do — it’s one of the last flimsy defenses Americans have for their traditional and constitutional freedoms. No wonder Newt Gingrich gets mad.
A case in point comes from Antiwar.com’s Jason Ditz, who writes up the good news about the National Defense Authorization Act’s provisions for indefinite detention:
US District Judge Katherine Forrest has issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the enforcement of the portions of the National Defense Authorization Act 2012 (NDAA) that relate to open-ended military detention of “suspects,” rejecting the Obama Administration’s arguments that the eight plaintiffs in the case, including Noam Chomsky and Daniel Ellsberg, did not have standing to contest such detention practices.
(And yes, all limbs of Leviathan being what they are, “stopping” NDAA is too optimistic by way more than half — but enjoy Lindsey Graham‘s consternation while it lasts.)
Gee, remember when the New Left out of the Sixties accused the Republicans of essentially being fascist? Of always being on the verge of declaring martial law and using the military purely and simply to stifle political dissent?
Remember how … unhinged that seemed?
Well, does anyone now really believe that Lindsey Graham would quail from that? And given that this law allowing indefinite military detention specifically doesn’t allow you to a trial where you *can* prove that you are just a political dissenter, let’s not pretend that Lindsey and Company don’t approve of doing precisely that.
Amazing. If I’m not mistake even the Alien and Sedition Acts never tried to deny the right to trial for people.