With little fanfare just before the Christmas recess, the National Defense Authorization Act was overwhelmingly passed by our Congress. Although providing for the defense of our country, the legislation is deeply troubling from the standpoint of the Constitution of the United States.The NDAA for 2014, just as the 2013 legislation, allows President Obama to detain indefinitely any American citizen suspected of terrorist activity. What is alarming is that such action may be undertaken without due process, as prescribed in the Constitution.
Combined with the heightened surveillance and technological prowess of the NSA, the potential for abuse is clearly in place. Americans should rightly be concerned that a steadily expanding government chooses to maintain the underpinnings of what could be utilized to bring into being a police state.
It does appear a bit odd, don't you think, that while our southern border remains unsecured our government continues to ramp up its surveillance ability and passes a law that conceivably could affect every American citizen.
With the diversions of the Christmas season, combined with a tendency of Americans to be uninformed about their government, the likelihood of the legislation attracting little attention is great. Furthermore, we should be more than a little concerned that a mere 15 U.S. senators went on record as voting NO.
One of the dissenting 15 was Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who stated, "...[the bill] does not ensure our most basic rights as Americans." I, for one, wish there were about 60 more senators like Cruz in the District of Columbia. But, alas, Cruz clones seem to be few and far between.
Deo Vindice!
God bless Texas, and may the Lone Star State remain forever red!
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