It sounds like something posted on InfoWars or from some chain email that gets debunked by Snopes two weeks later: Mere political opponents being labeled “terrorists” by an individual in the government, allowing them to be locked-up in prison camps in the United States.
But Mark Tapscott of the Washington Examiner warns that it’s no far-fetched idea in our nation’s capital anymore. He explains how an amendment introduced by Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) could bring about such a situation:
Rep. Alcee Hastings – the impeached Florida judge Nancy Pelosi tried to install as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee until her own party members rebelled – introduced an amendment to the defense authorization bill that gives Attorney General Eric Holder sole discretion to label groups that oppose government policy on guns, abortion, immigration, states’ rights, or a host of other issues. In a June 25 speech on the House floor, Rep. Trent Franks, R-AZ, blasted the idea: “This sounds an alarm for many of us because of the recent shocking and offensive report released by the Department of Homeland Security which labeled, arguably, a majority of Americans as ‘extremists.’”
Another Hastings bill (HR 645) authorizes $360 million in 2009 and 2010 to set up “not fewer than six national emergency centers on military installations” capable of housing “a large number of individuals affected by an emergency or major disaster.” But Section 2 (b) 4 allows the Secretary of Homeland Security to use the camps “to meet other appropriate needs” – none of which are specified. This is the kind of blank check that Congress should never, ever sign.
It’s not paranoid to be extremely wary of legislation that would give two unelected government officials power to legally declare someone a “domestic terrorist” and send them to a government-run camp.
I wouldn’t be surprised by anything this administration and its Congressional cronies propose any more. You’ll recall that the Department of Homeland Security issued a report smearing all veterans and members of the right-wing as domestic terrorists for being active on a single issue or opposing the continued expansion of the federal government. They’ve shown a fascistic fervor in the past.
Thanks to Ed Morrissey.
by Stephan Tawney on Fri, Jul 10, 2009