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Dead Constitution See other Dead Constitution Articles Title: Obama Executive Order Alters Your Legal Protections [aka Sieg, ... Heil!] Obama Executive Order Alters Your Legal Protections With the signing of an under-publicized amendment to Executive Order 12425, Barack Obama has fundamentally altered your constitutional rights. His actions are undermining your rights to protect personal privacy from a foreign internationalist police agency named Interpol. A one-paragraph executive order may seem inconsequential to many, but this action has far reaching implications and threatens the sovereignty of America. Obama's secretive Executive Order amended an order issued by President Reagan in 1983. Reagan's order recognized Interpol as an International Organization and gave it privileges and immunities commonly extended to foreign diplomats. Reagan opened the door to allow Interpol to operate in partnership with the U.S. but with significant constitutional safeguards. Specifically, Interpol's property and assets remained subject to search and seizure by American law enforcement, and its archived records remained subject to public scrutiny under provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. Interpol had to answer to the FBI and U.S. courts under Reagan's order. These safeguards were stripped away by Obama's action the week before Christmas without debate or explanation. Obama picked the holiday season to make this radical change to minimize media coverage. This order marks a significant change in federal policy and usurps the constitutional power of our government by yielding it to an international organization. Michael van Der Galien writes, "This foreign law enforcement organization can operate free of an important safeguard against government and abuse. Property and assets, including the organization's records, cannot now be searched or seized. Their physical operational locations are now immune from U.S. legal and investigative authorities." Obama has given an international organization unsupervised freedom to investigate Americans on our own soil without recourse or the supervision of our own government. Andy McCarthy writing for the National Review asks some very significant questions: "Why would we elevate an international police force above American law? Why would we immunize an international police force from the limitations that constrain the FBI and other American law-enforcement agencies? Why is it suddenly necessary to have, within the Justice Department, a repository for stashing government files which, therefore, will be beyond the ability of Congress, American law-enforcement, the media, and the American people to scrutinize?" Interpol is the enforcement arm of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The United States never signed onto the Rome Treaty which created the ICC because of the potential for abuse by foreign interests. Obama has signaled he may sign the treaty over these objections and subject Americans to prosecution overseas in the ICC. This is harmful for two reasons. First, the U.S. Constitution clearly states that it is the supreme law of our land and allowing the ICC to supersede the U.S. Constitution violates America's sovereignty. Second, the War on Terror is unpopular with Europeans and the ICC may attempt to prosecute heroic American soldiers with trumped up war crimes. Obama is putting brave American men and women at grave risk. An added wrinkle to this executive order is that Interpol's operations center for the United States is housed within our own Justice Department. Many of the agents are Americans who work under the aegis of Interpol. This order has potentially created the new civilian security force that Obama proposed during his campaign. This group of law enforcement officials is no longer subject to the restraints enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. The order guarantees that Interpol officers have immunity from prosecution for crimes they may commit in the United States. Ironically, some Interpol nations are attempting to try American intelligence agents for their work abroad in the War on Terror. This order shows blatant disregard for the U.S. Constitution. While Obama is extending due process rights to terrorists he is weakening those same rights for American citizens. If a citizen were to be prosecuted by Interpol their newly granted immunity would interfere with the discovery process. Since Interpol files are immune to disclosure, a citizen could be denied his right to see the information used to prosecute him or her. Obama's executive order has done more to weaken civil liberties than the much maligned Patriot Act. The silence in the mainstream media on this issue should scare all freedom loving Americans. Obama just signed away parts of our precious legal protections. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
#1. To: Eric Stratton (#0)
While the article is dead on in some cases, overall it's just neocon whining and crocodile tears. Neocon's have been justifying Constitutional abuses for eight years and now all of a sudden they got religion and care about the Constitution? Bullshit. This article is nothing more than two-party fraud theatrics meant to pacify the loyal members of the neocon side of the two party fraud and to dupe those independent still stupid enough top fall for the left-right paradigm. An an example: This order shows blatant disregard for the U.S. Constitution. While Obama is extending due process rights to terrorists he is weakening those same rights for American citizens. If a citizen were to be prosecuted by Interpol their newly granted immunity would interfere with the discovery process. Since Interpol files are immune to disclosure, a citizen could be denied his right to see the information used to prosecute him or her. Anyone with eyes can see that this is nothing more than a continuation of what Bush began. The USSC has just determined that at the whim of the president an American citizen can be labeled an unlawful enemy combatant, at which time he can be legally "disappeared" with absolutely zero recourse and no Habeas corpus. This executive order continues with that theme by allowing Interpol or US government alphabet agencies posing as Interpol, to help the US government make people disappear with the added benefit of not having to answer to FOIA requests. Also, the authors out their neocon beliefs by this paragraph: Obama's executive order has done more to weaken civil liberties than the much maligned Patriot Act. The silence in the mainstream media on this issue should scare all freedom loving Americans. Obama just signed away parts of our precious legal protections. The Patriot Act is fine but this legislation is dastardly? Well as a freedom loving American and believer in a small, Constitutional government, I say bullshit. The Patriot Act IS NOT fine. It was maligned because it deserved to be maligned, just as this executive order deserves to be maligned. I find the idea that this executive order is a danger to our liberties but that the Patriot Act is A OK to be patently offensive. If the authors actually gave half a shit about our loss of liberties, instead of playing two party fraud games they would explain how both parties are conniving to enslave us by use of the Patriot Act, The Military Commissions Act, and this executive order.
#3. To: F.A. Hayek Fan (#1)
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