A PSA
Fifth Amendment edition.
I was working on a longer post about Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the CECOT renditions in general, but I have not had time to finish it. But based on a lot of things I am seeing from persons in social media, but especailly members of the administration and their supporters, I want to share the following.
Above all else, I will again note the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which states the following with the bolded portions being the relevant ones.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
So, based on the plain language of the Constitution, it is unconstitutional to imprison people for life (i.e., depriving them of liberty) without due process of law. Foreign affairs dodges be damned.
It is indisputable that hundreds of persons have been denied liberty without due process of law by being sent to CECOT. People who were rounded up on US soil.
Anyone who claims allegiance to the Constitution should be appalled. And yet the party that pretends like it loves the Constitution and the rule of law more than the other party is ignoring this foundational concept.
I would hasten to add that when it comes to wanting “limited government,” one of the ways I personally am more concerned with limitation is in the realm of personal liberty, rather than things like environmental regulations or the exact number of dollars I pay in taxes.
And now you know…
Yup. 1,000 X yup.
I don’t care about Garcia.
I care about the shredding of the Constitution.
Trump made a big show recently about a copy of the Constitution he has in the Oval…behind drapes…ostensibly to protect its historic value? Again, it’s a damn print. There’s nothing to protect. Yet he is trampling what the Constitution actually means.
I’m willing to bet he’s not capable of understanding the irony.
They don’t believe in what the flag stands for or the office of the President; they’re just using those symbols because they hold power.
Tangentially related.
I never link to the HuffPost, because, well, the HuffPost.
But this piece is well worth reading.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-control-american-thought_n_6802a7e9e4b0afffe5e780bf
And Trumpers like JKB, Connor/Drew/Paul L., Fortune et al. are okay with this because they care about MAGA tribalism more than they care about American democracy, the Constitution, and the rule of law.
Obviously people should not be snatched up disappeared into foreign prison camps without due process. That’s what Hitler did. (And Auschwitz is in Poland, not in Germany.)
President Trumpflation is going full Nazi because Americans have caught on to his economic incompetence, destroying markets and worsening inflation with mass layoffs and tariff chaos. Having squandered the strengthened economy Biden-Harris left them, Trump’s unqualified DUI hires need authoritarian schemes to change the subject.
Republicans from their rank-and-file to their electeds are making excuses to defend Trump regime fascist thuggery because the modern right is populated by unethical, unpatriotic frauds. They should be named and shamed until they speak out against Trump’s criminal acts.
Well, it would be more more reassuring if the 14th was not equally clear in it’s meaning.
FYI, this intersected with a post I was working on. Thanks for doing part of my work for me Steven!
Read more here:
https://outsidethebeltway.com/what-the-left-gets-wrong-when-they-talk-about-due-process/
@Daryl: “…a copy of the Constitution he has in the Oval…behind drapes…ostensibly to protect its historic value?”
Not to mention copies of the constitution hanging in a private bathroom; they’re rolled on a spindle, printed on Charmin extra soft… so I assume.
@Matt Bernius: Glad to help! 😉