The Media’s Blackout Of The National Defense Authorization Act Is Shameful – ‘IF THIS BILL PASSES IN ITS CURRENT FORM THE UNITED STATES WILL BE A MILITARY POLICE STATE’ (Video)

At 1:08 into the video:

‘IF THIS BILL PASSES IN ITS CURRENT FORM THE UNITED STATES WILL BE A MILITARY POLICE STATE’


The Media’s Blackout Of The National Defense Authorization Act Is Shameful (Business Insider, Dec. 1, 2011):

The broadcast media’s ignorance and unwillingness to cover the National Defense Authorization Act, a radical piece of legislation which outrageously redefines the US homeland as a “battlefield” and makes US citizens subject to military apprehension and detainment for life without access to a trial or attorney, is unacceptable.

Guys, this is far more important than Penn State’s Disgusting Creep of the Decade, or even Conrad Murray’s sentencing.

Call it what you will: a military junta, a secret invalidation of Americans’ civil rights, a Congress gone mad. Whatever it is, it needs to be covered by the press, and quickly.

Anderson Cooper, Brian Williams, Rachel Maddow, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Neil Cavuto and the other handful of household names that mainstream America relies on for news should be talking about this non-stop.

I emailed producers and on-air talent at the three major cable news networks yesterday: not one of them was willing to step up to the plate and report on this appalling legislation, which would give Americans roughly the same protections as citizens in China or Saudi Arabia.

Bloggers and the ACLU’s analysis have already made the work easy for you guys. Even an ADD segment producer can do the math:

  • Pay special attention to Section 1031 of the bill.
  • This bill violates the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C. § 1385), as it will allow federal military personnel to engage in domestic law enforcement. This is profoundly unconstitutional and scary.
  • Also read Sen. Lindsey Graham’s chilling defense of the offending provision in this bill, calling to make the homeland a “battlefield.” Has anyone told these guys that Osama bin Laden and his deputies are dead? Those still alive are running from drone strikes on a daily basis. So who exactly are we fighting against? Are you protecting us from a handful of (almost entirely peaceful) college kids at the Occupy protests? If so, martial law and throwing out 200+ years of basic civil rights seems rather excessive.
  • Finally, as the ACLU points out, you won’t have any trouble booking an expert talking head who will tell you how dangerous and counterproductive the National Defense Authorization Act is: “The Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the FBI and the head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division have all said that the indefinite detention provisions in the NDAA are harmful and counterproductive.” Book one of them on your program, and do it quickly. The Senate has already rejected an amendment which would have banned the indefinite detention provisions from the bill.

Please, do your jobs. This is the kind of story that wins journalism awards and makes careers. It’s the kind of story that makes viewers trust you.

UPDATE: To the mainstream media’s credit, Keith Olbermann of Current TV has now mentioned the NDAA’s harmful provision, and I’ve been told that Dylan Ratigan of MSNBC is drawing attention to it as well. A good start, but not nearly enough.

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Video from the author summarizing why the National Defense Authorization Act (FY 2012) in its current form is so harmful, and must be stopped:


YouTube

2 thoughts on “The Media’s Blackout Of The National Defense Authorization Act Is Shameful – ‘IF THIS BILL PASSES IN ITS CURRENT FORM THE UNITED STATES WILL BE A MILITARY POLICE STATE’ (Video)”

  1. This bill was a response to OWS, and it will pass, it is veto proof. OWS is a great movement, but it is 12 years too late. In 2000, bush took power via courts regardless of the fact he lost the election. Under his rule, all civil rights were gutted, including habeas corpus, a right of man for 800 years. Looking at the posts on Huffington and other news sites yesterday, I found it amazing how many people still thought they had these rights….they slept through the bush years.
    After the Patriot Act was passed, many potentially overbearing laws were established. OWS disturbed them, so they have added the military to government police presence. Next week, they will pass a bill to censor the Internet, it is too dangerous for them. For the first time in known history, people are able to see news as it happens, not through interpretation by a media source. Once people saw the truth, OWS was born and exploded around the world. So, since all our rights are gone, they are making it clear they will lock up dissenters. All those empty FEMA camps are ready and waiting.
    This is what happens when a people allow a government to run itself, and that is what most Americans did. Those of us who did protest the coup of 2000 were given no voice, and nobody cared. Now, it is too late. This law forces all oppostion underground. We no longer have a free and open society, and the rats in power don’t respect the people enough to hide it. Oppression is the new rule.
    OWS will vanish, along with any hope. They are already talking about a new strategy……it is too late for the people.
    I see this as a global rather than a national trend. There are three major contenders for world dominance. The first is China, all the corporations gave them all our technology in exchange for slave labor. China, like the US, governs by oppression. The second is the corporate oligarchy that has a stranglehold on European, Japanese and USA nations. The people of Europe and the US are not used to suffering, are very unhappy, and are far more difficult to control. The third, and I believe, largest player is Russia under the leadership of a modern day Napoleon or Caesar, Vladimir Putin. Putin intends to restore the Russian empire, and all the people are behind him. He is brilliant, charasmatic and focused. Of the three contenders, he has the best chance. Here is an article about him I read on The Guardian today.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/01/putin-prepares-russian-empire

    Reply
  2. It’s never to late to bring justice! Get all their names (we know exactly who they are), and bring the charges on! Forget about global involvement; this is about Americans reclaiming America. No one can stop a revolution whose time has come! Anyone who thinks it is too late for the people underestimate the people.

    Reply

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