Can the President Have you Assassinated?

Who else is on the list of “dead men walking”?

Photo: chrisbearde.wordpress.com

(JAMESTOWN, RI) - Attorney General Eric Holder spoke recently at Northwestern University attempting to legally justify the assassination of US citizens, but constitutional scholars suggest he was selling snake oil.

Last year the President gave the death order for New Mexico born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki for a reason we will most likely never know. The President has refused to explain why al-Awlaki was assassinated, and all attempts to get the president to reveal the evidence he had, have failed.

The only thing we have is the President’s word that Awlaki deserved to die, but that doesn’t satisfy this writer, constitutional authorities, or anyone one with a shred of common sense.

The only thing that separates man from being completely uncivilized and barbaric is the rule of law. In 1295 our forefathers in England forced the king to sign the Magna Carta, upon which our government is based, and this great document established the “rule of law”, and ended the “rule of man”.

The Magna Carta forced the king to concede citizens have civil liberties, and the king cannot arbitrarily deny citizens their rights. To prevent the King from arbitrarily deciding the fate of citizens, the King had to agree the only way a citizen can be denied his/her rights, is through the “law of the land”. The Magna Carta is recognized as one of the most important documents ever signed, for it guaranteed civil rights to citizens and prevented misuse by the king by insuring “due process of the law of the land” for citizens.

For our purpose the “law of the land” is the US Constitution, and the founders were well aware of history, the Magna Carta, limiting the power of Kings to prevent abusing the rights of the people, and therefore carefully inserted the Fifth Amendment which states, “nor shall any person be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”.

Adding additional protection, the founding fathers prevented individual states from arbitrarily denying civil rights to their citizens with the 14th Amendment clause, “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”.

Given our history of dealing with the English Kings, understanding that powerful rulers left unchecked will abuse their power, and the century’s long bloody struggle by citizens against arbitrary monarchs, the authors of the Constitution seemed almost obsessed with limiting the power of political leaders by insuring the citizens “due process of law”.

It appears that Mr. Holder and Mr. Obama are quiet willing to throw out a thousand years of strife and bloodshed to insure that citizens be protected from arbitrary decisions by political leaders. We should not entrust this President, or any President, with the right to usurp the concept of “due process”.

We have the historical responsibility to honor the struggle for due process, and the same responsibly to preserve “due process” for our children and their children. Being a citizen in a democracy requires a willingness to take action, assume responsibility, and preserve democracy. It appears we have surrendered 1000 years of struggle with a mere whimper of protest. Shame on us.

Two weeks after the assassination of Awlaki, his 16 year old son and US citizen, was assassinated. We know not why, or what evidence the administration had against the teenager. The Obama administration has refused to give any reason, evidence, or even to discuss the issue.

We do know that at first they insisted the youth was 21 years old, but a birth certificate indicates he was only 16, and was born in Colorado. To make matters worse the 16 year old boy’s cousin was also killed, along with seven teenage friends while diner. No explanation, no anything from the administration. One must wonder, if they had his age incorrect, could their reason for his assassination be incorrect? We will never know.

So much for the Magna Carta, the constitution, the 5th and 14th Amendments, and 1000 years of fighting for the right to “due process” and preventing rulers from arbitrarily deciding who lives and who dies. Eric Holder asks you to trust Obama will not have you assassinated unless you deserve it, or to put your life in the hands of this, or any President, in the future. In other words he asks that we surrender the “rule of law” and accept the “rule of man”.

Who else is on the list of “dead men walking”? We do not have the right to know according to the Obama administration. How many are on the list is none of your business. Whether your name is on the list is none of your business, but as Obama jokingly, or not so jokingly said, “You will never see it coming”.

Salem-News.com Writer Joe Clifford, lives in historic Jamestown, Rhode Island, and has contributed a number of articles relating to foreign policy to newspapers in the Rhode Island area for years.

He graduated from Providence College where he earned an undergraduate and graduate degree. After a lengthy career as a high school teacher he turned to the study of US foreign policy, and then to writing, as a means of expressing an alternative perspective. His reading and research on foreign policy is broad and extensive, especially as the policy relates to the Middle East. His interest in foreign policy was inspired by the American misadventure in Vietnam. You can write to Joe at this address: jc21131@gmail.com