Camps for Citizens: Ashcroft's Hellish Vision

Los Angeles Times ^ | Aug. 14, 2002 | Jonathan Turley

[JohnathanRGalt]

Camps for Citizens: Ashcroft's Hellish Vision

Attorney general shows himself as a menace to liberty.

by JONATHAN TURLEY, Jonathan Turley is a professor of constitutional law at George Washington University.

Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft's announced desire for camps for U.S. citizens he deems to be "enemy combatants" has moved him from merely being a political embarrassment to being a constitutional menace.

Ashcroft's plan, disclosed last week but little publicized, would allow him to order the indefinite incarceration of U.S. citizens and summarily strip them of their constitutional rights and access to the courts by declaring them enemy combatants.

The proposed camp plan should trigger immediate congressional hearings and reconsideration of Ashcroft's fitness for this important office. Whereas Al Qaeda is a threat to the lives of our citizens, Ashcroft has become a clear and present threat to our liberties.

(. . . .)

Ashcroft is a catalyst for constitutional devolution, encouraging citizens to accept autocratic rule as their only way of avoiding massive terrorist attacks.

His greatest problem has been preserving a level of panic and fear that would induce a free people to surrender the rights so dearly won by their ancestors.

[AppyPappy]

I believe they had those powers when Clinton was President. They certainly used it.

[AppyPappy]

He seems to want to put people away indefinitely.

I seriously doubt it unless they become POW's. I think he wants a way to hold them for the safety of the country

[headsonpikes]

I apologize for not realizing that this Turley guy is an accomplice of Bin Laden and Saddam.

I would have thought that George Washington U. could have exercised better judgment than to hire known traitors.

Has Turley been interrogated yet, or is this Islamo-Fascist terrorist still on the loose?

[aSkeptic]

Holy moly! Good point!

[droberts]

That's where the trust comes in. I would argue that historical precedent warns against trusting a government with too much power. Maybe Ashcroft is benign, but if this kind of power is legally unchallenged, how can we be so sure is successor will use it justly. History, again, has shown us we cannot.

[Hoosier Patriot]

BTW, when you like Jonathan Turley, it shows whose whose side you are really on.

Ding ding ding! We have a winner folks. Come down to the front to receive the coveted "most bigoted comment of the thread yet" award. Congratulations!

An open mind is a terrible thing to waste.

[elcaudillo]

This War On Terror will make many Americans (those who haven't shoved their stupid faces into the tv screen to watch the "new" lineup of trash) want to puke.

Muslim immigration to the US is up big time and will, surprise!, increase in spite of 911. The hinges on our nation's doors are greased by the arabs who flood the traitor congressrats with campaign dollars.

Mosques are springing up on our landscape like new Levittowns and the Arabs will be able to gird their children with explosives and let them play in our malls. Downtown Tel Aviv will have nothing on downtown Chicago, Columbus, etc.

Our leaders know nothing of history, because just a cursory review of Spanish history will show what the arabs can do to Christians and Jews once they gain a foothold.

The history of Islam makes even the accomplishments of Stalin look tame.

[neutrino]

I have considered the camp issue, and, frankly, I think they're a reasonable approach to the present crises. We have a substantial number of enemies within the borders. How many of us - not merely fellow Americans, but folks right here on Free Republic - are we willing to sacrifice? Are we willing to accept the consequences of radiological bombs? Of bio-terrorism? It doesn't take a genius, nor does it take a large organization to kill lots of innocent people. The tools are available (widely, easily available) right now in our society.

The reaction seems to be "Yeah, but what about when Hillary becomes President? You'll be sorry then! You, neutrino - YOU! - will be sent to the camps!"

I looked up some information on the Japanese camps. Frankly, they didn't sound much worse than a certain motel I stayed in on a business trip to the panhandle of Texas some years ago. If they want to send me to camp, I could use the time to catch up on my reading. Frankly, if they get down to me, they'll have about 3/4 of the population behind wire...so I won't lack for company, anyway.

