Article: Civilians Can be Tried by Court-Martial Under the UCMJ

Throughout my lifetime, people have portrayed me quick-tempered guy that when around me, you should watch what you say. I'm not really like that. I have a temper, but it is no worse than most and no better than some. Maybe growing up with a harelip in a place that didn't have very many minorities taught me to fight early on, or get unmercifully teased and tormented. I found out early that I could handle physical bruises much better than emotional bruises, taking it was not an option. It didn't matter that I would get another physical thrashing when my father came home from work for fighting in school, I just made up my mind that it was what I had to do to get by. Joining the Army at 17 was more of the same. I had to hold my ground against the older draftees that figured they could use me for a punching bag. All and all, I know why I am usually the first one to raise my voice, a good offense is the best defense, I learned that first-hand. I have worked on my temper though, and I think that I've come a long way. It wasn't until this morning that I realized that I really haven't come all that far.

I was reading an independent weekly that comes out in Greenville, South Carolina called "Link". It usually has content meant for a younger twenty-something crowd, but sometimes I find a review or a story that makes it interesting for this fifty-something. I was reading a summary of news from the week, and ran across this.
CITIZENS ELIGIBLE FOR MILITARY COURTS-MARTIAL
Sen. Lindsay Graham added a provision to a spending bill that makes civilians eligible for military courts-martial. President Bush signed the legislation into law. So now, civilian government employees and journalists can be prosecuted under the Uniform Code Of Military Justice (UCMJ). The law will probably be challenged as unconstitutional. (Washington Times)

No wonder I hadn't read about it. It was published originally in the Washington Times, Rev. Moon's right-wing ragsheet. Still, the news was indeed news to me. I wondered why I didn't read about this in The New York Times, or The Washington Post that I read everyday? Why didn't they print it? If I were an editor there, I would have put it on the front page in banner headlines. "CIVILIANS FACE MILITARY COURTS!" I would not have been playing with them. I would have run an extra. I would have cashed in chips and gotten my most influential source to hold a news conference and scream this from the rooftops! Alas, I am but a nobody, but I still have a chance to scream about it thanks to OpEdNews.com. I know we can't leave it to the mainstream Media to alert us about what this government is taking away from us as fast as their corrupted, diseased minds can. Because I have a way to speak out, I contributed to OpEdNews.com.

I can't believe that Lindsay Graham, who happens to be my Senator from South Carolina, would stoop so low as to put an amendment as heinous as that in a spending bill. I can't believe that he would turn his back on the people he represents in South Carolina. The thing that is so sickening about Senator Graham's actions is that the people here in South Carolina trust their government, even today. Of all the people in the world that shouldn't be betrayed, the working middle-class Americans from South Carolina, most of whom are apolitical and the "salt of the Earth" so to speak, and trust their people that represent them in Washington to "do the right thing", could be stabbed in the back like that by somebody they trust. Senator Graham should be ashamed of himself.

This kind of legislation has no place in America. We didn't do it in World War I, or World War II, or any of the wars wee have ever fought. Why is it necessary now? Why do they need to try civilians in military courts anyway? Is it because they feel that civilian courts would give civilians too many options to prove their innocence? Falling under the UCMJ effectively means that people lose their constitutional rights, because the UCMJ supersedes the Constitution. Lindsay Graham, being a Lt.Col in the Air Force Reserve knows that. Is hat what they have done to journalists? Taken away our constitutional rights? I spent almost 21 years under the UCMJ and have no wish to repeat that. Because I write articles that are printed here and in other publications mean that I have no rights under the Constitution?

Can anyone read this and still believe that we as a nation are not losing our rights one by one in a scheme to turn this country from a representative democracy into a dictatorship of the right enforced by the military? Posse Comitatus, the law which states that the federal military forces of the United States can not be used against the people in the United States, has been attacked time and time again by Bush. That law was put into the constitution for a reason. The reason was so that no President could use the power of the military to establish a dictatorship in the United States. I believe that this is what George W. Bush is trying to do. This is another reason why it is imperative that this man be removed from his office, along with his entire cabinet, and arrested for crimes against the people of the United States of America. We can no longer tolerate the actions of this administration. Senator Graham should be investigated and it should be ascertained who advised him to include that amendment to that spending bill. We need a Special Prosecutor in Washington DC to investigate the crimes committed against the people of The United States of America by its own President and the President's administration. We have lost Constitutional right after constitutional right. We are dangerously close to having no rights under the Constitution. This situation is far worse than the situation during the Nixon Administration. Unless we can regain control of our Chief Executive he will almost surely launch an attack against Iran. I would not put it past Mr. Bush to arrange a false-flag operation against our forces in Iraq or in the waters off Iran similar to the Gulf of Tonkin.

I do not know what else I can do as a citizen. According to the letter of the law, I could find myself "rendered" to Gitmo, and be tried by court-martial under the UCMJ, the way things stand. Just like when I was a kid, I'd rather take the physical punishment than the emotional one. To see my country stolen by a war crazy president is something that emotionally... I could not bear.