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It is ironic but perhaps sadly appropriate that
Attorney General Eric Holder would choose a law school, Northwestern
University, to deliver a speech earlier this month in which he demolished
what was left of the rule of law in America.
In what history likely will record as a turning
point, Attorney General Holder bluntly explained that this administration
believes it has the authority to use lethal force against Americans if the
President determines them to be a threat to the nation. He tells us that this
is not a violation of the due process requirements of our Constitution
because the President himself embodies "due process" as he
unilaterally determines who is to be targeted. As Holder said, "a
careful and thorough executive branch review of the facts in a case amounts
to 'due process.'" That means that the administration believes it is the
President himself who is to be the judge, jury, and executioner.
As George Washington University Law Professor
Jonathan Turley wrote of the Holder speech:
"All the Administration has said is that they
closely and faithfully follow their own guidelines — even if their
decisions are not subject to judicial review. The fact that they say those
guidelines are based on notions of due process is meaningless. They are not a
constitutional process of review."
It is particularly bizarre to hear the logic of the
administration claiming the right to target its citizens according to some
secret selection process, when we justified our attacks against Iraq and
Libya because their leaders supposedly were targeting their own citizens! We
also now plan a covert war against Syria for the same reason.
I should make it perfectly clear that I believe any
individual who is engaging in violence against this country or its citizens
should be brought to justice. But as Attorney General Holder himself points
out in the same speech, our civilian courts have a very good track record of
trying and convicting individuals involved with terrorism against the United
States. Our civilian court system, with the guarantee of real due process,
judicial review, and a fair trial, is our strength, not a weakness. It is not
an impediment to be sidestepped in the push for convictions or
assassinations, but rather a process that guarantees that fundamental right to
be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
I am encouraged, however that there appears to be
the beginning of a backlash against the administration's authoritarian
claims. Just recently I did an interview with conservative radio talk show
host Laura Ingraham who expressed grave concern over using these sorts of
tactics against Americans using the supposed war on terror as justification.
Sadly, many conservative leaders were silent when Republican President George
W. Bush laid the groundwork for this administration's lawlessness with the
PATRIOT Act, warrantless wiretapping, indefinite detention without trial, and
other violations. Similarly, as Professor Turley points out, "Democrats
previously demanded the 'torture memos' of the Bush administration that
revealed poor legal analysis by Judge Jay Bybee and
Professor John Yoo to justify torture. Now,
however, Democrats are largely silent in the face of a president claiming the
right to unilaterally kill citizens." The misuse of and disregard for
our Constitution for partisan political gain is likely one reason the
American public holds Congress in such low esteem. Now the stakes are much
higher. Congress and the people should finally wake up!
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