An excerpt: "The engineers typically designed the fenced camps in block arrangements wherein each block contained 14 barracks, 1 mess hall and 1 recreation hall on the outer edges, and ironing, laundry, and men's and women's lavatories on the interior. Households were assigned space in the spartan 100 by 20 foot family structures of wood and tar paper according to the number of people in their household. Other structures in the camp were designated for dry and cold warehouses, car and equipment repair and storage, administration, schools, canteens, library, religious services, hospitals, and post office. Cooperatives purchased and distributed merchandise; efficient work groups formed around the manufacture of camouflage nets and ship models used as training aids for naval personnel; vegetables and fruit were cultivated for camp and commercial consumption; and livestock was bred and raised. At one camp, a honeymoon cottage was set aside for the exclusive use of newlyweds; at another, 662 babies were born while 221 adults spent their last day on earth behind the wires."

Here's the link, if you wish to see more: Camps

[AppyPappy]

History also shows we can't trust the terrorists. And they killed more people than Ashcroft.

[RJCogburn]

when you like Jonathan Turley, it shows whose whose side you are really on

We all liked him well enough when he was on Clinton's case. Attack the messenger....it's easier that way.

[RJCogburn]

He needs to be locked up himself, the unpatriotic are hindering the war effort.

Is that your very best John Ashcroft imitation?

[Destructor]

"I heard that they have "prison" trains ready. They have shackles built into cars. Guess they are going to haul away a lot of "enemies of the state". Whatever happened to "America, Land of the Free"? I guess that was just a dream we had."

A better question would be whatever happened to America's will to fight for Freedom?When it happens the collective nasal whine will go up, "Why didn't somebody stop it? If this grim scenario that you're painting becomes reality, then Americans will have no one to blame, but themselves!

As for me- I will be dead. The bodies of at least four enemy agents/troops will be beside me!!

[ravingnutter]

Logic dictates that he wouldn't support our right to bear arms that we could use against them in an uprising if they was going to throw us in camps. I fear the gun-control pushing liberals more than I do Ashcroft OR the terrorists.

[RJCogburn]

How many of us - not merely fellow Americans, but folks right here on Free Republic - are we willing to sacrifice?

You have convinced me. I shall not object to your endless incarceration, without formal charges. Good luck.

[ravingnutter]

was = were...duh...been a long day....

[Hoosier Patriot]

Hey, let's all join in with a rousing chorus of the camp song, shall we?

THAT DAMNED FENCE

They've sunk the posts deep into the ground They've strung out wires all the way around. With machine gun nests just over there, And sentries and soldiers everywhere. We're trapped like rats in a wired cage, To fret and fume with impotent rage; Yonder whispers the lure of the night, But that DAMNED FENCE assails our sight.

We seek the softness of the midnight air, But that DAMNED FENCE in the floodlight glare Awakens unrest in our nocturnal quest, And mockingly laughs with vicious jest.

With nowhere to go and nothing to do, We feed terrible, lonesome, and blue: That DAMNED FENCE is driving us crazy, Destroying our youth and making us lazy.

Imprisoned in here for a long, long time, We know we're punished--though we've committed no crime, Our thoughts are gloomy and enthusiasm damp, To be locked up in a concentration camp.

Loyalty we know, and patriotism we feel, To sacrifice our utmost was our ideal, To fight for our country, and die, perhaps; But we're here because we happen to be Japs.

We all love life, and our country best, Our misfortune to be here in the west, To keep us penned behind that DAMNED FENCE, Is someone's notion of NATIONAL DEFENCE!

Were these people somehow different American citizens than the rest?

[droberts]

Actually, history as demonstrated that those governments with too much power have murdered the most people.

[neutrino]

You have convinced me. I shall not object to your endless incarceration, without formal charges. Good luck.

(Chuckle) At least I won't ever need to worry about retirement funding.

[Elsie]

I would suggest that some Indians (Ooops! Native-Americans) reply as to how, after the Federal Gov't rounded THEM all up and shipped them off to camps, the rules and regulations have 'returned to normal' for them and their relatives.........

---

Ask the Mohawks ,
the Oneidas ,
the Iriquois ,
the Illinios ,
the Cherokee ,
the Chocktaw ,
the Creek ,
the Souix ,
the Arapahoe ,
the Mandan ,
the Ute ,
the Piute ,
the Mohave ,
the Apache ,
the Comanchee ,
the Nez Perce ,
the Seminole and on, and on, and on.....................

[neutrino]

I appreciate that you've followed the link...and I recognize that people don't generally care for restrictions on their freedom...but the song merely points out that camp life wasn't all that bad.

The camps are being portrayed as something awful...but they weren't. And the new version won't be either.