Never On Sunday

Disappointed at his drop in polls for “worst human being on the planet,” Joe Lieberman is renewing his efforts at the distinction with a bill that would automatically strip citizenship from Americans who associate with terrorist groups. Even the conservative-packed Supreme Court wouldn’t buy the suspension of Constitutional rights for US citizen Jose Padilla, so obviously something has to be done to remove the Constitution from the law of the land.

Lieberman can’t understand the objections. There’s already a law on the books, dating to 1940, that pre-emptively strips American citizens of their citizenship upon joining a foreign army at war with the US. Joe reasons that, since the law exists, it must be just, and can only be made more just by widening it to include absolutely anyone who knows anyone who’s a terrorist. Besides, it’s not like authorities can just strip anyone of citizenship; they would have to consort with a terrorist organization, and “terrorist organization” is an official label, not just a common expression. No, a presidential administration willing to abuse this power to destroy an enemy, or to terrify the general populace by making a public example of him, or merely to foster a sense of dependence among the general population by arbitrarily designating someone an enemy of the state would first have to find out who the offender hangs out with. Then the State Department would have to declare one of those groups a terrorist organization—a decision entirely in the hands of the president—and then it would be all right to treat the offender without regard for Constitutional guarantees.

In short, Lieberman wishes our most vital rights to be held at the whim of the president. Fortunately, presidential administration would never,
ever,
ever,
ever,
ever,
ever,
ever,
ever,
ever,
permit innocents to be labeled as enemies of the state, stripping them of something so sacred as their Constitutional rights, simply for some passing political advantage.

So that’s okay, then. Besides, according to Joe, “American citizenship is a privilege, not a right.”

The highest law of the land says otherwise:: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” But, as noted above, the whole point of the exercise is to eliminate the Constitution from American law.