The Biggest Threat to Democracy? Conservative Interpretations of the Constitution

Undermining the Bill of Rights: The Bush Administration Detention Policy

The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to hear two major challenges to the Bush Administration’s detention policy in the war on terror and its designation and handling of “enemy combatants.” This policy violates fundamental principles enshrined in our Constitution - such as the separation of powers and due process of law – and actually threatens progress in the war on terror and America’s campaign for greater freedom and democracy around the world. These cases will define the scope of presidential powers and the Bill of Rights for years to come.

At its broadest formulation, the Administration’s anti-terror policy confers on the executive branch unparalleled powers that may not be reviewed, questioned, or checked by Congress or the courts. In effect, the President and the Department of Defense claim to be the sole arbiters of due process of law for anyone they detain, including American citizens, both in the United States and around the world in the war on terrorism.

Specifically, the detention policy allows the President to designate anyone, even an American citizen arrested on American soil, as an “enemy combatant” and shields that decision and the reasons behind it from meaningful review. It presupposes that the government can deny even a U.S. citizen constitutional rights such as access to counsel and due process of law, and may detain him indefinitely in violation of U.S. law. The policy includes procedural rules for military “trials” of suspected terrorists that even U.S. military lawyers call unjust, and which would allow the government to continue to detain those found innocent.

This attack on the Constitution was during the Bush administration. Where were these tea baggers than. No protests. Nope one assumes they were at home using their government Medicare and cashing their Social Security checks.

Conservative zealots have yet again lied about and distorted the history of the man accused of threatening Eric Serial Liar Cantor to shift blame to Democrats. In a desperate attempt to distract from the violent and racist rhetoric at their rallies, What To Make of Norman Leboon?

The initial portrait emerging of the man charged with threatening to kill Eric Cantor and his family suggests he's made similar, if not criminally actionable, threats on dozens of occasions against an ideologically diverse array of public figures.

According to the federal complaint against him, Norman Leboon of Philadelphia has admitted making some 2,000 videos that contained threats. A sampling of his "work" reveals rambling incoherent videos that mix pseudo-religious incantations with random warnings and threats. In one video he addresses President Obama, Vice President Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid by name and says, "Your punishment is coming, the swine, it will be severe, and you will beg for mercy to your god, it will be severe, you will know god's swine, god has warned you."