Thursday, March 25, 2010

The DANGER OF VIOLENCE

. . . when it is time for Civil Disobedience

First, from The Power of a President :

. . . In 1861, Lincoln had already suspended civil law in territories where resistance to the North's military power would be dangerous. In 1862, when copperhead democrats began criticizing Lincoln's violation of the Constitution, Lincoln suspended habeas corpus throughout the nation and had many copperhead democrats arrested under military authority because he felt that the State Courts in the north west would not convict war protesters such as the copperheads. He proclaimed that all persons who discouraged enlistments or engaged in disloyal practices would come under Martial Law.

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. . . Hon. Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States issued a writ of habeas corpus commanding the military to bring Merryman [Maryland Secessionist] before him.The military refused to follow the writ. Justice Taney, in Ex parte MERRYMAN, then ruled the suspension of habeas corpus unconstitutional because the writ could not be suspended without an Act of Congress. President Lincoln and the military ignored Justice Taney's ruling.

. . . after the war, the Supreme Court officially restored habeas corpus in Ex-parte Milligan, ruling that military trials in areas where the civil courts were capable of functioning were illegal.Copyright, 1999American Patriot Network

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. . . during the Civil War these two policies—summary arrests and military justice—were of a piece. Both stemmed from the emergency of having an armed rebellion in the nation's midst, and they were viewed as two parts of a single policy.

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The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus refers to a common-law tradition that establishes a person's right to appear before a judge before being imprisoned. When a judge issues the writ, he commands a government official to bring a prisoner before the court so he can assess the legality of the prisoner's detention. When the privilege of the writ is suspended, the prisoner is denied the right to secure such a writ and therefore can be held without trial indefinitely. Habeas corpus is the only common-law tradition enshrined in the Constitution, which also explicitly defines when it can be overridden. Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution says, "The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it."

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. . . Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, on Lincoln's orders, suspended habeas corpus across the country and decreed that a range of civilian criminals and dissenters would face arrest and trial before military courts

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Lincoln's actions at the time were somewhat controversial. Some of his most controversial decisions might actually be considered now to be abuses of the Presidential power. During his terms as president, he suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus, and upheld the Declaration of Independence above the Constitution.The writ of Habeas Corpus protects Americans from being unjustly imprisoned. Without it, law is a sham. The writ creates the gap between freedom and despotism. Its origin dates back to the formation of our country, and the tenet that all men have equality under the law. The writ ensures that no on can be unjustly imprisoned. Any prisoner feeling this right is being abused has the ability to petition to be seen before a judge, who can declare his arrest unlawful and have him released. Yet, during the initial year of the American Civil War, Lincoln used his power and removed that right, first in Baltimore, New York, and eventually the entire union. He authorized military officers to suspend the writ before he made an official proclamation.

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. . . "when Lincoln suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus, he clothed himself with more power then any individual had possessed in America before, or since."--Joshua Kleinfeld

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Lincoln . . . removed the Writ [of habeas corpus] . . . preserved more power for himself and removed a great deal from the United States legislative and judicial branches. The first proclamation to remove the Writ of Habeas Corpus . . . which had no scheduled end, remove the writ, it also established Mar[tial] law. It gave full power to close down "hostile, . . . newspapers," and to arrest individuals for protesting . . . .

Lincoln removed a great deal of power from the legislative branch with this proclamation. He was not empowered under the Constitution to make such a declaration. In fact, that right belonged to Congress alone. Roger Taney, Supreme Court Chief Justice, contended that Article I of the Constitution declares: "a state of rebellion is the only time when Congress could declare the writ removed." He also believed: "This article is devoted to the legislative department of the United States, and has not the slightest reference to the executive branch.."

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Lincoln contended that, "It was not believed that any law was violated". The fact that he got away with suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus gave more power to the presidency during a time of war than ever before.

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By ignoring the rights of the judicial and legislative branches of the government, Lincoln abused the power of the presidency by giving it more power than it was allowed by the Constitution

More, details and references to original sources at
http://islamicdanger4u.blogspot.com/2009/06/power-of-president.html

SO WHAT'S THIS ABOUT "CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE?"

from Pamela Geller's Atlas Shrugs post "AINOS - AMERICANS IN NAME ONLY"

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/03/ainos-americans-in-name-only.html

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The next seven months are going to be the ugliest this country has experienced in our lifetimes. Any and all opponents of ObamaCare will be branded as terrorists - indeed they are already. The Democrats will look upon their ObamaCare victory as a template, and attempt to ram through via bribes and corruption passage of amnesty for illegals, a carbon tax, a VAT tax, and every other major item on their Marxist Fascist agenda.Given the volcanic rage this will engender in so many people, it will be impossible for there not to be outbreaks and incidents of violence perpetrated upon Democrat politicians. This is exactly what the Democrats want. Their goal is to goad and provoke their opponents into violence so they can demonize them, so they can sic the FBI upon them.

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Th[e] alternative for immediate personal action is: peaceful civil disobedience. Following TTP's call for a Defund and Disobey movement, Forbes Magazine is now quoting Ghandi - "civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state has become lawless and corrupt" - and predicting the largest civil disobedience movement since the civil rights era.

Quote from Dr. Wheeler's column: ARE AMERICANS STILL AMERICANS?

Thanks to--and the whole thing at--Pamela Geller's Atlas Shrugs

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