Senators Wyden and Merkley on the Assassination of US Citizens by Secret Memo

It appears that matters of the life and death of US citizens being decided by “secret memos” instead of Congress passing laws.

(JAMESTOWN, RI) - David Barron was up for the US Court of Appeals, but many experts cried foul because he was the author of the legal memo which authorized the President’s killing of US citizens.

A controversy arose over his nomination and rightfully so. So when Barron’s name was put forward for Appeals Judge, many experts said ok, let’s see the memo authorizing the killing of US citizens.

The White House responded saying you can’t see them because they are “secret”. Huh??? A memo authorizing killing US citizens is a secret??? Are you serious??

One Senator, to his credit, said he would filibuster the nomination until the memos were made public, and to his credit Senator Wyden joined Rand Paul, but then jumped ship.

Senators were allowed to “view” the memos in a secret room, but the White house refused to make them public. The Senate finally voted to end the filibuster with both Oregon Senators voting to end debate. Imagine that. Stifling debate and wanting to vote before the memos were made public.

In the interim, because of great public pressure from civil liberties groups and legal scholars, the White House agreed to release the memos sometime in the future, but only a redacted (censored) version will be released.

The Senate then voted on Barron’s nomination, and both Wyden and Merkley voted to confirm Barron to the US Court of Appeals before the memos are made public.

The President has already admitted to killing 4 US citizens without a trial. Is that the American way? I can’t wait to read the censored memo which justifies the killing of a 16 year old boy, along with his teenage friends, while eating pizza.

This of course is the son of Anwar al- Awlaki, a young American teenager who was guilty of absolutely nothing. The reading should prove fascinating. Perhaps Wyden and Merkley will come to an open (not scripted) forum and participate in an open “discussion” (not monologue), on the “censored” memos?

Is this the kind of leadership Salem-News.com readers want in the US Senate? Not me. Either you have very low standards or I have very high. Both Wyden and Merkley put their hand on a bible and swore and oath to defend the US Constitution as their primary responsibly of being US Senators. They must have had their fingers crossed. Where does it say in the Constitution the President has the right to serve as judge, jury, and executioner of US citizens without a trial, charges, or due process? We don’t know how many are on the kill list, what for, or what they did, because it is all a “secret”. Do we want government by “secret memos” or a government of written laws?

And what about Senator Weyden’s flip? A constant critic of the “killing memos” talked the talked, but when the votes came he failed to live up to his talk. He voted both to limit debate and to support the nomination of David Barron, author of the still “secret” to the US public, “killing memos”.

Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley fell into the party line and also voted to end the debate and to confirm the author of the “killing memos” as the newest member of the US Court of Appeals. Not exactly Red Badges of Courage to either of Oregon’s Senators.

So it appears Mr. Wyden put politics ahead of constitutional principle and backed the Presidents nomination at the expense of the Constitution and the people of Oregon. If Mr. Wyden is willing to surrender the lawmaking ability of the Senate to the White House, and let them make “secret memos” giving the President the right to kill US citizens, why do we need a Senate?

If such a thing is to be legal, should it not be done with a law passed by the Congress declaring the president’s right to kill US citizens without due process?

It appears that we now have matters of the life and death of US citizens being decided by “secret memos” instead of Congress passing laws. If the President can use “secret memos” to justify the killing of US citizens, what other kinds of “secret memos” could be in the making?

This could be the beginning of the ability of Congress to legislate. It is just one more of the countless examples of congress surrendering their power for lack of courage, and it helps explain why the Congress is held in contempt by the great majority of the American public.

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