It has been reported that President Obama is watching a U.S. member of Al Qaeda and wants to kill him with drones. However, Obama’s new rules say he can’t use CIA drones, which are tracking the suspect, to assassinate U.S. citizens. What a conundrum! How to work around it? And why does he have to?
Droning Questions
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication, WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "The Stringer."
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Piece o’ cake, Ted: unilaterally deprive the suspect of his U.S. citizenship (denaturalize). Granted, that ought to be unpossible, but I’m pretty sure this would work:
As he’s a member of al Qaeda, he’s committing treason. As he’s committing treason, he can be denaturalized. Possibly, he’s an American-born member of al Qaeda (that is, he was never naturalized). If so, no problem. Simply denaturalize him anyway.
Please note, this could never be used on Americans who are not members of al Qaeda. Until, of course, it becomes necessary for it to be. (Are you paying attention, ACLU?)
Remember, George Washington would have been convicted of treason if he’d lost.
@ alex_the_tired –
“Piece o’ cake, Ted: unilaterally deprive the suspect of his U.S. citizenship (denaturalize).”
*
When I had my family in Germany during the 1970’s, my wife (a naturalized citizen) received a letter that unless she showed good cause for living out-of-country she would have her U.S. citizenship revoked. I thought that law had been revoked, no?
This is just how arcane, nonsensical, and removed from both reality and constitution administration dialogue has become. We’ve been past simply bending the rules for many years. Now all a president needs to make something legal is a brief written up by his lawyers and act accordingly until a judge has the temerity to cast doubt upon legality. Then pressure that judge to cut it out already. And throughout Congress is too corrupt and useless to make a meaningful move. There is no oversight in our brilliant system and a large part of that is the one party and the way the executive branch has outgrown its constitutional britches. The Founders were terrified of having a king again, well here he is.
Important to keep in mind that the continuing erosion in civil liberties is occurring amidst a populace of which a majority does not accept the science of evolution and that does not believe that the Earth goes around the Sun.
They’re also financially, historically, and politically ignorant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndshbH3qZ6Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7usCHnZ-8c
They just keep muddling along. “Just not interested.” “I don’t need one.” “Nope. I’m good.” “Just don’t want to deal with that.”
?
Now, Ted, you do of course realise that when the last suspicious figure in the mail room has been taken care of, the world will know eternal peace (mainly because H sapiens sapiens won’t be around to disturb it any longer)….
Henri