We Cannot Have Gestapo-like Arrests

Open e-mail to Rep Neugebauer:

Randy,

I heard on the Neal Boortz radio program this morning that there is a rumor concerning a bill in the Senate which would allow the President to declare, at his discretion, any US citizen in the United States to be a terrorist, and arrested by the military.

The difficulty with this bill and any subsequent law, which may follow, is in the definition of "terrorist". In the strict interpretation of the term, a terrorist is a person who actually commits a physical act detrimental to the general public. However, the interpretation has generally been extended to include any person who by previous background, MAY perform an act, which is perceived to be detrimental to the general public. Notice that this would include not only physically destructive acts, such as explosions, but also intellectual acts involving criticism of the government.

I now take you back to Germany in 1938. With the advent of NAZI control, the Gestapo was given broad arrest powers. They came to domiciles, broke in if necessary, and arrested people, who the administration had previously considered enemies of the state. This action was primarily against Jews, but likely included defenders of Jews. The arrested persons were sent to concentration camps, without benefit of trial. You know the rest.

If our President and his Administration are allowed to declare any person or group of persons as enemies of the state, through a government perception, and allow an arrest without subsequent trial, we will have a repeat of Gestapo action. We cannot allow that.