On New Year’s Eve, President Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization act which gives himself the definite power to detain anyone he believes are “belligerents” or suspected of terrorism. Originally this was a federal law stating the budget and valuations of the United States Department of Defense.By signing this bill, Obama can revoke Habeas corpus. This is the writ ordering detained person into court; a writ issued in order to bring somebody who has been detained into court, usually for a decision on whether the detention is lawful. In other words, it means that any person arrested has the right to attend his/her court case and argue weather or not their arrest is protected by law. In my eyes I see this law as unconstitutional for the very reason that it crosses the sixth amendment along with habeas corpus which have pre-dated the Magna Carta. Ironically, this bill was passed on the 200th anniversary of the Bill of Rights.This new bill, when passed, has essentially deemed our own Bill of Rights invalid. What this means is that you are no longer a free citizen of the United States for this bill does not clarify or contain what it means to be suspicious of act(s) of terrorism. Therefore, if you are guilty or suspected of being guilty of an act of terror, then you will be placed under arrest without trial and can possibly be sent, legally, to the infamous Guantanamo bay and tortured. Senator Graham Lindsey states that because “you are a military threat” you can be detained without any sort of trial and have no right to a lawyer. What this entails is that you have to be conscious of all actions to be sure that you are not seen as a threat to your own Government. The U.S is no longer (nor has it ever been) a democracy, but rather a police state ruled by an oppressive government that demands the power to indirectly control a majority of life within the states. This is a direct violation and abuse to what our country was founded on that it has become astonishing to me how far the United States have drifted from our founding fathers original ideas of what it meant to be a free citizen of America. It seems to me that the police are no longer watching out for us but are simply watching us.

A quote from the Declaration of Independence: “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” Do we as a people consent to such a violation of our very basic human rights or feel that the government is most effectively enabling our safety and happiness? Within the text of the document that founded the country we live in, it is obvious that the government shall never be a threat to the governed, but if anything, the governed should become a threat to the government when the current institutions are pursuing unconstitutional powers. Though Obama swears he will never use this immense power do we, the citizens of the United States of America, feel safe from this indefinite witch hunt? It seems to me that if the president would promise to never use such a power then there would be no reason to sign it into existence in the first place. He must also realize that if he is to not be re-elected into office next year then nothing stops any other president from abusing such power. We all know that old quote, “with great power comes great responsibility.” With the increasing amount of blatant lying and false promises, that our political leaders feed us from a day to day basis I have an incredibly difficult time believing that our future politicians and presidents will abide by such an empty promise and will acquire levels of responsibility to withhold such a mighty power.