Sharing Sen. Barbara Boxer's (D-CA) e-mail to me.

Dear Mr. McCarty:

Thank you for writing to express your opposition to the indefinite military detention of enemy combatants.  I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue, and I share your concern.

As you may know, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 failed to include a provision that would have clarified that the military cannot detain individuals on U.S. soil who are suspected of terrorism.

Although the Obama Administration has made it clear that it "will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens," it is important that Congress eliminate any ambiguity about the intent of the law.

In the last Congress, I was proud to be a co-sponsor of the Due Process Guarantee Act, which would have clarified that American citizens arrested within the United States cannot be held indefinitely by the military.  Unfortunately, the 112th Congress did not enact this legislation.

As Congress considers the next Defense Authorization bill, please be assured that I will continue working to keep Americans safe from terrorism while defending the civil liberties that are so vital to American freedom and democracy.

Again, thank you for writing.  Please feel free to contact me again about this or other issues of concern to you.
Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

 

 

 

 

My generation wants to set me straight re Tea Parties and government.

Here's a lengthy response that someone who went to high school in my hometown sent to me publicly on Facebook (related to yesterday's post):
Liberal groups are almost always coordinated and funded by centralized groups whereas the tea-parties where almost all spontaneous local uprisings by pissed off citizens. Sand? We don't need no stinking sand! Propaganda? Dude . . . I think you may be subsisting on it.A. Governments are necessary entities, not persons.B. Governments produce nothing. They are always a sum-zero to sum-negative net creators. The only true wealth is created by producing something worth more than it's inherent cost.C. The more control you give any government the more control it will demand and ultimately take. Our founding fathers understood this impeccably.D. If you have a $1.00 problem it will always take a governmental entity at least a $1.50 to TRY and fix it, which it seldom ever does. At least not without creating numerous collateral new problems.... E. EVERY re-distribution experiment to date has failed to even begin to compete with the over-whelming success of free enterprise. Anyone want to live in North Korea, Russia, China, Cuba, or Venezuela? How many East Germans died trying to get to West Germany before the wall came down?F. Ever gotten a job from a poor person?G. I have more bullet points but it's way past my bed-time!