I know I’m probably gonna’ get it from some of you for this one. Last week I mocked Patrick endlessly for being a liberal woosy for questioning the Arizona bill and many of you ripped into him pretty good as well. I called him Michael Moore for days.
Now I fear that Patrick may get his comeuppance on me.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joe Lieberman is pursuing legislation that would strip the “citizenship rights” of Americans who commit acts of terrorism. McCain, who by the way is in a bit of a primary race, said that the would be Times Square terrorist shouldn’t be mirandized.
Look, I’m all for prosecuting terrorists to the fullest extent of the law but I’m a little nervous about efforts to strip this terrorist of his rights as a citizen, not so much because I’m worried about him but I’m worried about…me.
Once the federal government creates or discovers a loophole to strip citizenship rights, be assured that the loophole is going to continue widening and widening and it may just end up around our necks.
Couldn’t you foresee a scenario where pro-lifers or Christians acting according to the dictates of their conscience are stripped of their citizenship under a similar clause? Heck, the federal government wants to force doctors and pharmacists to do all sorts of things against their will already.
This administration and their friends in the media have taken to calling all political enemies “UnAmerican” already. It’s not that far of a leap to believe that classification will become legitimized in the future by the government intent on accruing power.
Don’t say it couldn’t happen. Liberals are all about expanding programs and laws much further than their original intent. Remember the pro-aborts attempted to use RICO racketeering laws to criminalize pro-lifers.
Look, the way government is growing by leaps and bounds I foresee a time when Christian conservative protest will be criminalized. I don’t want to hand the government any more levers to be used against me than they already have.
The rights of citizens of the United States cannot be removed because it is the popular thing to do. You can’t say that the government is only going to do this just this one time. Once precedent is set, it will be done again.
If the rights of citizens can be taken away they cease to be rights in any true sense. They would simply become privileges which could be granted and removed by the whim of those in power.
May 5, 2010 at 6:20 pm
Yup. First you take away citizenship to a terrorist who wants to blow up a building and kill hundreds if not thousands of people, and the next thing 'ya know they'll take away MY citizenship for wearing a cross on my neck!
That's the next logical step! Oh yes it is!!!
May 5, 2010 at 6:23 pm
William, If you commit a felony during the course of your naturalization process or go through said process by ilegal means (i.e. sham marriage to a US citizen) then said citizenship can and will be revoked. The most recent and notable case being Nada Prouty. So, "backsies" (not sure if that's the legal term) already exist.
May 5, 2010 at 6:24 pm
One last point, I think people here are mistakingly blurring the lines between citizenship and sacraments. One is indellible, the other is not. Can you guess which one is which?
May 5, 2010 at 9:40 pm
"John F. Kennedy" makes a good point when he notes that "Surely there must be a distinction between a natural born citizen and a naturalized citizen." Wanna bet that the Times Square bomber guy from Pakistan became a U.S. citizen precisely for the cover and legal protection it would provide him in carrying out terrorist activities? I'm sure that gaining U.S. citizenship for purposes of fostering terrorism is part of their playbook in jihadi school. Are naturalized citizens who take the oath for purposes of trying to destroy the country to be granted equal rights to natural born citizens? I see a distinction here. I also agree with Mack who suggested that non-citizens seem to be enjoying more rights in this country now than citizens.
May 5, 2010 at 10:02 pm
We can't try a non-citizen for treason, can we?
May 6, 2010 at 2:10 am
Right now I'm watching Rachel Maddow's show. She's covering the proposed removal of citizenship. She's actually critiquing the proposal.
May 6, 2010 at 3:15 am
My concern isn't with having citizenship stripped after due process, it's with a stupid determination being made without due process that someone no longer "counts" as a citizen and therefore doesn't have rights.
That would be what McCain is advocating, and it's completely wrong. The would-be bomber is a citizen (natural or naturalized, it doesn't matter), and as such retains all rights until convicted.